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5-Ingredient Butter Cookies

We’ll give you a hint, they only have five ingredients…

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We’ve all been in a situation where we desperately want a dessert of some sort and could almost be convinced to make it ourselves until we realize that the recipe we wanted is complicated and has way too many steps or ingredients. The sadness that follows…your hopes dashed…it’s painful to talk about, but we’ve got something to make all that go away. These cookies are absolutely amazing, have got only five ingredients, are cute to boot and come together in under 30 minutes. Does it get any better?? Nope. No it does not.

All right, so these are delicious, indulgent butter cookies. That’s right, delightfully buttery and with the perfect touch of sweetness (which is important and great, because it means you can eat more without the cookies being cloying), this recipe is definitely a staple in our household – and soon it’ll be one in yours as well. As you may have noticed, it’s not just the flavor of these bad boys that’s so great, it’s also their unique shape! While you could just as easily roll these into balls and bake them as is, we like to go one (easy) step further to turn these into ridge cookies.

If you haven’t made ridge cookies before, you’ll be happy to know that it’s super easy to create this fun shape, no fancy tools needed! You just use your index, middle and ring finger to gently press down on the cookies; the ridges are formed in the spaces between your slightly-spread-out fingers. That’s it, you’re good to go! We love fancy cookies just as much as the next person, but nothing is better than an addictively yummy cookie that you can throw together when you’re pressed for time – instant gratification and they’re perfect for bringing to parties. Just watch, you’re sure to love them as much as we do!

Yield(s): Serves 2 dozen

30 minutes

4.8
Rated 4.8 out of 5
Rated by 43 reviewers
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you're making mealtime meaningful.
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Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350º F and line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl or mixer, cream together butter and sugar for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
  3. Add vanilla extract and mix until incorporated, then, working in batches, add in flour until mixture is smooth.
  4. Use a tablespoon or small scooper to scoop dough into balls and transfer to lined baking sheets.
  5. Once on baking sheets, use your middle three fingers to gently press down on the dough, creating two ridges along the tops of the cookies. Cookies should be roughly 1/4-inch thick.
  6. Place baking sheets in oven and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges of cookies are just golden brown.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from My Sweet Sanity