Rich, buttery, and sweet, these spiraled Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies are then coated in all natural sprinkles for a holiday cookie that is completely organic and free of artificial colors!
If you're looking for more holiday cookies, check out my Frosted Gingerbread Cookies, Eggless Sourdough Molasses Cookies, or my Cinnamon Pecan YiaYia Cookies.
So it's cookie season, if you haven't noticed. I would expect everyone knows that by now! And I'm breaking up the feed of peppermint, gingerbread, and candy cane with this simple, but classic, recipe for Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies.
While these aren't technically Christmas Cookies, you could slap some red and green decorating sugars on here in place of the nonpareils and call them Christmas cookies. Or, you could also add some crushed candy canes and then they would definitely be Christmas Cookies!
But I had a craving for simple butter cookies, dipped in dark chocolate, with my favorite nonpareil sprinkles. So, that's what we have here. These are the best swirled butter cookies I've ever made. So, if you've been wanting to know how to pipe swirl butter cookies, read on.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Swirl butter cookies look super fancy, but they are really easy to make! Butter cookies only have a few simple ingredients: butter, cane sugar, eggs, flour, and milk. I also add vanilla extract, but some people prefer to add almond extract, you could do either one. I also used pistachio milk for these today as that's what I currently had open in my fridge, and it makes them so subtly sweet, I love it! But you could also use cow's milk, coconut milk, or almond milk as well.
The trick for how to pope swirl butter cookies perfectly is getting the right consistency of the cookie dough. You wan tit to be soft enough to pipe out of the piping bag, but also stiff enough that it will hold its shape in the oven. So that is the balance. I also refrigerate the cookie dough after I pipe it so they get that extra chill time so there is less spread in the oven.
FAQ's
Can I use another type of milk?
Yes, if you don’t have pistachio milk you can use coconut milk, cow’s milk, or almond milk! I’ve made these cookies with all of these types of milk, and they are all delicious!
Can I use another tip to pipe these?
Yes, if you don’t have Ateco tip #827, you can use Ateco tip #846 as it’s similar. Or you can also use any large open star tip.
Can I use another type of chocolate besides dark chocolate?
Yes, you can use milk chocolate or white chocolate to dip these cookies in, or a combination of all three! Any type of chocolate will be delicious!
Do I have to temper the chocolate?
Tempering the chocolate is the portion of the recipe where you heat it to a certain temperature, add in more chocolate, and then let it come down to a certain temperature. This is done so that the chocolate is tempered and sets completely at room temperature. This prevents it from sweating or making your hands sticky!
You do not have to temper the chocolate. If you prefer, you can melt all the chocolate together in the double boiler until completely melted. Or, you can place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, to prevent burning, until the chocolate is completely melted.
If you don’t temper the chocolate, you may just find that the cookies are better kept in the fridge, this way the chocolate won’t sweat or get onto your hands or other cookies. If I’m just making chocolate dipped cookies for myself, I usually skip tempering as it’s not necessary! But, if I’m making them for a party or as a gift, then I temper the chocolate.
What toppings can I use for swirl butter cookies?
If you want to top these with more than just nonpareil sprinkles you can use any other kind of sprinkles you like! Try India Tree Nature’s Colors Carnival Mix Sprinkles for traditional rainbow sprinkles. You could use India Tree Nature’s Colors Snowflake Sprinkles for a festive holiday cookie. You could also use organic crushed candy canes, India Tree Nature’s Colors Red & Green Sugars, organic fine shredded coconut or chopped nuts!
How should I store these Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies?
These can be stored at room temperature as long as it’s cool (or in the fridge) for up to 7 days. You can also store them in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies
Costco Kirkland Organic Cane Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour
Three Trees Organic Pistachio Milk
Mama Ganache Organic Dark Chocolate
ColorKitchen Foods Nonpareil Sprinkles
Why Organic
Why use organic ingredients in this recipe? You all know I’m a huge organic advocate, and I bet you may be thinking sometimes, Why would I even bother to use organic ingredients in something that is so sweet and indulgent? But, that is the exact reason why you should use organic ingredients! Sweet things need to have flavor in order to be good, otherwise they are just sweet and they don’t taste like much else. Organic ingredients are more pure than conventional ones, therefore they actually have more flavor than the non organic options. Say it with me, organic means more flavor! And not just more flavor but a more true and pure flavor. And organic ingredients are much healthier for you to eat in general as they do not contain GMOs or anything artificial. Plus, you are being environmentally friendly when you choose organic ingredients!
So, I highly recommend that you buy the best organic ingredients for this recipe! You can also shop my Amazon Storefront for all my favorite organic ingredients here. Tip – hover over each ingredient to see the name. And if you want to learn more about organic foods and the difference, read my post here on Food Labels and What They Mean.
The best subtly sweet butter cookies! These simple swirl butter cookies are dipped in dark chocolate and covered in rainbow sprinkles. What more could you want?
Ingredients
- Dough
1 cup (226 grams) organic salted butter, softened
170 grams (3/4 cup) organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1 organic large egg
318 grams (2 1/2 cups) organic all purpose flour
1 to 2 tablespoons organic pistachio milk
- Topping**
8 ounces organic dark chocolate, chopped
ColorKitchen Nonpareil Sprinkles
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined, then continue to mix on low for 5 minutes or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy.
- Add the egg and flour and mix on low until combined.
- Add in the pistachio milk and mix until combined. You want the dough to be fluffy, but stiff, but also not too stiff that you can’t pipe it out of bag! The more milk you add, the easier it will be to pipe. But the more you add the more the cookies will spread and not hold their shape, so be mindful of that.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag with Ateco tip #827, only adding about half the dough in at first. This way it’s easier to pipe the cookies! Pipe a swirl of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 times around (watch video below), spacing them at least 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms.
- To make the topping: Using a double boiler, add 80% of the dark chocolate. Heat until it reaches 115°F on a chocolate thermometer. Remove from heat and add in the remaining 20% of chocolate and stir to combine completely. Allow the chocolate to come down to 91°F.
- Dip each cookie half in the dark chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sprinkles. Place in the freezer to set for 1 hour.
- Store in a cool dry place or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Recipe Video
Notes
- High Altitude — Bake at 350 for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms.
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Make sure to check out my Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, which I'm sure you'll love too! And, share it with someone who you think may also like it!
