Description
Piped Butter Bow Cookies are adorable pink, buttery, and slightly salty shortbread cookies perfect for any occasion. These crisp cookies are shaped into elegant bows using a piping bag, making them as charming as they are delicious. With tips to achieve the perfect dough consistency, these cookies promise to impress on your first try.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (very soft but not melted)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (or icing sugar)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- pink food coloring (as needed)
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300g)
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (or milk)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper to prepare for baking.
- Prepare Butter. Start with very soft butter that is easy to press with your finger but not melted. Softer butter makes piping easier.
- Mix Butter and Sugar. In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the very soft butter and powdered sugar. Mix just until combined using an electric mixer.
- Add Flavor and Color. Add vanilla extract, sea salt, and pink food coloring to the butter mixture. Mix well and add more pink food coloring until you reach the desired shade, remembering the color will lighten slightly after adding flour.
- Add Flour and Cream. Incorporate the flour into the butter mixture and mix until the dough begins to come together. Then add the heavy whipping cream or milk and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Prepare Piping Bag. Transfer half of the dough into a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a small, open star tip. Using two piping bags helps prevent breakage when piping the stiff dough.
- Pipe Cookies. Pipe bow shapes onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. If piping is difficult, warm the dough by massaging it in the bag or using a hair dryer to heat it evenly.
- Freeze Dough. Freeze the piped dough for 10 minutes to help it set before baking.
- Bake Cookies. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8 minutes until the bottoms are slightly golden.
- Cool Cookies. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for several minutes to firm up before handling.
Notes
- Use very soft butter, but not melted, to achieve the ideal dough consistency for piping.
- Double piping bags and a coupler will prevent the piping bag from breaking when working with stiff dough.
- If the dough is too hard to pipe, gently warm it by massaging or using a hair dryer for even heating.
- This recipe makes about 40 cookies depending on the size of the bows piped.
- Cookies become crisper and firm up upon cooling, so handle gently right after baking.
- These cookies are perfect for decorating or gifting due to their pretty bow shape and color.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 82 kcal
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 66 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 8 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 13 mg
