French Buttercream Cookies Recipe with tinted dough and sugar crystals. (2024)

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French Buttercream Cookies are light and buttery and the perfect cookie to brighten up any holiday dessert table. Add some food coloring to this simple cookie dough or just sprinkle some colored sugars on the top for a pretty dessert perfect for sharing.

French Buttercream Cookies Recipe with tinted dough and sugar crystals. (2)

Table of Contents

French Butter Cookies

Cookies are the hallmark of our family’s Christmas season. Our mom starts baking cookies right after Thanksgiving so she has enough time to make the dozen or so varieties that will grace festive holiday plates, boxes and platters.

From the mail carrier to our teachers, anyone and everyone who touched our lives would receive an assortment of our mom’s baking treasures during the Christmas seasons of our childhood. While she has limited her distribution list in recent years, Mom still expresses her love through her cookies!

While cookies featuring chocolate are still my number one choice, these French Buttercream Cookies have always been a favorite choice from the cookie platter. They have a buttery flavor and a slightly crumbly texture that pairs perfectly with a glass of milk or mug of hot chocolate or coffee.

What makes this butter cookie recipe so great is that you can change up with coloring to make them fit whatever you are celebrating.

For Christmas, tint the dough red or green or simply use red or green colored sugar crystals on the top. For Easter or birthdays, use pastel colors of your choice. You get it where I’m going with this, right? Or you can add a frosting to the top.

Ingredient List

  • Powdered Sugar (confectioners sugar)
  • Baking Soda
  • Cream of Tarter
  • Salt
  • Room Temperature butter
  • Large Egg
  • Vanilla Extract
  • All Purpose Flour

How to Make French Buttercream Cookies

Step by Step Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, add together all ingredients, except for the flour. Combine with a mixer (stand mixer or electric mixer) on low speed for 1 minute.
  2. Gradually add the flour to mixture until well mixed.
  3. Tint the dough (if desired).
  4. Cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes until dough can be rolled into balls.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  6. Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
  7. Flatten each cookie with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Dip fork into flour if it sticks to dough.
  8. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until set but not brown.
  9. Remove from oven and let cookies rest on the pan on top of a cooling rack for 1 minute.
  10. Take cookies off baking sheet and let cool on rack.

Storage Instructions

Store cookies in an airtight container. They also can be stored in the freezer if you want to bake them a few weeks ahead.

Find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.

French Buttercream Cookies Recipe with tinted dough and sugar crystals. (6)

More Christmas Cookie Recipes

  • Grandma’s Three Layer Chocolate Squares
  • Dainty Log Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips
  • Crock Pot 7 Layer Bars
  • Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
  • Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
  • Salted Nut Squares

Linking up to Meal Plan Monday.

French Buttercream Cookies Recipe with tinted dough and sugar crystals. (7)

Print Recipe

French Buttercream Cookies

The dough for these French Buttercream Cookies can be tinted to make them extra festive for any occasion and be sure to add colored sugar crystals on top.

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time8 minutes mins

Total Time48 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: French Butter cookies, French Buttercream Cookies

Servings: 48

Calories: 72kcal

Author: Megan

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour

Instructions

  • Mix all ingredients EXCEPT flour on low speed with a mixer for 1 minute.

  • Add flour and blend at low speed until well mixed.

  • Tint dough if desired (not required).

  • Chill dough for 30 minutes.

  • Shape into 3/4-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. If the dough begins to warm up, it may be necessary to chill it between each pan.

  • Flatten each cookie ball with a fork (dip fork in flour if it sticks to dough).

  • Sprinkle each cookie with colored sugars.

  • Bake at 350 degrees F for 5 to 8 minutes until set but NOT brown.

  • Let cookies stand on cookie sheet for about 1 minute. Remove cookies from pan and cool on rack.

Notes

What makes this butter cookie recipe so great is that you can change up with coloring to make them fit whatever you are celebrating.

  • For Christmas, tint the dough red or green or simply use red or green colored sugar crystals on the top.
  • For Easter or birthdays, use pastel colors of your choice.
  • Store the cookies in an airtight container.
  • Want to bake ahead? Just stick these cookies in the freezer and pull them out when you need them. They will stay good for several weeks if frozen.
  • Looking for some more Christmas cookie options? Try our Mom’s Dainty Logs and Chocolate Crinkles.

Nutrition

Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 123IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

French Buttercream Cookies Recipe with tinted dough and sugar crystals. (2024)

FAQs

Does French buttercream need to be refrigerated? ›

Since French buttercream is egg yolk based, it does have to be refrigerated. It can be left out for a few hours, but should be refrigerated overnight. French buttercream can also be refrigerated for up to a week and frozen for up to 3 months.

Why is my French buttercream runny? ›

Troubleshooting the Texture

Buttercream is the least mysterious recipe to troubleshoot. If it's soupy or thin, it's too hot. If it's curdled or greasy, it's too cold. Either problem is easily solved by warming or cooling the buttercream, so there's never any reason to panic or despair.

Can you pipe French buttercream? ›

Taste: easily adaptable to any flavor you wish to give it. As vanilla buttercream, it is rich and tastes like custard. Piping: great for spreading and piping simple borders. It can be used for piping roses, but they will require plenty of refrigeration after piping to ensure they don't melt or get too soft.

What is the difference between French buttercream and Italian buttercream? ›

French buttercream is a gorgeously smooth, velvety, rich buttercream. Because it's made with an egg-yolk foam (i.e., pâte à bombe), it naturally has a bright yellow color and a higher fat content than Swiss or Italian buttercream, which are both made with egg whites.

What is the difference between French buttercream and American buttercream? ›

Rich and creamy, French buttercream has a taste and consistency similar to custard or pastry cream. Made using pasteurized egg yolks and sugar, this buttercream is not as sweet as traditional American buttercream and makes a great topping for a dark chocolate cake.

How do I thicken French buttercream? ›

If you've made a meringue-based buttercream, like Swiss, Italian, or French, you can thicken it slightly by adding a bit more butter, but a lot of the time chilling it down for a bit so that the existing butter in the recipe can firm up is all it takes to thicken.

What is German buttercream made of? ›

German Buttercream frosting uses butter and a rich, yet simple vanilla custard to create a silky, melt-in-your mouth frosting perfect for sheet cakes and cupcakes. Marta has 25 years of experience in the food service industry and has been developing recipes for 3 years.

Can you over whip buttercream? ›

Yes, this is absolutely correct. The longer you beat, the more air you incorporate in your buttercream, thus, it will have lots of holes or air-pockets, it will also make the colour lighter. If you will use your buttercream primarily for filling or maybe as simple swirls, then this is ok.

What kind of buttercream do professionals use? ›

Swiss meringue buttercream is probably the most standard buttercream for pastry professionals. It is incredibly smooth, making it an extremely popular choice for icing cakes. Compared to American buttercream, it has a much stronger butter flavor, but is considerably less sweet.

Why put egg yolk in buttercream? ›

French buttercream is made using egg yolks, hot sugar that is boiled to the 'soft ball stage', and butter as it's main ingredients. The use of egg yolks results in an incredibly creamy, custard like buttercream that your taste buds are going to love!

What are the pros and cons of French buttercream frosting? ›

Pros: This frosting is every butter lover's dream, silky and smooth with a rich flavor. French buttercream works well as a cake filling or as a soft buttercream finish. Cons: French buttercream is a very soft frosting, so it doesn't work well if you're looking to achieve sharp corners or pipe details.

How long can buttercream sit out at room temperature? ›

You can keep buttercream frosting on the counter for about three days. Though it contains perishable ingredients, the high sugar content keeps it from going bad immediately. After about 72 hours, you'll need to refrigerate it.

Does buttercream frosting with cream cheese need to be refrigerated? ›

So, does cream cheese frosting need to be refrigerated? Absolutely yes, and that goes for store-bought and homemade cream cheese frosting.

Does buttercream with eggs need to be refrigerated? ›

Always refrigerate any cake with a frosting that contains eggs or egg whites, or one that has whipped-cream frosting or any type of filling — be it whipped cream, custard, fruit or mousse.

What buttercream does not need to be refrigerated? ›

In general, American buttercream can last for days out of the fridge but can be refrigerated to prolong freshness. Other buttercreams that contain eggs, whipped cream, or cream cheese, should not be left at room temperature for long periods of time.

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