Description
Piped Butter Bow Cookies are charming, pink, buttery shortbread cookies that melt in your mouth with a delicate crispness. These cookies are slightly salty and perfect for piping into decorative bow shapes, making them ideal for festive occasions or gifting. The recipe uses very soft butter to achieve an ideal dough consistency for piping with ease.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 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 the oven: Preheat your oven to 355°F (180°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and allow for easy cleanup.
- Prepare the butter: Ensure the butter is very soft but not melted; it should easily yield to your finger pressure but still maintain its shape. Softer butter makes piping the dough easier.
- Combine butter and sugar: In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and powdered sugar just until combined to avoid overmixing.
- Add flavor and color: Mix in the vanilla extract, sea salt, and pink food coloring gradually until you achieve your desired shade, keeping in mind the color will lighten slightly after adding flour.
- Add flour and cream: Incorporate the flour into the butter mixture and mix until it just starts to come together. Then, add the heavy whipping cream or milk, mixing just until a soft dough forms.
- Prepare for piping: Transfer half of the dough into a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a small open star tip. Use a double disposable piping bag setup to prevent popping or breaking, as the dough is stiff and difficult to pipe.
- Pipe the cookies: Pipe bow shapes onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. If the dough is hard to pipe, gently warm it by massaging the piping bag or briefly using a hair dryer to soften evenly.
- Freeze before baking: Place the piped dough in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up, which helps maintain the shape during baking.
- Bake: Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8 minutes, or until the bottoms are slightly golden.
- Cool the cookies: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before handling, as they firm up further as they cool.
Notes
- Use very soft butter for the best piping results; avoid melted butter to maintain dough consistency.
- Double piping bags with a coupler help prevent the bag from breaking since the dough is stiff.
- If piping is difficult, warming the dough slightly can make it easier to pipe clean shapes.
- Freezing the piped dough helps the cookies hold their shape while baking.
- These cookies are slightly salty, which balances the sweetness and enhances the buttery flavor.
- You can pipe any shape you like, but bows are especially charming and festive.
- Test piping on parchment scraps to practice before piping on the actual baking sheet.
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
