Danish Butter Cookies...that became tarts

Danish Butter Cookies - made July 12, 2019 from Traveling Foodies

This is another recipe I made awhile back but never blogged about. I’m trying to clear out my queue and keep myself honest about what I’ve done and which recipes I’ve tried. This one is delayed because I made it wrong the first time and always meant to make it properly before blogging about it. But I haven’t had time to make it again as I’ve been making too many other things so I thought I’d better get this up before I forget it completely.

This one I clearly remember because I had such a hard time with it. The dough was so stiff that I couldn’t even get it piped properly. I went through three (burst) piping bags before I gave up and pressed the dough into tart pans, baked them then filled them with hazelnut spread before topping them with toasted hazelnuts. I put a plate of tarts together for my mom to take to a potluck.

It wasn’t until after I’d sent them off and was looking at the recipe again that I had a “doh!” moment. Because only then did I realize that I hadn’t added the egg. DOH! No wonder the batter was so stiff and couldn’t be piped out into a rosette or any other shape. Thankfully, the eggless dough tasted fine as a butter tart shell. Actually, it was pretty good. But, to do this recipe justice, I really should try again and make it properly with an egg this time.

1 egg (60 g)

200 g butter
130 g powdered sugar
320 g flour
2 tablespoons vanilla paste (approx 30 g)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment. Cream on low speed until ingredients are combined; do not overbeat.
3. Pipe wreaths onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper using a large open star tip. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container.