I was so pleased with how beautiful and delicious these little vegan Danish butter cookies turned out, when I first created this recipe.
And I have been making them regularly ever since, especially at Christmas.
The three main things I love about this recipe: the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness, how fun they are to make and how beautiful they look (for the short while before they’re all eaten).
This post includes a step-by-step recipe, tips and a short guide on how to create a festive gift tin to store them in.
Creating a Danish Butter Cookie gift tin
Aside from eating the cookies, and playing with the cookie press, this is one of the best parts.
I love displaying these beautiful cookies in a tin, regardless of whether I’m giving them away as gifts or keeping them for myself.
You will need:
- A batch of these Vegan Danish Butter Cookies (Recipe at the bottom of this post)
- An empty medium round tin with lid (an old cookie tin is perfect)
- Plain cupcakes cases
- Extra sugar for sprinkling
How to assemble
- It will depend on the size of your tin, but I used 7 cupcake cases to place around the inside edges of the tin and 1 for the centre (8 total).
- Fill each cupcake case with 3-4 cookies.
- Sprinkle generously with white granulated sugar.
- Now create a second layer on top of those cases and repeat.
Recipe FAQ
Do I need to use a cookie press to make these cookies?
Not at all! You can simply roll the dough into small balls and press with your fingers or a fork. If you use this method, refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes beforehand for the best result.
Or, use an icing bag + a star shaped nozzle to create wreath shapes (you can see I’ve used this method for some of the cookies pictured).
The mixture is too stiff to pipe. What do I do?
This can happen when the weather gets really cold OR if the mixture is overworked or too dry.
If you’re using a piping bag, you can “massage” the bag to warm up and loosen the mixture.
The other solution is to return the mixture to the bowl, and without overworking the dough, mix in a small amount of dairy-free milk, until you have a softer consistency.
If all else fails, chill the dough and roll or cut out shapes instead!
How are these “Butter” cookies, when there is no butter?
Despite being dairy-free, these cookies will be just like how you remember the original.
In fact, many shop bought Danish Butter Cookies are made with vegetable oils, making them more shelf stable and are therefore vegan-friendly.
I recommend a good-tasting vegan butter alternative, such as Naturli block, Vitalite or Earth Balance Buttery. Found in most supermarkets.
If you can’t get hold of a vegan butter and can only find margarine, one of my readers, Maria, has a great tip: Use butter flavouring. It is usually vegan-friendly.
More Vegan Christmas Bakes:
Vegan Cinnamon Snowflake Cookies
Orange Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know in the comments, leave a rating and tag #WallflowerKitchen on instagram so I can share your creations in my stories!
Vegan Danish Butter Cookies
Vaniljekranse aka Danish Butter Cookies are THE essential Christmas cookie, in my opinion. This is a vegan recipe for those who miss this nostalgic taste...
Ingredients
- 200 g / 7 oz dairy-free buttery spread
- 130 g / 4.5 oz confectioner's sugar
- 310 g / 11 oz plain flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp almond milk, if needed
- 2 tbsp white sugar, for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / fan 160C / 350F. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Mix together the dairy-free butter and icing sugar to create a soft buttercream.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the milk, and mix until just combined. If the mixture is too dry, add the 1 tbsp of milk or more until a soft but firm batter is formed.
- Create the cookie shapes either using a cookie press, piping bag or simply dropping a tsp of batter onto the sheet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, regularly checking to make sure they are baking evenly. Turn your baking sheet around to face the other way half way through, if necessary.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack then sprinkle with sugar. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield 60 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 49Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 22mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 0gSugar 3gProtein 1g
They are AMAZING! And just like the real thing, I baked them as a gift from my mum and put them in a box I bought in Europe as a gift, she adored them!! My family is not vegan btw :)
I was in Germany when I baked them, I used a margarine that is quite tasteless (ASLAN bio) and added half a bottle (the tiny ones) of butter aroma (Butter-Vanille by Dr.Oetker), they turned out perfect and this butter aroma is a game changer!!
Thank you sooo much for the recipe!! I looked everywhere for these vegan cookies but no one seemed to be selling them. All the best from Argentina!
I’m so pleased they were enjoyed! That is such a great idea for adding the butter flavouring. :-)
Hello ^-^ Do you think it would be good if I added butter extract ?
How much do you think I should add?
Oh I’ve not tried that before but would add a small amount (maybe 1/4 – 1/2 tsp) and taste the batter to adjust.
Heya, I just tried this recipe but as a gluten free version- with a simple store bought plain gluten-free mix:) Just in case I always add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 4 tablespoons of water and leave it to sit for about 5min:)
It worked wonderfully, did my cookies with a piping bag and didn’t need any milk:)
That is so good to hear, Ieva! Thanks for the notes on the gluten-free mix. Glad it worked out well :)
Made these yesterday in the US with Earth Balance and a cookie press. They turned out AMAZING! We didn’t need any almond milk, and the consistency was spot on. We kept eating them, and I’m surprised any made it to the tin!
Thank you so much for a great new cookie staple!!!
So pleased to hear that, Rachel! Thanks for sharing the feedback :)
I am going to attempt this recipe with my cookie press, but I have a question not unlike many others in previous comments: I have Earth Balance Sticks, but I’m assuming you mean the buttery “Spread” in a tub made by Earth Balance. I haven’t seen Vitalife brand here in Virginia. Also, I just attempted a homemade butter using a culture of probiotic made with cashew milk. The predominate oil used is coconut, however, so it won’t be as buttery tasting, so I will probably avoid with this recipe. Just found a new spread which uses some almond oil in the spread, it tastes good, but I don’t know about tasting buttery…probably another one to avoid. I will probably use Earth balance sticks, just because I keep them on hand.
Is this recipe suitable to rollout and cut into shapes?
It is a much softer dough, so if you want to roll it into shapes, I would leave it in the fridge for at least an hour and then gently roll into balls and flatten slightly. If you don’t have a cookie press, an icing piper works just as well too!
Will this recipe work well with butter rather a vegan spread? My grandson has an egg allergy, but is not vegan. Thank you.
That is totally up to you! The vegan spread is a butter substitute so I’m assuming it would have the same effect.
Is icing sugar the same as powdered sugar in the US?
Hi Sandra. Icing sugar is the same as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar, yes.
Thank you a lot for this. I was looking for a vegan butter cookie & now I found this, so I’ll give it a try @ home, but one thing though. Can you please tell us which good tasting VEGAN BUTTER you suggest us to use please? I don’t really know which one tastes better! All I tried b/f were disgusting!!!
Thank You & Hope to Hear From You Soon!
Hi Israel. I’m not sure where you are based but there are a lot of great options now. In the UK, Flora Buttery is a popular choice or in the USA/CAN Earth Balance Buttery is meant to be good. I would just look out for “buttery” style ones, usually sunflower based.
Flora Butter is AMAZING! It acts just like regular butter and makes the best replacement. Cannot wait to make these cookies, my favorite holiday cookie! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi! Is corn flour equivalent to either corn starch or corn meal? The grocery store’s here don’t carry something called corn flour. I’ve seen other recipes use white flour, will that work with this recipe?
Hi Kat, I’m glad you asked because I should have written “corn starch” which is much more clearer, just changed it now. It is definitely the starch you want! Hope you enjoy the cookies.
It’s not clear if you live in the UK ,was going to ask if it was cornflour!
The recipe looks wonderful,used to love getting those tins at Christmas and giving as gifts, many thanks
Hello,
What kind of vegan butter have you used?
Howdy..
Just made these today and have already half of them before they have cooled down completely ha! They’re exactly the real thing. I used cake flour which I made myself (Google) and omitted the cornflour cos cake flour contains this.
Butter home made too and naturally vegan. Excuse my repetition. Google to find out how.
As a favour would you be so kind as too post a vid how to use a biscuit(cookie) press. None came out as yours just a heap of pastry!!
Tks
These cookies are fabulous. I gave the recipe out already to a few friends. The first time I made them I didn’t realize corn flour is the same as corn starch. I also used a vegan butter that wasn’t good for the recipe. I made again with Earth Balance and the cornstarch. They were hard to press out of pastry bag so I removed the tip and made button shapes. I also sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. They are fantastic!!!!
So happy you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to let me know, Nancy :)
Hi I tried these cookies but mine came out soft after the baking time. The bottoms were browned and edges hard but the centre was soft. What could have possibly gone wrong?
Thanks
Oh no! Apologies if this is a stupid question… but did you let them cool before asking this? Hopefully they have now cooled and firmed up now into a crisp, crumbly shortbread. When they first come out of the oven, they will be soft but need a while to set.
If they remained soft however, I think the oven temperature would be too high. If you’re using a fan oven, make sure to lower slightly to 160C.
Hope they still tasted good, regardless and sorry to hear this happened. Let me know if you require any further assistance figuring it out.
I cannot thank you enough for this recipe. These are absolutely delicious! Didn’t even need the extra sugar on top, perfect just the way I remembered them.
Many thanks
Delighted to hear that! Thanks Kathy
Thank you a lot for this. I was looking for a vegan butter cookie & now I found this, so I’ll give it a try @ home, but one thing though. Can you please tell us which good tasting VEGAN BUTTER you suggest us to use please? I don’t really know which one tastes better! All I tried b/f were disgusting!!!
Thank You & Hope to Hear From You Soon!
I’m not usually one to comment on recipes but I just made these and I am such a happy lady! They came out so deliciously. I used earth balance sticks and did not have to add the milk. I also added a 1/2 tsp of almond extract. I pressed them with my vintage cookie press and they worked perfectly! I’ve always wanted to attempt a vegan spritz but never found a recipe that seemed right to me until now! Oh I also made a few as thumbprints and added 1/4 tsp of jam to those and they are also lovely.
Ah, that makes me very happy! Thanks for the comment, Alexandra :)
What is the shelf life (life span) of these cookies? I’m thinking about giving them as gifts☺️
Hi Nora, sorry for the late response. These last quite a while. Not sure how long exactly but as long as they are packaged well, especially with extra sugar, they should last a couple of months.
These look amazing! Where did you find your cookie press? I can’t seem to find one with the traditional danish cookie shapes.
These sound delicious! I’m going to make them for my Danish family over the Holidays, they are my grandmas favourite! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Aimee, great recipe, will be testing this soon. How long do the cookies lasts before you have to toss them?
I just made these and it was a complete disaster. I followed the recipe, but the dough was way too stiff to press cookies. So I added a bit of liquid and tried again. Still too stiff. Added a bit more liquid. Then they came out of the cookie press, but would not detach from the press. So I ended up rolling the dough into logs and cutting round cookies. Which have been in the oven for over half an hour and are not nearly cooked, much less crispy like Danish butter cookies. I have no idea where I went wrong. And I’m really disappointed.
I had exactly the same experience. My dough ended up going in and out of the press and a piping bag no fewer than 5 times, each time after having added a little more milk, and still no joy. I must have added triple the milk suggested, all to no avail.
This may be a dumb question, but are you in the UK or US? Cornflour in the UK = corn starch in the US, not corn meal. Could that be it?
Just made these for the first time, easy to make and delicious! Thank you!
So pleased you liked them, Isabelle! :)
Can it be made with cornflour or whole wheat flour snd to substitute the butter with coconut oil? And if so will the measurements change?
It will be a completely different recipe but I’m sure it would still work as a biscuit/cookie. It won’t taste anything like Danish butter cookie though! Same amounts of coconut oil and just sub whole wheat for the white flour. You don’t have to use the cornflour but again, the texture will be very different.
These cookies are so lovely. Perfect sweetness and texture. I preferred to eat them after they had cooled completely. They remind me of a cookie that I had at a tea once. Very shortbread like. Thank you so much! If I tweaked it a bit and added pecans and a hint of salt it would be like a pecan sandy!
Glad you enjoyed it! I’m going to try the pecan addition :)
I made these today using gluten free plain flour (Dove’s Farm brand) and they’re delicious. So glad they worked with gluten free flour, if anyone is wondering about that. :) Thanks for the recipe!
So glad to hear that! I made them with Doves gluten-free flour too and also thought they turned out surprisingly great. The rice flour in it actually added to that melt-in-your-mouth texture :-)
Hi, can I use brown sugar instead of icing sugar?
Hello, i’m so sorry to be a bother but i was wondering if you have the conversions into cups measurements?
Try Google
Hi do you recommend using nuttelex buttery spread?
I used Nuttlelex when i made them and they worked out really well
Can these be made ahead of time and frozen for a few days?
Flavor and texture are excellent! My only hardship was that I couldn’t get the batter to squeeze through a frosting bag—it was like trying to squeeze lead, even after adding a couple spoonfuls of almond milk. So I didn’t get pretty, gift-worthy shapes. But they are irresistible & I will try something different next time for shapes.
I had the same problem. Had to add quite a bit of non dairy milk to soften dough but still had trouble squeezing through pastry bag. Taste was very nice. Not too sweet. I dipped them in chocolate and then chopped nuts. Made the cookies look prettier so i could give away as gifts.
These taste SO good, just like I remember.
Hi. Can’t wait to make these. When you say corn flour, would that be corn starch? Thanks in advance.
Hi Gisela, yep! You can find corn starch in the baking aisle :) let me know if you try it.
Hi do they squeeze out easily through a piping bag?
Hi Rosh, the mixture is fairly firm but it should be easy enough to squeeze. If not, just add a drop of milk to soften it slightly.
So these cookies turn out soft or crunchy?
They’re slightly more on the crunchier side but they have a melt-in-your-mouth texture :-)
These turned out amazing!!! I used earth balance original (most popular vegan butter available in Canada). Once the dough came together I put it in my Cookie press and baked them on a non-stick silicone mat. The taste and texture was so good my boyfriend ate practically the whole batch! Will be making these again closer to Christmas to give out as gifts.
Yay! So glad you liked them, they’re my favourite Christmas treat :-)
I tried the recipe today. The taste is amazing but I’m not happy with the consistency. I’m sure it’s because of the margarine I used. I’m italian so I don’t know how to find a good brand. They came out soft, not so “buttery”. The margarine I used is made with a big part of water..what Can I do? Maybe use a part of it and a part of coconut oil? (Sorry for my English!!!)
Not at all, Nina! Yes, a good-tasting vegan butter is really important for this recipe. Another reader tried coconut oil and liked it (see their comment here) but personally I think it would change the recipe completely as it lacks that buttery flavour. If you can’t get hold of a good quality vegan spread, it might be the next best option though! Hope that helps :-)
Hi Everyone, I replaced the buttery spread with virgin coconut oil. It was firm like butter-not melted. They came out great except I couldn’t manage to squeeze it through a pastry bag so I had to scoop and flatten by hand. I really need to use a pastry bag so I can get all the fancy shapes like in the pictures on this page. Anyone have any ideas about that?
Hi! Did you use the same amount of coconut oil?
These look gorgeous, Aimee! Love your presentation too. Thanks so much for sharing, I’ll definitely give them a go.
Thank you! I make a LOT of these at Christmas time :-)
Can’t wait to give this recipe a try… Thank you for sharing. On a different note, the packaging is adorable. Did you make the snowflake ornaments? Could you direct me to a pattern? Thanks for your time.
Thank you! I actually have the tutorial posted here: http://wallflowerkitchen.com/diy-nordic-christmas-decorations/ They’re very easy and fun to make :-) Let me know if you try them!
great recipe! the cookies came out perfect. thank you : ]
I’m so glad! Thanks for letting me know, Amy :-)
I made these for Christmas as a vegan version of my uncle’s butter cookies and they were perfect!! I rolled the dough into a ball, wrapped it in plastic, and chilled it for 20-30 minutes before rolling out and using cookie cutters (sprinkled with decorating sugar before baking). I used all Earth Balance for the butter. I’m in the US so I used a scale to measure the ingredients to the UK weights. I didn’t need the milk. Used a mixer and baked them at 350F. Thank you so much for this recipe, it will be a holiday staple for me. I only made 1/4 of the recipe as I wasn’t sure how they’d turn out but now I wish I’d made the whole thing!! And yes, cornlflour is cornstarch and icing sugar is US powdered/confectioner’s sugar. Lovely!
Yay, I’m so glad! And thanks for the confirmation on the US conversions :-) Have a great new year!
Yum yum! Ok, silly question – when you say mix the butter and sugar, does that mean with a hand mixer or with a forking action? I haven’t made buttery type cookies in years!
These look fantastic though – they will make a great xmas prezzie (if I don’t eat everything)
not a silly question at all! I use a mixer but you can use a spoon too if you wish. They make really good xmas gifts (the trick is to make a batch for yourself to nibble on…) :-)
thnx,
sounds wonderful did anyone try it with coconut oil instead of the butter?
Thank you Aimee for this amazing recipe! I loved these cookies when I was a kid and would have never thought you can veganize them. So I tried them yesterday. I used a cookie press for the first time and although it was a bit tricky to use, the cookies turned out amazing. However, I reduced the amount of sugar to 100g which was perfect for us. Next time, I will use cocoa for variation. ;)
Happy Holidays and greetings from Germany,
Stephanie
Great to hear Stephanie! And I love the idea of making a cocoa variation… I will try that too next time :-) Have a wonderful Christmas!
Every year since I’m vegan, I’ve been seeing those Danish Blue tin boxes appearing in store but couldn’t buy them anymore, which I used to buy one box every year since I can remember.
When I saw this recipe popped up in my Facebook feed, I was ecstatic!! I bought a cookie press two year ago, but never used it, so I used it to make this recipe! I have no skills,so this tool made the cookies look amazing! I used earth balance buttery flavor, and the cookies tasted amazing! OMG you made my holidays from now on perfect! This will be back in our house as a yearly tradition again. Thank you! :)
Thank you Isa, your comment made me so happy! I was so glad to be able to eat these cookies again too, they remind me of my childhood and Christmas hadn’t been the same without them :-) Glad to hear the earth balance buttery spread worked well, I’ll recommend that spread to others. Have a great Christmas! x
Hi, I wonder if I can use doves gluten free flour?
I love this idea! I never would have thought you could make these cookies so easily, but I guess it is possible…might have to try these for a homemade Christmas gift this year! :)
Is cornflour the same as cornmeal?
Hi Jessica, no it’s corn starch (called cornflour over here)
I have got to try these!
So you use butter – would margarine be a big no?
What do you use to mix?
Thank you for this, cannot wait to make (ahem, eat all of) them!
Haha! It’s really hard not to eat them all to yourself…
I like to use a dairy-free spread that tastes buttery. Vitalite is the best one I’ve tried. I think margerine would be too tasteless.
Let me know how you get on :-)
Thanks for sticking with it and giving it another go! More cruelty-free cookies for everyone! <3
Ooh, these look SO GOOD! I was looking for a dairy free recipe for these last year and gave up hope that there would be a way of making them taste like they’re meant to! I remember we used to get tins of these at Christmas when I was a kid!
Can I ask what buttery spread you used?
They’re such a nostalgic thing for me too, I was so happy when they tasted like the original! I used a spread called Vitalite – which is the closest taste and texture to real butter that I’ve come across. I think Earth Balance do some buttery spreads too that are apparently quite good (not tried them myself though) Let me know if you make them! :-)
Oh cool, I’m so glad to hear you say that as I can easily get Vitalite! I was worried you were going to say Earth Balance as I often see that used in vegan recipes and I don’t think we can get that in the UK, can we?
I’ll let you know if I get round to making them! :D
Hello, can you tell me what the conversion would be for butter, sugar and flour to cups? Thanks!
Hi Jen, the conversions are:
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp butter
1 1/3 cup icing sugar / powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
but please note these are just conversions and haven’t been tested on this recipe!
Thank you!
These look amazing! Can’t wait to try them! One question…..Is icing sugar the same as powdered sugar?
Thanks Natalie! Yes, it’s the same as powdered sugar / confectioner’s sugar. I’ll update the post later to clarify :-) Please let me know how you get on!
These are so pretty! We always used to buy a tin of these biscuits at Christmas, these are a huge reminder of good times!
I’m pretty excited about this! I miss only 2 or 3 nonvegan things at this point. Last year I tried to make Danish butter cookies and failed. I can’t wait to try this!!
These look exactly like the cookies we would always have during Christmas as a kid! But now my family as a multitude of food allergies and intolerances that we’ve had to cut out a lot of our signature treats. But this works perfectly! I’m very excited to make these this Christmas. I will use a gluten free flour and see how that goes!
Perfect for Christmas.
They look amazing! Love the tin too, very cute. I’ll make them for my boyfriend’s Mum as a Christmas gift
They look absolutely delicious Aimee :D I need these in my life right now!
I would like to try your recipe, but, what is a vanilla bean paste?
I have never heard of something like that.
is there any substitution I could take, in case it is not available at my place
Hi Sonia, you can just use vanilla extract. I prefer vanilla bean paste in this because I think it gives a stronger flavour but it’s not I’ve updated the post to include a vanilla extract option too :-)