Melt in your Mouth Butter Cookies

These cookies melt in your mouth… I think it’s the powdered sugar that goes into the dough. And if only you could smell the almond extract–mmm!!! We typically make them without the chocolate… either rolled in sugar and then flattened with the bottom of a glass, or cut into shapes and then either sprinkled with colored sugar or topped with frosting. But with Valentine’s Day around the corner, my daughter and I decided to add a heart-shaped chocolate, and she also voted to color the dough pink. (With a houseful of girls, we need some pink cookies every now and then!) If you’re someone who doesn’t like things too sweet, though, I’d leave the chocolate off. Don’t get me wrong; these are sinfully good! But the cookie part itself is perfectly sweet even without the chocolate. Your choice!

Here is the step-by-step for those of you who like the visuals (me!)… my five-year-old was my partner this time around. Her older sisters got to have playdates one afternoon while she stayed behind, so I turned this little friend’s frown upside down with a consolation prize… the joy of making cookies with mommy! (I might have danced a little jig and made some silly faces, too… works every time to cheer this cutie right up!)

Start with powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract (love the smell of it!), and the egg.

Mix it up until it looks like this.

Stir in the dry ingredients.

Add a bit of food coloring if you choose to tint your dough.

Pink! Perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Roll the dough into balls and then coat with sugar. This is a perfect job for your little friends! (*If you are going to cut the dough into shapes, you will want to refrigerate it first.)

While the cookies are baking, unwrap the chocolates if you choose to add them. You’ll want them ready so you can quickly press them into the cookies when they come out of the oven. This is another job the kids love! (You can even work in a little math lesson as they are counting them out–there’s a teaching moment in almost everything if you look hard enough!) :)

Press the chocolates into the cookies immediately after removing them from the oven. Move quickly or they will set, making it harder to press the chocolate down without cracking the cookie.

Look how the heat of the cookie is melting the chocolate… yum!

The cookies didn’t come out as “pink” as we’d expected, but they’re still a fun Valentine’s Day treat! My daughter was very proud to show her sisters when they returned home. Luckily for them, we even saved a little dough–we don’t mess around when it comes to cookie dough in this house. That stuff is like gold around here.

Get a printable version of this recipe here.

Melt in Your Mouth Butter Cookies

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

Dove heart-shaped chocolates (optional, but fun for Valentine’s Day!)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and egg. Stir in dry ingredients until mixed well. Add food coloring if desired and mix until you have the color you want. Shape the dough into small balls (about 1″) and roll in sugar. While baking, unwrap the chocolates so they are ready to go. If you aren’t using the chocolate, you can press the balls down with the back of a glass. (if it sticks, try lightly greasing the glass or using a little flour.) Bake about 7 minutes or until the edges just start to turn lightly brown. (I like my cookies more under-baked, so I usually take them out when just set; maybe even before they are brown at all.) Press a chocolate into each cookie immediately upon removing them from the oven.

(*If cutting the dough into shapes, divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 3 hours. Take one half out, and roll onto a board that’s lightly floured. If the dough gets too hard to work with, return it to the refrigerator and use the other dough for a while… You can sprinkle with granulated sugar before baking, or add frosting afterward if you choose. This is a good, basic recipe that you can modify or use as you like!)

I am a huge fan of almond extract, so I love these, but there’s an allergy alert there, so keep that in mind if you serve these to kids!!

Enjoy!