Danish Butter Cookies

I really wanted a butter cookie today, but I wanted to come up with something that wasn’t a shortbread or a Russian tea cake. This is the result. The caramel syrup gives the cookie so much depth! In fact, these taste very much like the Danish cookies that come in a blue tin—same flavor, same texture.

Ingredients (makes about 65 cookies):

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of cream of tartar
Pinch of salt

1 cup (2 sticks) good quality (unsalted or salted-you decide) butter at room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1/8 cup caramel syrup (from the recipe for “Pumpkin Filled Cream Puffs with Caramel Syrup.” See, I told you the leftover syrup would come in handy!

1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup raw sugar or any large-crystalled sugar

Directions: Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar together onto a piece of wax paper and set aside. Cream the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is very light and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved. Add in the vanilla and caramel syrup and mix again. Add in the flour mixture in three additions (folding the wax paper into a cone makes this easy), mixing well after each addition. Move the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, roll into two 12 inch long logs, wrap the plastic wrap tightly around each log and refrigerate dough for at least one hour.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the cookie log into ¼ inch slices and place on the sheets about 2 inches apart. Lightly brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes (until golden brown around the edges) and let cool. These cookies will crisp as they cool.