The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (2024)

This is the best and most delicious and simple recipe for Sugar Free Butter Cookies are perfect for your next dessert or gathering!

See The Recipe

How to make Sugar Free Butter Cookies .

This recipe is for those of us who enjoy that buttery cookie flavor but, without all of the sugar.

The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (1)

Sugar Free Butter Cookies


The sugar free version of a classic favorite cookie.
I love the buttery flavor of this cookie especially during the holiday season.

This recipe for butter cookies may remind you of my sugar free shortbread cookie recipes.

Both cookie recipe are classic and favorite cookie recipes for so many of us.
Also, both shortbread and butter cookie recipes are classic cookie recipes that have been around for a long time.

I found some genius baking products that I wish I had invented. You can see great baking products that I wish I invented here.

You may be wondering are shortbread cookies the same as butter cookies.

As I just mentioned, both shortbread and butter cookies are a lot alike in both how they taste and how they look. Also, both shortbread and butter cookies are based upon butter.

Butter cookies and shortbread cookie recipes share the same basic ingredients as well.

Obviously, those basic ingredients include butter, flour, and sugar (or alternative). The difference between the two cookies really lies in the temperature that they are baked in an in the amount of each of the ingredients that are used in the recipe.

Here is what you can do with Sugar Free Butter Cookies.

Yes, you can simply roll them up into balls and press them into a circle for baking.
However, sometimes you may choose to use a cookie press and bake your cookies into fun shapes.

You can also add a bit of color or flavor to your cookies.

Adding a few drops of food coloring can give your cookies a colorful look. Or, you can substitute another flavor extract for your vanilla extract to add a different flavor to your cookies (I like almond extract or banana extract for this recipe).

Here are some tips Sugar Free Butter Cookies

I just mentioned that you can change up the color of these cookies by adding food coloring . Also mentioned that you can change up the flavor of these cookies by adding a different flavor to your cookies (I like almond extract or banana extract for this recipe).

Here are some more cookie baking tips for you.

  1. It is really important that you use real butter in this recipe. I always like to give alternatives when I can in a recipe to inspire folks to tailor a recipe towards their needs. However, this is a butter cookie recipe and hence, the butter needs to be in it.
  2. Using fresh ingredients is also essential for the success of your cookies. This is especially true for your dry ingredients.
  3. For anyone using this recipe to make fun cookie shapes using cookie cutters or simply to roll out and cut into shapes, refrigerating your dough before doing so is almost always the best way to go. You can refrigerate the dough for as little as 45 minutes or a day or two ahead of actually making your cookies.

What is the best butter to use in this cookie recipe anyway?

Usually, a recipe with butter will state 'unsalted butter' as this will allow you to control the actual amount of salt that is actually in the recipe. However, this is one recipe where using salted butter and omitting the salt may actually work better. Also, using butter just out of the refrigerator may actually be better than using butter that has been at room temperature. This is because of how the butter reacts with the other ingredients in this particular recipe.

Here are some similar recipes that you may also like.

  • 3 Ingredient Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies.
  • The Best Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.
  • (Killer!) Sugar Free Brownies!

Keep up to date with my recipes

You can check out my guide on baking with sugar alternatives on Amazon

I have some great tips on which alternatives may work in a recipe such as this one.

Be sure to follow me on facebook and subscribe to my recipes via email to keep up to date as well.

The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (2)

The recipe for Sugar Free Butter Cookies

As mentioned,you can change up the color of these cookies by adding food coloring . Also mentioned that you can change up the flavor of these cookies by adding a different flavor to your cookies (I like almond extract or banana extract for this recipe).

Also, I mentioned that using fresh ingredients is also essential for the success of your cookies.

This is especially true for your dry ingredients. Also, using butter just out of the refrigerator is better for the dough than using butter that has been allowed to get to room temperature.

What you will need to make this recipe for butter cookies

  • Flour - 2 ½ cups, all purpose. You can find keto and low carb all purpose flour alternatives here.
  • Salt- ½ tsp. You can omit this if you are using butter that has salt added to it.
  • Butter- 2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon. That is two sticks plus one tablespoon. The butter can be softened to room temperature or taken from the refrigerator and cut into cubes. Subbing in a butter alternative will take away from the 'butter taste' that is a part of these cookies.
  • Sugar Alternative- ⅔ cup of equivalent to sugar. For best results, please use a granulated Sugar Alternative that measures 1:1 with sugar and is suitable for baking with.
  • Egg-1.
  • Vanilla Extract-2 teaspoons. You can sub in another extract for all or part of the vanilla extract. My choices include almond extract or banana extract .

How to make Sugar Free Butter Cookies.

  • Use a whisk or a fork to mix together the flour and salt in a small bowl.
  • Next, in a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar alternative. I set my mixer on medium and cream until the mix has become creamy in texture. If you are using butter that is still cool, please have it cut up into cubes first. Then mix on low speed for one minute before increasing it to medium.
  • For the next step we will add the flour from the first bowl to the mixing bowl. Then beat in the egg and add the extract.
  • Refrigerate your dough covered for at least 45 minutes if you are planning on rolling it out and using cookie cutters or cutting it into shapes.
  • When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350 and prep your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place your cut, pressed, or dropped cookie dough onto the sheet and baked for 8-10 minutes or when the edges begin to turn a light brown color. Allow your cookies to cool on the cookie sheets so that they can set.

The Recipe Card for Sugar Free Butter Cookies

The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (3)

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4.34 from 168 votes

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Sugar Free Butter Cookies

This is the best and most delicious and simple recipe for Sugar Free Butter Cookies are perfect for your next dessert or gathering!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: cookies, holidays, Snack

Cuisine: American

Search Result: browned butter, cookies, holiday baking, sugar free

Servings: 36

Equipment

Ingredients

Tip: You can make this dough ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate it for later baking!

Instructions

  • Use a whisk or a fork to mix together the flour and salt in a small bowl. Next, in a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar alternative. I set my mixer on medium and cream until the mix has become creamy in texture. If you are using butter that is still cool, please have it cut up into cubes first. Then mix on low speed for one minute before increasing it to medium.

    The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (4)

  • For the next step we will add the flour from the first bowl to the mixing bowl. Then beat in the egg and add the extract. Refrigerate your dough covered for at least 45 minutes if you are planning on rolling it out and using cookie cutters or cutting it into shapes

    The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (5)

  • When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 350 and prep your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place your cut, pressed, or dropped cookie dough onto the sheet and baked for 8-10 minutes or when the edges begin to turn a light brown color. Allow your cookies to cool on the cookie sheets so that they can set.

    The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (6)

Recipe Notes

As mentioned,you can change up the color of these cookies by adding food coloring . Also mentioned that you can change up the flavor of these cookies by adding a different flavor to your cookies (I like almond extract or banana extract for this recipe).

Also, I mentioned that using fresh ingredients is also essential for the success of your cookies.

This is especially true for your dry ingredients. Also, using butter just out of the refrigerator is better for the dough than using butter that has been allowed to get to room temperature.

*Please check the nutritional labels to assure that you are sticking to your diet restrictions for any substitutions used.

- see post for alternatives
Please see recipe post for further details on this recipe.
Nutritional Information is only an estimate and can vary especially with ingredients that are used.

most recently updated:

April 3, 2020

*About Sugar Alternatives

Specific sugar alternatives are not given in the recipes presented on this site. Only suggestions are given as to the 'kind' of alternative to use. It is up to you to select the alternative to use that suits your needs best. If the recipe is heated or cooked, it is best to use an alternative that can be heated or cooked with for best results. This site does not endorse any specific ingredients,

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that the links on this website, and specifically on this post, that lead to other sites may be affiliate links.

Nutrition

Calories: 82kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 13mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 174IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

Please note: Nutritional data has been calculated using a tool that comes with this recipe card and not by me. This means that Nutritional Information is only an estimate and can vary especially with ingredients that you use. The accuracy of this tool may differ from other tools as expected. Also note that there is no instructional value to the video that may be attached to this recipe. It is only there for visual pleasure. For more information about the images in this recipe, please refer the the recipe instructions. Thank you!

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Nutritional Information is only an estimate and can vary especially with ingredients that are used.

This is the best and most delicious and simple recipe for Sugar Free Butter Cookies are perfect for your next dessert or gathering!

Please see recipe post for further details on this recipe.

You can see items that have been featured on my Sugar Free Sunday Spotlight here.

The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (7)
updated 4/20
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The recipe for easy and delicious Sugar Free Butter Cookies (2024)

FAQs

What happens to cookies without enough butter? ›

Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly.

What happens when you add too much butter to sugar cookies? ›

Classic signs of a cookie with too much butter include crispy-bordering-on-burnt edges, a greasy surface, an excessively brittle texture, and a predominantly buttery flavor that overpowers the other caramel and chocolate notes.

What does less sugar do to a cookie? ›

The lower the sugar, the less cookies spread, the drier/more crumbly they are. Cookies with less sugar taste less sweet, of course. But beyond that, their flavor also becomes flat; sugar is a flavor enhancer much like salt is.

Can you substitute cream cheese for butter? ›

Cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta and even cottage cheese can replace the butter in many recipes. Use high-quality whole milk cheeses in a 1:1 ratio for butter and consider straining ricotta or cottage cheeses through cheesecloth to help ensure they aren't adding too much liquid to your recipe.

What can I use if I don't have enough butter cookies? ›

You may use Margarine, in place of Butter in baking cookies. Butter oil or it is also called butter oil, or clarified butter, or Ghee in Indian stores, but use 20 percent less what the butter quantity asks for in the recipe. You may try any hydrogenated (solid ) fat, such as shortening.

What happens if you use melted butter instead of softened for cookies? ›

Cookies made with melted butter often deflate and become denser when they cool, resulting in a perfectly cooked fudgy center — a similar textural result to brownies that get rapped (aka banged against an oven rack mid-bake to deflate them) or Sarah Kieffer's iconic pan-banging cookies that turn out pleasantly compact.

What happens if you don't add enough sugar to cookies? ›

When you decrease the sugar in a cookie recipe, you won't just get a result that's less sweet. You'll get cookies that are harder, drier, crumblier, and spread far less. It was also interesting to note that decreasing the sugar also yielded 1 less cookie dough ball.

What to do if you don't have enough sugar for cookies? ›

7 Natural Sugar Substitutes to Try in Your Cooking & Baking
  1. Honey. Honey is not only sweet, but it's packed with an array of health benefits! ...
  2. Maple Syrup. Maple syrup contains a fair bit of sugar, so consume it rather minimally. ...
  3. Applesauce. ...
  4. 4. Fruits. ...
  5. Molasses. ...
  6. Cane Sugar. ...
  7. Coconut Palm Sugar.

What is the best substitute for sugar in baking? ›

General recommended substitution ratios are as follows:
  • For every cup of sugar, you can replace it with a 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of honey or 2/3 cup agave.
  • If using maple syrup or molasses, 3/4 cup to 1 cup will do the trick.
Sep 20, 2023

What does vanilla extract do in cookies? ›

The primary purpose of vanilla extract is to add flavour to baked goods. Lacking it, baked goods tend to have a bland and boring taste. Vanilla extract can also contribute moisture to create a soft and fluffy texture.

Does the amount of butter affect cookies? ›

Butter doesn't affect just the flavour of your cookies, it has a major impact on their texture and structure, too.

Why do cookies need so much butter? ›

The job of butter in baking (besides being delicious) is to give richness, tenderness and structure to cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. We alter the way butter works in a recipe by changing its temperature and choosing when to combine it with the other ingredients.

What makes cookies fluffy and not flat? ›

Room temperature butter is just the right consistency to incorporate air when it's creamed with sugar. These trapped air pockets result in risen, fluffy cookies. If the butter is any warmer, it won't incorporate enough air and your cookies will have less rise.

Why are my cookies flat and crispy? ›

OVEN IS TOO HOT

Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

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