Gourmet Buttermilk Cookies
These gourmet buttermilk cookies are soft and tender with a tasty, delightful glaze. They are elegant and delicious!
I’ve been making these cookies for years and years, and they remain a favorite.
Let me tell you why: their ethereal, soft texture is unlike any cookie I’ve ever tasted and the sweet buttermilk glaze compliments the tender, light, lemony crumb.
They definitely look unassuming. I mean, really, where’s the color? The pizazz? The pop?
Trust me, one bite and you’ll realize these cookies don’t need anything else to make them special or stand out. They are absolutely incredible.
Gourmet Buttermilk Cookies
Ingredients
For Cookies:
- 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
- Zest of 1 lemon, about 2-3 teaspoons
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ sticks (170 g) butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
For Glaze:
- 1 ½ cups (171 g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, positioning an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners or lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then mix in the vanilla.
- Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Drop tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies until they are puffed and edges are golden, 12 to 13 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Let the cookies rest for a minute or so out of the oven and then brush the tops of the warm cookies with the glaze.
- Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serving: 1 Cookie, Calories: 197kcal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 137mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 20g
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Recipe Source: adapted from Gourmet and found on Sweets by Sarah
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Not so much a cookie consistency, much more cake-like. Still yummy though. I recommend cutting down the sugar to 1 cup as another reviewer mentioned — it won’t crisp up as nicely but the lemon will come through much better. Also replaced the buttermilk with lemon juice in the icing to really help out on the lemon flavour.
Needs fresh lemon juice in not the composition and the glaze…..and cut the sugar to 1 cup….assuming you like the taste of lemon.
Otherwise it’s a must try …again and again 🙂
I had left over buttermilk to use up and heaps of lemons on my tree so this was just the recipe I needed. I like that it makes such a large batch as I have hungry teenagers to feed. A lovely light cookie with a cake like consistency. Very easy to whip up, I will definitely make it again. Thanks. I added a bit of lemon juice to the glaze as well. Yum!
Errrr… What is a “stick” of butter? I find butter in 250 and 500 gr packs here. Never heard of a measurement unit called that. And which “cup”? I know four: Imperial (half a pint 285ml), “standard” (which obviously isn’t a standard anywhere; 250ml), US (234ml if I remember right is it 4/5 of imperial,or something) and to add the mess “coffee cup” used sometimes as unit in Scandinavia which is 150 ml.
A stick of butter is 4 ounces (8 tablespoons). I don’t know the conversion to grams but you could probably google it. A cup is 8 fluid ounces.
Excellent. A new staple
I’m English and think I got my measure conversions wrong, as mine came out as flatish cakes, rather than crisp and crumbly cookies. That was my fault. But despite using some amazing Sorrento lemons and going over the top with the amount of zest, they don’t taste lemony. Should I have put lemon juice in too?
I made these tonight. They are super yummy. I was out of lemon so I used lime zest. It was great. I could hardly keep from eating the yummy batter. I did bake on the longer side because the bottom got nice and crispy with a lovely soft top and middle.
Light and airy gems. Hubby gave them 5 stars.
So worth making these cookies. They are light and airy and absolutely delicious.
Best cookie I’ve ever made with little effort! My husband actually liked them too!
Should this be a really soft cookie dough (so soft it’s almost like thick cake batter). Dough is chilling now. can these be stored room temp in airtight container?
Yes, the dough is pretty soft and I store them at room temp for up to a day – any longer and I pop them in the refrigerator.
Would it be ruined if I refrigerated the dough over night?
I’ve never tried that but I think it should be fine.
All cookie and pie crust doughs are thought to improve if left to rest in the cooler. My mom taught me to let these sit wrapped tight until tomorrow. Maybe has something to do with the gluten?
Mel- I was a bit unsure about using buttermilk in a cookie recipe, but since I haven’t yet tried a recipe on this blog that I did not like, and I had all the ingredients on hand I decided to give these a try. And I am glad that I did!! These were amazing!!! Light and airy and perfect! This may be now my favorite cookie. Thanks!!!!!
PS- these were made for college students and they were a hit with them too.
Mmmmmm……sooo gooood! They are like little pillows of lemony heaven. num num Thank you!
This look great–I am a big fan of baking with buttermilk and always have it on hand. I will definetly have to try these–I love how you chilled the dough in the snow!!
I am eating one right now, and boy- I love them! They are light and delicious. Thanks!!
yum! these cookies look great!i just joined the DB this month, just checking out everyone else’s blogs, wanted to say hello 🙂
I am so glad that you liked them! And thanks for mentioning my blog…I really appreciate it! 🙂