Danish Wedding Cookies
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Getting nostalgic today with super simple Danish Wedding Cookies! Lightly sweetened, buttery, and nutty shortbread-style cookies, coated with lots with powdered sugar to give them their iconic look. Made with only seven pantry staple ingredients, these cookies are sure to be your new go-to bake for any and every occasion! Every bite just melts in your mouth and will always leave you wanting more. Truly SO delicious. There’s nothing not to love about these homemade danish wedding cookies. Bonus? They’re SUPER easy to make, a great bake for the holiday’s, and a real crowd pleaser!
About The Recipe
For me, there is nothing more nostalgic than these danish wedding cookies. They are something my mom and I have been making together for as long as I can remember! Come holiday’s, there was always a batch of these cookies in the oven.
So, I couldn’t be more excited to finally share this recipe with all of you!
My mom always said that her family used to buy the pink boxes from the grocery store and it was always her favorite! It wasn’t until a little bit later on in life that she realized that her family had a recipe for them.
Of course, If you’ve read the blog before, you’ll know my mom never can leave a recipe as-is. She tweaked the recipe until it was absolutely perfect. That recipe is the same one we’ve been making my entire life! Over the years, the only thing we’ve changes in the shapes.
We like to keep it traditional, but every once in a while, especially when I was a kid, we would make them in cocoon shapes. We have even used this recipe to make skeleton bones for halloween!
They’re truly such a versatile and fun cookie that everyone needs a recipe for.
The best part? These cookies, dare I say it, taste SO much better than anything you can buy in the store. They’re buttery, nutty, perfectly sweetened, and every bite just melts in your mouth.
What Are Danish Wedding Cookies?
If you’ve made it this far, I bet you’re wondering what the HECK I’m talking about. A danish wedding cookie, also known as cocoons, mexican wedding cookies, and/or simply wedding cookies, are a simple shortbread-style cookie. Made with lots of butter, nuts, cream, vanilla, and just enough powdered sugar to make these cookies perfectly sweet.
Of course, each recipe has it’s own variations, but they’re all a pretty similar cookie!
Reasons You Will Love These Danish Wedding Cookies
- Very simple to make!
- Buttery, nutty, and perfectly sweet.
- Ready to eat in under an hour!
- Perfect for the holiday’s.
- A crowd pleaser!
Equipment Needed
- Stand Mixer
- Rubber Spatula
- Sheet Pans
- Small Cookie Scoop
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
(Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)
- Salted Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- All-Purpose Flour
- Vanilla Extract
- Chopped Pecans
- Heavy Cream
- Salt
How To Make Danish Wedding Cookies
Step 1: Cream butter and sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and 5 Tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Step 2: Add flour and salt
Add the flour and salt. Stir until mixture resembles sand, about 1 minute. Be sure to scrape down the sides!
Step 3: Mix
Mix in the vanilla and heavy cream.
Stir in the pecans.
Step 4: Portion and bake
Use a small cookie scoop, scoop the cookies to portion the dough. Roll between your palms until it the dough becomes a smooth ball. Place 1-inch apart on prepared pan. Flatten slightly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bottoms are just starting to show a tiny bit of color.
Step 5: Coat with powdered sugar
While the cookies are still hot, roll each cookie in powdered sugar. Set aside to cool.
How To Get A Perfectly Round Cookie
The best way to achieve this is by using a cookie scoop and then rolling the dough between your palms to form a smooth ball! Then, gently press down slightly. Since the cookies do not spread when baking, whatever shape they are when you put them in the oven, that’s the shape they will be after baking!
Mix-In Ideas
The wonderful thing about these cookies is that you can add almost anything to them! They’re super simple in flavor and compliment so many things! Here’s a quick list of a few of our favorite things to add to these danish wedding cookies.
- Mini chocolate chips
- Ground spices (such-as a dash of cinnamon!)
- A different nut instead of pecans like walnuts or almonds.
How To Store
Once these cookies have cooled, you can keep them in an airtight container or in a zip top bag at room temperature for 3-5 days. Though, in our opinion, the best way to store them is in the freezer. You can place them in a freezer safe container or zip top bag and freeze for 2-3 months.
Looking for more recipes like this? Here are a few you may like: Pecan Shortbread Cookies, Homemade Fig Newtons, Funfetti Cookies, M&M Sugar Cookies
Expert Tips
- It’s best to use light colored sheet pans for these cookies! If all you have are dark colored pans, you will need to lower the oven temper to 275°F. Baking time may vary.
- This recipe needs the salted butter and salt.
- To make chopping the nuts easier, use a food processor! There do not need to be any big chunks of pecans in the cookies, as the cookies are very small.
- Be careful to not over-mix the dough!
- To ensure each cookie is the same size, use a cookie scoop.
- For smooth and round cookies, roll the cookies into a ball before pressing down!
- These cookies will not brown in the oven. It typically takes about 25-30 minutes to bake. If you’re unsure that they’re baked, carefully lift one cookie from the sheet pan. If the bottom is lightly browned, it’s done!
- Roll these cookies while they’re still hot to ensure the powdered sugar sticks.
- These cookies taste best after cooling completely.
When you make these Danish Wedding Cookies, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Danish Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoons powdered sugar + extra to roll cookies in
- 1 cup salted butter
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cup pecans, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Line pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cream butter and 5 Tablespoons powdered sugar.
- Stir in flour and salt.
- Add vanilla and heavy cream.
- Stir in pecans.
- Use a small cookie scoop to portion dough.
- Roll into smooth ball.
- Place on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Flatten slightly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bottoms are just starting to show a tiny bit of color.
- Remove from oven and roll in powdered sugar.
Notes + Tips!
- It’s best to use light colored sheet pans for these cookies! If all you have are dark colored pans, you will need to lower the oven temper to 275°F. Baking time may vary.
- This recipe needs the salted butter and salt.
- To make chopping the nuts easier, use a food processor! There do not need to be any big chunks of pecans in the cookies, as the cookies are very small.
- Be careful to not over-mix the dough!
- To ensure each cookie is the same size, use a cookie scoop.
- For smooth and round cookies, roll the cookies into a ball before pressing down!
- These cookies will not brown in the oven. It typically takes about 25-30 minutes to bake. If you’re unsure that they’re baked, carefully lift one cookie from the sheet pan. If the bottom is lightly browned, it’s done!
- Roll these cookies while they’re still hot to ensure the powdered sugar sticks.
- These cookies taste best after cooling completely.
Tools You May Need (affiliate links)
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
– Still Hungry? –
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I love these cookies & some times before baking them I make a little dent in the middle of each cookie.After they are cooled I put a dollop of powdered sugar frosting on each cookie.I sometimes tint the frosting to make them more decorative. Almost everyone’s favorite cookie.
Hi Sharon! I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed these cookies. THey’re our favorite, too! Xo, Caylie.
My cookies are more crumbly and not shaping- I followed exact 🙁
Hi Tina! I’ve occasionally had that problem. Try holding the pieces of dough in your hand for a minute. The heat from you hand will warm up the dough and help it come together.
Olá
A receita deve ser maravilhosa vou fazer.
Como devo armazenar os biscoitos e qual a validade?
Obrigada
Hi, Liliana. They should keep about a week at room temperature; but they freeze beautifully if you need to keep them a bit longer.
Sounds interesting. May have to get my Mississippi friend to try making some. I am not a baker or i would do it.
Thanks! We hope you like them!
I may try to get two friends to bake some. My non-Mississippi friend is a better baker.
If I like them, does that mean I will be marrying a Danish woman?
I rarely get homesick, but your post did remind me of Mom’s baking skills. I haven’t lived in Mississippi since moving to Kansas in July 1998. Have been back for three one-week Katrina deconstruction/reconstruction trips back in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Hoping to make it back one day.