Amish Buttermilk Cookies

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Cookies are a very popular treat and snack. There’s nothing as good as knowing your cookie jar is full! There are many childhood stories of when you were caught sneaking your hand into the cookie jar! Or unless your mama placed it on the highest shelf .. but somehow sibling teamwork will have it down in no time.

After a long day at school, cookies would sort of renew your energy, especially when accompanied by a glass of chilled milk.

When I grew up, my passion for baking drove me to continuously try various cookie recipes. In my home bakery, cookies make the highest sales. So glad I landed on this Amish Buttermilk Cookie. Its orders never stop coming.

Amish Home Bakeries

If you have ever visited a bakery within the Amish Country, you know how delicious their buttermilk cookies stand out in flavor.

As I was carrying out market research for my home bakery, I was privileged to visit a lady who had successfully run a home bakery for over 20 years! The Amish are known to be very resilient and skillful in running businesses.

Most of the Amish are farmers growing their own food and rearing livestock such as dairy animals. The availability of farm produces inspired their home cooks to develop recipes such as buttermilk cookies. They found a creative way of using up the farm produce in the Amish Country such as milk.

Learning valuable tips from the kind old lady, I am grateful I learned how to make Amish buttermilk cookies. It’s so easy to find the ingredients used in the recipe in your pantry. That’s what I love about Amish recipes.

Also, check out: Amish Apple Fritters Recipe.

Why Amish Buttermilk Cookie Recipe

The buttermilk gives the cookies a characteristic taste of tang as well as a sweet milky flavor. The texture is greatly enhanced by the reaction between the acid in the buttermilk and baking soda.

The gas released makes them very light and fluffy. Amish Buttermilk cookies have a very soft moist interior like that of cakes. The creamy topping adds a tone of sweetness making these cookies stand out in a wide variety of cookies.

Let us look at all the ingredients that make the decadent cookie in detail. You will enjoy following this easy step by step recipe.

Ingredients And Substitution

All purpose flour

Any regular all purpose flour will work for this recipe. I have not tried substituting all purpose flour with any other flour.

Buttermilk

This special form of milk gives the cookie their special tangy flavor. The acidity found in the buttermilk reacts with the leavening agent making the cookies very tender.

In addition butter milk contains higher amounts of fat as compared to plain milk. This enhances the overall texture of the cookie. You can substitute buttermilk with sour cream or yogurt as these contain almost the same amount of fat.

How to make homemade buttermilk

You can find buttermilk at the grocery stores but I prefer to make my buttermilk at home just like the Amish. It is easy peasy. You need:

1 Cup of whole milk
2 Tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice

Steps

Add the vinegar or lemon juice into the cup of milk and stir
Let it sit for 5 to 6 minutes and watch it thicken and curdle.
There you go! Enjoy using the delicious homemade buttermilk.

Eggs

Eggs add moisture to the cookies as well as make the cookies rise slightly.

Brown sugar

Sweetens the cookies as well as contribute a rich molasses flavor to the tasty delights. If you cannot get brown sugar, use granulated sugar or a healthier sweetener such as stevia powder.

Baking powder and Baking Soda leavens the cookie dough. Baking soda reacts with the acid in the buttermilk releasing gas in the cookie dough, making the cookie rise.

Salt :the salty flavor balances out with other flavors making them pop out so to say.

Butter is creamed with sugar contributing to the moisture of the cookies. Butter can be substituted with lard or vegetable oil. Lard is fart rendered from pig.

It is becoming popular among bakers because it has a lower melting point as compared to butter. Most Amish recipes call for lard because of its availability in the Amish Country. It will not cost you much especially if you neighbor the farming community in the Amish Country.

Equipment

Stand mixer or electric hand held mixer
Mixing bowls
Rubber spatula
Baking trays
Parchment paper

FAQ Amish Buttermilk Cookies

Why did my Buttermilk cookies crack?

Cracking happens when we over mix the cookie dough. Over-beating introduces a lot of air into the cookie dough.
Too much air is what makes the cookies crack during baking. Resist the urge to over mix as soon as all the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated.

Why should I use buttermilk in the recipe ?

Buttermilk contains more fat than regular milk, this makes the cookies more tender in structure.
Other than that, buttermilk adds a unique tangy flavor to the decadent treats.

Can I freeze my Amish cookie dough?

Yes you can. It saves on time the next time you would like to make a sweet treat for your guests on short notice.
Use a tablespoon or ice cream scoop to drop cookies on a tray lined with parchment paper.

Slip the tray into the freezer. Let the cookie freeze individually overnight or at least 5 hours. Once they are completely frozen, place them in a freezer bag or container and freeze for about 2 months.

How do I store the baked cookies?

Store them in an airtight container. I would recommend storing the buttermilk delights in an airtight container before you glaze them.
This way they will not stick on each other. Glaze them when you are ready to munch them.

Tips and Notes

Just in case you want crunchy cookies, substitute the buttermilk with regular milk.

Buttermilk, especially made from whole milk, will make your cookies appear like cake. But if you are fine with the cakey interior, do not substitute the buttermilk with milk.

Amish Cookie Icing or Glaze

The Amish Butternut cookies have yet another layer of sweetness that makes them shout in a crowd of cookies.

I reduced the sugar in my cookie dough by half a cup to reduce the sweetness of the cookies. The glaze introduces a rich flavor other than sweetness too.

It comes together in a very short time with the simplest of steps. When my children are in the kitchen, making the glaze is a chore they will gladly do.

Ingredients

½ cup Butter
½ cup Brown sugar
1 tablespoon Buttermilk
¾ cup of powdered sugar

How to make the glaze for the Amish Buttermilk Cookies

Melt butter and sugar over medium heat in a saucepan.
Remove the mixture from the heat, add the buttermilk and whisk
Add the powdered sugar and whisk to get a smooth consistency. If the mixture is too thick add milk.
Drizzle the sweet topping on each cookie using a spoon.

Enjoy the decadent Amish Buttermilk cookie for breakfast, afternoon tea or for dessert.

Amish Pretzels Recipe. Click to Read.

Variations Of The Amish Buttermilk Cookies

It is very easy to make other variations of the Amish Buttermilk Cookies. I usually divide the cookie dough into two batches depending on the flavors I would like to make.

Amish Lemon Buttermilk cookies are one of my favorites! I make them by adding a teaspoon of lemon rind and lemon juice into the cookie dough.

In addition, you could also use lemon juice in the glaze instead of buttermilk. The results are fabulous, trust me.

You also add a teaspoon of cinnamon in the cookie dough and in the sugar glaze to make the Amish Cinnamon Buttermilk Cookies. The warm and sweet flavor of cinnamon will linger in your mouth! They are absolutely exquisite.