Ready to find your new favorite dessert?! This homemade version of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter is so easy to make and ready in 5 minutes. Serving ideas and cookie suggestions included!
You will love this recipe for Cookie Butter
Love cookies? Well, meet your next dessert addiction: cookie butter! You may have heard of or even bought Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter in the past, but now you can make it right at home.
This recipe uses minimal ingredients and you can whip it up very quickly. It’s so simple even my hubs can make it (and he can barely make cereal).
This smooth and creamy butter pairs great with several desserts and breakfast recipes to enjoy along with some coffee or tea. You can really use it on anything you’d use Nutella on.
What is Cookie Butter?
Cookie butter originated in Europe and is traditionally made with speculoos cookies that are made during the Christmas holiday season. This cookie is made with a special spice blend and similar to gingersnap cookies.
The cookie also grinds down beautifully smooth making it perfect for cookie butter.
It has been popular in Europe for many years but started reaching popularity in America recently thanks to Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter. Luckily, we can make this tasty treat very easily at home with a variety of cookies.
What does Cookie Butter taste like?
Cookie butter has a rich, sweet, and creamy flavor. It typically tastes like a combination of spiced cookies, caramel, and a hint of nuttiness. The flavor can vary slightly depending on the brand, but overall, it has a distinct and delicious taste reminiscent of cookies.
Ingredients in Cookie Butter
- Gingersnap cookies– Gingersnap cookies are a type of cookie that are characterized by their spicy, ginger-forward flavor. They are typically crisp and have a slightly crunchy texture, with a deep golden brown color. Gingersnap cookies often contain ingredients like molasses, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and sometimes black pepper, giving them a warm and aromatic taste.
- Whole Milk- Skim or 2% can be used, but full fat delivers the best and richest flavor.
- Unsalted Butter– We use unsalted to control the salt levels. Different brands are salty than others. If using salted butter, omit the fine sea salt.
- Vanilla Extract– To improve and amplify flavor.
- Ground Cinnamon– Use a freshly ground cinnamon or ceylon cinnamon for best results. The cookies will have some cinnamon flavor, this just takes it up a notch. You can also add ground allspice, ginger or nutmeg.
- Powdered Sugar– To add sweetness and make the spread creamy. Powdered sugar is fine, using a granulated will make a grainy dip.
- Fine sea salt– Since this mixture won’t be heated, fine sea salt is best to dissolve quickly. Do not use table salt, it has a higher sodium content and smaller grains, leading to an oversalted spread.
How to make Cookie Butter
Making cookie butter is remarkably easy.
- Combine all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend on high until a smooth paste forms.
- You may need to add a bit more milk depending on the cookie you use and their moisture level.
- Once you have the cookie butter to your desired consistency, enjoy immediately or store leftovers.
Tips for perfect Homemade Cookie Butter
Take it Slow: To ensure that you get the perfect creamy texture, make sure to add additional milk in very slowly. I suggest using the amount of milk the recipe calls for and blend everything together.
After that if the butter is still too thick, then add additional milk 1 tbsp at a time until it reaches a smooth and creamy consistency.
Cookie Options: I suggest using Lotus Biscoff cookies (speculoos cookies) or a generic gingersnap cookie. This will give you the classic Trader Joe’s cookie butter taste.
You can find these cookies at most big grocery stores. If you cannot find this brand you can also use a generic brand of gingersnap or molasses cookies. Of course you could use virtually any cookie to make this recipe if you cannot find one of those.
Obviously, using a different cookie will yield a different flavor but there are endless tasty cookie options to explore. Some other great cookies to try are:
- shortbread cookies
- sugar cookies
- snickerdoodle cookies
- or peanut butter cookies
How to use this Cookie Butter Recipe
It is really simple to make and has loads of great uses. This is one of my guilty pleasures and I always try to hide it in the back of the fridge to keep it all to myself.
This tactic never seems to work as my family always hunts it down and devours it by the spoonful.
How to serve this recipe for Cookie Butter
My favorite ways to eat it include:
- With sliced apples, bananas or strawberries
- On toast or an English muffin
- Spread over a speculoos cookie
- Just strait out of the bowl with a spoon
- Stuffed in crepes
- Over the top of pancakes, waffles or french toast
- Mixed into brownie batter
- In a “Peanut” Butter and Jelly sandwich
- Mixed into a smoothie or oatmeal
How to store Cookie Butter
Store leftover cookie butter in an airtight storage container like a mason jar, or tupperware. While store bought butters can be stored at room temperature I find that this recipe keeps best in the fridge.
When stored in the fridge it will stay good for 1-2 weeks, but it will also get firm. You can remove it from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature before using, or spread it over something warm like toast and it will soften up.
You can also freeze the cookie butter for up to 3 months. You can store it in freezer bags, an airtight container or my favorite way is in an ice cube tray.
With the ice cube tray method you can pop out a single serving and not defrost the entire thing. Let the cookie butter come to room temperature before eating, or add frozen into a smoothie.
Cookie Butter Spread FAQs
Yes, Biscoff is a brand of cookie that is often used to make cookie butter. Biscoff cookies, also known as speculoos cookies, have a distinct flavor that combines spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. When the cookies are ground into a paste, it is commonly referred to as Biscoff or speculoos cookie butter. So, Biscoff can be considered a type of cookie butter, but there are other brands and variations available as well.
Yes, there are different types of cookie butter available. While Biscoff (speculoos) cookie butter is the most popular, other brands and variations exist. Some may use different types of cookies as a base, such as chocolate cookies or shortbread cookies.
More cookie recipes:
Homemade Cookie Butter Spread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces gingersnap cookies
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend on high until a smooth paste forms.
- You may need to add a bit more milk depending on the cookie you use.
- Once you have the cookie butter to your desired consistency, enjoy immediately or store leftovers.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know what you think in the comments and ratings.
How can you use this in a cake recipe?
I don’t see why not, but only to replace the ingredient of cookie butter or biscoff cookies, not the actual butter. There isn’t enough fat in it to replace the fats in a cake recipe. You could also use it for frosting or a filling.
I love cookie butter, so I thought why not make some homemade. I used 1/2 recipe to try but also reduced powder sugar to just a spoonful. The flavor and consistency are good but not as sweet as store bought. I attribute this to my reduced sugar use. Will make again.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m sure other readers will appriciate it!
Sadly I found this to be inedibly salty and had to toss it. I highly recommend starting with just a pinch of salt and adding more from there to suit your tastes.
Thanks for the feedback, Alexis.
I agree. Will omit salt completely next time. I also added lots more powdered sugar and some heavy cream to try to cut the saltiness. Will try again since I am addicted to cookie butter.
WAY too much salt, I made it again with just a tiny pinch, and it was perfect!!
Thanks for the feedback!
Too salty and too runny. I cut the salt in half, doubled the recipe and quadrupled the amount of cookies required. THEN the consistency was right and the flavor was nice. Even with those adjustments, it was still very simple to make and tasted great.
Hi there- sorry you had to make so many adjustments. Just curious, did you use melted butter instead of softened? We’ve made this several times, but never had this issue. We will also send it back to the recipe testers to test again. Happy holidays!
This looks so delicious and tasty! I can’t wait to make this! Thanks!
We have been having so much fun in the kitchen as a family lately! I have involved the kids in selecting recipes and making them! My entire loved this cookie butter! OMG YUMMMMMM
I love cookie butter. I love how easy it is to make this at home.
I didn’t know you could make cookie butter at home. It looks amazing – I love your photos of it!
OK, I’m in love! What an amazing recipe – forget the toast, I’m dunking a spoon into this delish cookie butter!