My mom made these Amazing Meltaway Cookies every Christmas season when I was growing up. If you haven’t had one, they’re kind of hard to describe. They’re like a little puff of buttery perfection that literally melts in your mouth. They’re topped with a cream cheese frosting while they’re still a little bit warm, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to a tray of holiday cookies. They look especially delicious next to these Chewy Gingersnaps.;)
The ingredients for these cute cookies couldn’t be any simpler. All you need to mix up a batch is a bowl, some butter, flour, cornstarch and powder sugar. Once you’ve got everything together, grab a fork and start mixing. You want to incorporate the butter into all the other ingredients. If the fork is leaving a little flour behind, just use your hand to finish up the last bit of mixing.
My mom always made these into small bite-size cookies. You could technically do whatever size you want, but to get the small bite-size shape, I use my 2 tablespoon size cookie scoop to scoop out a ball of dough. Then I divided that ball of dough into two pieces and roll them each into a little ball. It makes perfect, cute little cookies that are all the same size.
More Yummy Christmas Treats to Share
- Classic Chocolate Fudge
- Holiday Snowball Cookies
- Merry Widow Caramels
- Cinnamon Sugar White Chocolate Pretzels
- Rainbow Clusters
- Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle
- Crazy Good Mint Fudge
step-by-step pictures on How to make amazing meltaway cookies
Frequently asked questions about Amazing Meltaway Cookies
what can i use instead of butter?
Unfortunately, there just isn’t a substitute for butter in this recipe. The butter-cornstarch combo is what gives these cookies the fun, meltaway component.
should the butter be salted or unsalted?
This will not make a huge difference. I always use salted butter in my baking.
how many cookies will this recipe make?
Depending on the size of your cookie scoop, it will make between 2-3 dozen.
can these cookies be frozen and used later?
Yes, they can. I would suggest leaving the cookies unfrosted, if you’re going to freeze them. When you take them out of the freezer, frost them before serving. With that said, you can also freeze them frosted, if you want, BUT if stacked, the frosting will stick to the parchment paper or other cookies. Frosted cookies usually have a stickier consistency and shinier look when taken out of the freezer. Just something to consider.
does it matter what type of flour I use?
Yes. You want to use regular all-purpose flour or unbleached flour. Just be careful not to add cake flour or bread flour. It will definitely change the cookie.
baker’s tools:
More Christmas favorites
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- ⅓ cup powder sugar
- FROSTING
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powder sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet with cooking spray or line it with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and powder sugar. Give it a stir to combine. Add the softened butter and mix with a fork until a dough forms (if the fork is leaving some flour behind, you may need to use your hand to incorporate the last bits).
- Once dough is formed, use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out a ball of dough. Break the ball of dough into two equal pieces and roll each of them into a ball and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
- Frost cookies while they are till warm.
- FROSTING
- Combine softened cream cheese, powder sugar and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth.
- Frost cookies and add Christmas sprinkles, if desired.
- Enjoy!
Ideas for Christmas dinner
I made these cookies but I think I put too much PoweredSugar in them!!! They were really Sweet (but Tasty)!! Also!! How do I keep the cookie dough from spreading (while baking)? I wanted mine to look like your picture .. in little round “domes!”
But!! They were So yummy!!
Thank you for the Recipe!!💓💓😍
Hi Alyce, The spreading usually happens if there is too much butter or not enough flour. Also if you wanted to you could chill the dough before cooking which would also make it stay more domed.
Mine also spread and I’ve used another recipe for years and didn’t ever have that happen. Thought I’d try another recipe. Must have done something wrong.
Interesting, I’m sorry to hear that, maybe a little extra four next time. Is there a big difference in this recipe and the one you used in the past?
Can you freeze these ? To make ahead of time.
I have been looking for Thai exact recipes. It is so similar to my grandmother’s that I lost
Hi Amy, sorry for the late reply, yes, you can freeze these. Just make sure they are in an air tight container and flat. They are soft and can crumble easily.
Could I make into balls and then freeze. Take them out at a later time to bake?
Yes, that should work fine, just let them come to room temp before Baking.
We tried making a larger batch (4x larger). Seems we messed up the first batch because they came out looking great but after cooling they would basically turn to powder. Is this due to too much or too little of an ingredient? Thank for your help!
Yikes, I’ve only ever doubled it so not sure if quadrupling was the issues…also too much corn starch could cause crumbling or also not enough flour, they are me t to be really soft and smash pretty easily if handled a lot, but they should t just crumble. I hope that helps.
I made the recipe twice exactly as written and both times the cookies baked down flat and looked terrible.
I am so sorry to hear that. I had someone else tell me something similar which was surprising because I have been making them for years and never had that problem as well as many others making them with good results. What I have been noticing this Christmas baking season is that the butter I use seems to have more liquid in it then it used too. My toffee recipe kept coming out bad and I finally realized what was happening. I think that we may need to start adding an additional 1/4-1/3 cup flour in the meltaway cookies. I plan to experiment with it soon. I am sorry that your cookies turned out flat.
Melted on cookie sheet even after long chilling time. Recipe needs work
I am sorry to hear that Karen, My family has been making this exact recipe for years and haven’t had that happen. Maybe try adding a little more flour next time. I can’t imagine what could have gone wrong.