Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies: The Five Shapes in the Blue Tin

The blue tin holds five styles, pretzel, vanilla ring, Finnish, country and coconut, yet they are closer to one cookie in several shapes than to a mixed selection. Knowing that changes how you serve them and what you pour alongside.

One buttery dough, five shapes

Royal Dansk lists its classic assortment as five styles: pretzel, vanilla ring, Finnish, country and coconut. They share a short dough in which butter sits second on the ingredient list, straight after wheat flour, followed by sugar, desiccated coconut, invert sugar, salt, a raising agent and natural vanilla flavouring. Piping the dough, instead of rolling and stamping it, is what gives the ridged edges and open centres.

Because the base is shared, there is no dud in the tin that everybody leaves until last. What changes from shape to shape is thickness and surface: the slim ones eat crisper, the chunkier ones hold more of the butter, and the coconut style accounts for the desiccated coconut on the label. The flavour is plain by design, butter first and sugar second, with no coating on top to hide behind.

From Helsingør to the sewing box

The first batches came out of the oven in Helsingør, Denmark, in 1966, and the cookies are still baked in Denmark, at factories in the villages of Nørre Snede and Ribe that together turn out more than 25,000 tonnes a year. The brand belongs to the Kelsen Group, alongside its sister brand Kjeldsens; Campbell bought the group in 2013 and sold it to a Ferrero-affiliated company in 2019.

The tin is half the appeal. Royal Dansk describes it as fully recyclable, and it is famous for a second life on a shelf full of buttons and thread long after the last cookie has gone. That tells you what the pack is really for: the table when people come round, a tin passed along the sofa at Christmas, rather than one person on their own with a mug.

Beside the cup, never in it

These are not dunking cookies. A short dough this rich in butter has almost nothing holding it together once it gets wet, so it slumps and breaks away within seconds. Eat them beside the drink instead, and choose that drink with some care: butter is the one real flavour here, and a heavy, stewed pot of tea simply buries it.

A light, fragrant cup lets the butter come through, and the vanilla rings and pretzels suit a Darjeeling, an Earl Grey or a gentle Lady Grey. For coffee, a milky latte or a cafetière of medium roast works well, and black filter coffee is just as good. Press the lid down firmly between visits, because an open tin loses its buttery smell well before the cookies lose their crunch.

The packs we stock

• Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g (barcode 077330530057)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g (barcode 077330530057) says it contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and it may contain egg, nuts and peanuts. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Wheat flour, butter (milk), sugar, desiccated coconut, invert sugar, salt, ammonium bicarbonate, natural flavor (vanilla).

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Twinings Lady Grey, 80 Tea Bags 200g: A soft, fragrant cup that lets the butter lead instead of covering it up.
• Dilmah Premium Ceylon Black, 25 Tea Bags 50g: A plain Ceylon black tea brewed short, for anyone who wants a proper cup without burying the butter.
• Dilmah Earl Grey, 20 Tea Bags 30g: Bergamot and butter make an easy match, and the vanilla ring is the shape to reach for first.
• Starbucks Espresso Roast by NESPRESSO Coffee, Dark Roast, Box of 36, 198g: Pull a shot and add plenty of steamed milk for the milky latte that suits the tin; it is a dark roast, so the milk matters.

Elsewhere in the Royal Dansk range

The full range is on the Royal Dansk brand page.

FAQ

What are the five Royal Dansk cookie styles? Pretzel, vanilla ring, Finnish, country and coconut, according to Royal Dansk's own description of the classic assortment.

Where are Royal Dansk cookies made? In Denmark, at two factories in Nørre Snede and Ribe. The first batches were baked in Helsingør in 1966.

Can you dunk Danish butter cookies? We would not. The buttery short dough has little to hold it together once wet and breaks up almost at once.

Do Royal Dansk cookies contain milk or nuts? The published ingredient list for this barcode includes butter (milk) and wheat flour, and it says the cookies may contain egg, nuts and peanuts. Check the current tin before buying.

What should I drink with Royal Dansk cookies? A light, fragrant tea such as Darjeeling, Earl Grey or Lady Grey, or a milky coffee.

Curator's note: Open this tin when the room is full rather than when you are on your own; it is made for passing round. Put a pot of Lady Grey beside it and nobody needs asking twice. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies: The Five Shapes in the Blue Tin

More from the tea wiki

• Tea and Biscuits
• Biscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science
• Tea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise
• Tea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)
• Tea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles

Download as PDF