We did a butter cookie taste off, buying tubs of butter cookies all over Solvang.
Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery was the first of four bakeries in Solvang where we purchased a tub of five dozen butter cookies. These were among the best, but the real standouts here were the pastries. The macaroon was the best I’ve ever had, with a perfect crispy crust and chewy but not soggy interior. The cinnamon pastry, a sort of palmier with a cinnamon crust was amazing. We nursed it for breakfast three days in a row, and it was still just as good!
I found that Mortensen’s has the butteriest tasting cookies. I particularly liked the plain round ones with the curved tops. They have a long, buttery finish that is slightly salty and not as sweet as some.
Birkholm’s is Linda’s favorite. As of this writing their butter cookies still come in the traditional waxed cardboard tub rather than a plastic bucket. These were the softest and crumbliest. The standout is their plain, round, flat butter cookie, simple and very buttery.
Danish Mill Bakery’s were my favorite. I particularly like the crispy kind with raisins (or are they currants?) Their cookies seem to have a bit more body than the others.
Sadly, we did not visit the Solvang Bakery, since we already had twenty dozen, so we’ll have to save tasting notes from the iconic windmill shop for another visit.