_{Updated 07.03.25}

The ingredient list is short: sugar, butter, vanilla extract, egg, and all-purpose flour and no leavening agent. None is needed, and none would help. The dough is pressed into the baking dish rather than poured, and the egg wash on top produces the characteristic golden shiny surface. The texture inside is unlike anything a standard cake recipe produces: firm at the edge, yielding at the center, and so buttery it almost melts.

Traditionally baked in a round baking tin, this version uses a square form, which gives you clean-cut squares or strips and those coveted crunchy corner pieces. For two people, a small batch of boterkoek is exactly the right amount to have on hand through the week; a slice with coffee in the morning, another after dinner, gone before it has a chance to go stale.

I love its creamy dense interior, but my favorite part is the crust, as that become really hard and crunchy. That’s also the part that can burn if you bake it too long or too high, but if done right, it is the part you may savor the most.

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Key Ingredients in This Recipe

Key ingredient to make Boterkoek or Dutch Butter Cake

You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.

Granulated sugar
Butter
Vanilla extract
Egg
All-purpose flour

Oh, those brown edges are so delicious. Tradition also tells you to score the cookie with a fork, and create a crisscross pattern; again I kept is simple, so you can see the shiny top.

Last but no least, there is no leavening agent, so it doesn’t rise and thus becomes dense. It is a really simple thing to make and I would encourage you to make it, may be just once. Simply to experience this soft and creamy Boterkoek. And when you eat those delicious dark edges, think about what I told you.

How to make a Boterkoek or Dutch Butter Cake

Step 1 – Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light. Add 1/2 egg and a pinch of salt and mix again, then add flour. Mix until you have a smooth dough.

Step 2 - Transfer dough into a buttered 9x9 baking dish and press it down. Level it and smooth out the top, with you hands or the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.

Step 2 – Transfer dough into a buttered 9×9 baking dish and press it down. Level it and smooth out the top, with you hands or the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.

Step 3 – Beat 1/2 egg and brush the top of the cake. Use a knife or fork to carve or score the top of the cake. This is the ‘traditional’ way, but you can create something special or not score at all.

Step 4 – Bake it in the oven (350°F) for approx. 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Two way of scoring/carving the boterkoek.

A boterkoek baked in a 9×9 baking dish will be about 1 inch thick, but you can make them thicker by using a smaller baking dish. You may need to adjust the baking time/temperature to still have a cooked center and brown edges instead of black and burnt or a soggy inside.

How to Cut a Boterkoek

How you cut a boterkoek is a matter of how much you want to serve, the number of people to serve, so it’s a practical thing, rather than anything else. I recall that my mother always cut it in triangles. You may want to cut it into 4 pieces (squares), 8 pieces (rectangles or triangles), 16 pieces (small squares) 20 pieces (match sticks) etc.

Variation on the Traditional Boterkoek

Add lemon zest, about 1.5 teaspoon.
Add almond extract to the batter and/or sprinkle top with almond slivers.
Press nuts into top of the boterkoek, like almonds, pecans or walnuts.
Use Dutch speculaas spice mix in the dough.

How to Store Boterkoek

Store the boterkoek in an airtight container. Under normal circumstances you can store a boterkoek for a week at room temperature. Freezing a boterkoek is also very simple and will last a couple of months in the freezer.

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