Food Butter cookies Royal Dansk
The blue tin
The round, resealable royal-blue tin that Royal Dansk has packed its Danish butter cookies in since 1966, with the Funen farmhouse Hjemstavnsgaard on the lid.
- Made by
- Royal Dansk
- First made
- 1966
Pictures © Royal Dansk, from royal-dansk.com.
Why it is renowned
Exported Danish butter cookies are sold in round tins of this kind, Royal Dansk among the best known, and the packs have come to be called the blue tin.1 In the United States it is a common Christmas gift, and Vice found the cookies and their royal-blue tins in convenience stores and supermarkets across the country.23 The empty tin has a second life as a store for sewing kits, buttons and keepsakes in homes from India to Canada, a habit Atlas Obscura and Vice have both written about.43
The story
Royal Dansk began baking in Helsingør in 1966 and packed its cookies in the blue tin from the start, to keep them fresh.5 The lid shows Hjemstavnsgaard, an old farmhouse on Funen; the company told Vice that the picture first appeared on the tins in the early 1970s, chosen to recall Denmark's farming heritage.63 In Denmark the tin became known as Den Blå Dåse, the blue tin; the design has been updated over the years.6 It holds the five classic shapes, Pretzel, Vanilla Ring, Finnish Style, Country Style and Coconut, in paper cups, and the tins are fully recyclable.51 The cookies are baked in Nørre Snede and Ribe.5
Sources
- Butter cookie, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
- Royal Dansk, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
- The Enduring Appeal of Royal Dansk Butter Cookies, Vice (14 December 2017). vice.com, read 1 October 2026.
- What's in Your Royal Dansk Cookie Tin?, Atlas Obscura (27 March 2018). atlasobscura.com, read 1 October 2026.
- Our Danish Cookie Baking History, Royal Dansk. royal-dansk.com, read 1 October 2026.
- Royal Dansk, Kelsen Group. kelsen.com, read 1 October 2026.
Last checked 2 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.