Spritz Cookies are always delicious and can be made in fun shapes using a cookie press in a variety of colors! They are often decorated with sprinkles and made during the holidays. They are much different than shortbread because spritz cookies contain egg, and remind me a little of sugar cookies, with a slightly different texture.
I love the fun shapes of spritz cookies and it’s easy to jazz up a holiday cookie platter with these tasty treats! And using a cookie press is a great way to get kids helping in the kitchen! They’re so fun to use, but sometimes tricky. My cookie press is a hand crank (or twist) press that I have had for nearly 10 years and we use it every year during the holidays.
Let’s get baking!
Cream butter and sugar really well. Add vanilla and egg and beat well.
Add flour. My recipe calls for cake flour which helps yield a more delicate cookie as opposed to all purpose flour. Cake flour uses soft wheat which has a lower protein and gluten content making baked goods lighter and less dense with a softer crumb. But you absolutely can use all purpose flour in this recipe. You may need to adjust the amount flour though.
Add flour and stir well. Dough should be slightly tacky but not real sticky. You should be able to touch the dough without it sticking to your fingers. Add just enough flour that you can easily handle the dough. If the dough is too sticky or too stiff, you will have trouble with the dough coming out of the cookie press.
Chill the dough before baking. You can chill the dough now, fill the press and then chill it or make the cookie shapes and then chill before baking. Chilling helps the dough rest. If you bake them immediately, the cookie may have a chewy, doughy texture (like chewing crispy playdough) rather than buttery and flaky.
The first couple cranks always gives a different (usually much larger and kinda ugly) cookie shape than once you get going. We start out at 2 or 3 twists (or pumps if you have the traditional kind of cookie press) and after a few cookies, end up at 1 or 2 twists (or pumps) per cookie. It can be tricky, but once you get to know your cookie press, you will know how many twists or cranks are needed to yield a beautiful cookie!
Fill the press with dough.
Attach plate at one end — some plates do not yield a nice looking cookie, so it is a bit of experimentation — then attach press (twist or crank end of cookie press) at the opposite end and you are ready to make cookies.
Once cookie dough is in cookie press, pump or twist the press until cookie dough is ready to come out. Then place on cookie sheet and twist or pump (depending on the type of press you have) 2 to 3 times, and adjusting the twists or pumps as you get going. The first few are often a more full shape and then after a few cookies, the shape is proper. These I either remove off the cookie sheet and toss back into the bowl to refill the press with later, or bake them and gobble them up as we continue making cookies.
My daughter has always enjoyed using this cookie press. Any “bad” looking cookies are tossed back into the dough and we refill the press with it. Any leftover dough at the end that does not come out of the press is always made into something else like snowmen.
We usually press all the dough, decorate with sprinkles and then I bake the cookies. This way, I do not forget the cookies in the oven in all the hustle and bustle of pressing cookies and decorating!
Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are slightly browned. Remove from the oven, loosen on cookie sheet (otherwise they may stick), and wait a few minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool the cookies completely. Once cooled, store in airtight container. These freeze well once baked.
Are these cookies not just the most fun!?! And they look great on a cookie plate! I always enjoy making spritz cookies during the holidays and have several spritz recipes to share with you!
12 Days of Cookies… Day 9 — Holiday Spritz Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Add salt and gradually add flour until just combined. Do not put in too much flour. Stir in food coloring if you would like to dye the batter red or green. Chill for 2 hours.
Fill cookie press and form shapes onto cookie sheet. Decorate with sprinkles.
Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours