This Old-Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookie Is Still the Best
Spritz cookies are perhaps one of the most — if not the most — classic Christmas cookies of my childhood (next to snowball cookies, jam thumbprints, and ginger snaps). There was not a cookie swap or a cookie tin that didn’t include these buttery cookies. There were dyed green trees and wreaths, pale red flowers, sprinkle-covered snowflakes, and plenty of unadorned pale, golden cookies that (because of their design) were still completely beautiful. Not only have I eaten a lot of spritz cookies over the years, but I also joined my mom in pressing sheet after sheet of spritz cookies every December.
Over the years I’ve baked (and eaten!) enough to discern when someone forgot to add the salt, skipped one of the extracts or didn’t add quite enough, or underbaked or overbaked them. This foolproof, easy recipe delivers everything there is to love and what you’d expect from a classic spritz cookie — they’re subtly sweet with a buttery vanilla and almond flavor.
Why You’ll Love It
A classic for good reason. It’s impossible to think about homemade Christmas cookies without considering spritz cookies. If you’re torn about what to bake, remember that you can never go wrong with a timeless classic like these.
All you need are basic ingredients and a cookie press. There’s a good chance you already have most, if not all, of the ingredients needed to make spritz cookies in your pantry. And while you do need a cookie press to shape the dough, it truly couldn’t be easier.
Make them your own! While these cookies are perfect just as they are, there are also several ways to dress them up. You can color part or all of the dough with liquid gel food dye, top the cookies with sanding sugar or sprinkles, or both.
Key Ingredients in Spritz Cookies
Unsalted butter: Be sure to give the butter ample time to come to room temp, which might take a little longer in the winter months. We all forget this sometimes, and if that happens to you, remember that there are plenty of butter softening hacks.
Sugar: These cookies aren’t overly sweet. You’ll use less than a cup of granulated sugar.
Flavored extract: A mix of vanilla extract and almond extract is what gives these cookies their classic flavor.
Sprinkles: This is an optional ingredient for decorating, but worth mentioning because not all sprinkles are well-suited to spritz cookies. Your best bet is to stick with sanding sugar, nonpareil sprinkles, and shaped sprinkles. Skip the quins (aka confetti and sequin sprinkles), as they can melt during baking.
How to Make Spritz Cookies
Make the dough: Beat the butter, sugar, and salt together in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, scrape down the bowl, then beat in an egg and the extracts. Scrape down the bowl one more time, and beat in the flour until just combined. If you want to color the dough, beat in one to two drops of liquid gel food coloring.
Press the cookies: Fill the cookie press with as much dough as will fit and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to press the dough onto baking sheets, keeping to one shape per baking sheet. It’s crucial that you use unlined, ungreased baking sheets so that the dough has something to stick to when pressed out.
Decorate the cookies if you like: If you’re planning to use sprinkles or sanding sugar to decorate the cookies, you’ll want to add them directly onto the pressed cookies before baking.
Bake and cool the cookies: Remember that different shapes can have different bake times. Bake until the cookies are pale golden-brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Helpful Swaps
The flavored extracts are where you have the most room for flexibility in this recipe. No almond extract? Just use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. No vanilla extract? Just skip it entirely (no need to double the almond extract). You can also swap the almond extract for lemon, orange, or peppermint extract.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
The baked cookies will keep well for up to five days stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to a month.
More Classic Christmas Cookies
Spritz Cookies Recipe
These buttery pressed cookies are a Christmas tradition.
Prep time 30 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes to 40 minutes
Makes about 100 cookies
Ingredients
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Liquid gel food dye (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
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Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat the oven to 350℉.
Beat 2 sticks room-temperature unsalted butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt together with the paddle attachment in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula.
Beat in 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon almond extract on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour until just combined. Do not overmix.
If you want to color the dough, beat in 1 to 2 drops liquid gel food coloring on medium-low speed until combined and the dough is evenly colored.
Fill a cookie press with as much dough as will fit. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to press cookies onto 2 unlined, ungreased baking sheets, spacing them as close together as the press will allow, the cookies will not spread. Press only 1 shape per baking sheet, as different shapes (i.e., trees and wreaths) can have different baking times.
Top the pressed cookies with sprinkles if desired. Refill the cookie press with more dough as needed. Cover and refrigerate any remaining dough.
Bake for 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets between racks and from front to back. Bake until the cookies are a pale golden-brown, 3 to 7 minutes, removing any sheets of cookies that are ready first. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough, baking on cooled baking sheets.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Alternatively, freeze baked and cooled cookies in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container (a bag is not recommended, as it does not protect the cookies) and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature.
Further Reading
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