Name: Spritz Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 egg; 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon cardamom; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

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Baking Spritz Cookies with a Cookie Press gives a uniformity unmatched by most other baking methods. This traditional cardamon spiced Christmas cookie can be made in many shapes– flowers, wreaths, or trees– and left plain or decorated with icing.

Christmas Spritz Cookies in the shape of trees and wreaths on a holiday serving tray

Your holiday baking (or eating!) might not be complete without these traditional Spritz cookies. This is my first year making the buttery cookies and I am hooked!

If you love the ease of using a cookie press as much as I do, you’ll enjoy these Valentine’s Heart Shaped Cookies, flower cookies, and pumpkin cookies all made with the cookie press.

A kind friend brought me a beautiful plate of Spritz cookies last Christmas. I was so touched by her thoughtfulness that I wanted to pass on that same holiday cheer this year. While you could use a pastry bag and star icing tip to get a similar effect, the cookie press gadget is the key to these precisely shaped cookies.

From flowers to hearts to pumpkins to butterflies, these shapes are going to be used year-round. Buy the cookie press for less than $20 and you’ll have years of baking Spritz cookies ahead of you.

I tried the basic vanilla cookie dough recipe and the surprise ingredient, for me anyway, was cardamom. I didn’t have that spice in my pantry and was curious to try it. What a delicate difference it makes!

You can decorate the cookies with sprinkles, add food coloring to the dough, or ice them once cooled, but they are just as pretty plain. The cookie press makes fast work of the process and you can even switch shapes as you go. And if you think making these cookies is a breeze, eating them is even easier!

Yield: 4 dozen

Spritz Cookies

Make a batch of these festive cookies to share with friends and family this season!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, cardamom and salt with the electric mixer.
Now with a spoon stir in the flour until well mixed.
Roll the dough into a log-like shape so that it will fit into the cookie press. Pack it in the tube tightly. Choose your design and begin pressing the dough out by clicking just once on the cookie press. Fit about 12 cookies to a baking sheet. I used parchment, though the instructions state that an ungreased baking sheet is best and that no parchment is necessary.
Bake for 10-12 minutes then cool on a rack.

Notes

This recipe can be found in the Kuhn Rikon company’s Cookie Press Instruction booklet.

Do not refrigerate this dough before using the cookie press. The dough doesn't react to the press nearly as well if it is cold.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 76Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 24mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g

This data is provided by Nutritionix and is an estimate only.

Christmas Spritz cookies in the shape of wreaths in tan and green colors

Kitchen Tools Used in this Recipe:

Please note that A Baker’s House, LLC uses affiliate links which means that I earn a commission if you use the links provided. Thank you for your support of A Baker’s House.

Holly Baker

Holly Baker started the food blog, A Baker’s House, in 2011. She is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer for the site. Holly loves to bake and shares recipes for gluten free food, canning recipes, as well as traditional desserts too. Her recipes and food photography have been highlighted by BuzzFeed, Reader’s Digest, and She Knows.

THE DOUGH PUNCHER

Thursday 13th of December 2012

Love, love, love spritz- it's tradition in my family to make these every year. However we don't use cardamom- we add like a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, it makes all the difference! Great post, the cookies look perfect!

Holly @ abakershouse.com

I'll have to give almond extract a try, I have some in the pantry. Thanks!

Barbara | Creative Culinary

Wednesday 12th of December 2012

I have been making Spritz cookies for the holidays since I was a young girl...I've lost count of the number of cookie presses I've gone through! But they never fail to bring a cheerful element to our cookie tray and I never fail to eat too many of their cute buttery goodness!

I think there is a short learning curve with the press-- it took me a few minutes to work out a good method and after that it was like a cookie factory in my kitchen! I bet your girls have happy memories of holidays filled with goodies like these.

Karen Harris

So pretty! I just might have to dust off the old cookie press and make a batch of these.

I know making cookies isn't your favorite but that cookie press would make quick work of a few dozen. The only trouble for me is that I then eat a few dozen myself!!

The Red Apron

Looks beautiful Holly! I bet they're delicious too.

You wouldn't believe how quickly these are disappearing! Luckily another batch is easy to whip up so there will be plenty more to share.

Kate | Food Babbles

These cookies are so beautiful! Lovely. I adore spritz cookies but I've never made them from scratch. Now I may just have to!

Thanks, Kate! These are deceptively simple. I may try to decorate them a bit more next time for a change.