By Alison Roman
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 4(818)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A basic cookie dough recipe is at the heart of this treat, great for any occasion. A cookie press (think of a caulking machine, but with cookie dough) offers lots of versatility, whether you're looking for wreaths for the holidays or hearts for Valentine's Day. Just beat together the ingredients, and place the dough in the press just after mixing. Push the dough through onto parchment paper, decorate with colored sugars and bake. They'll add a bit of color and joy to any cookie platter.
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Ingredients
Yield:About 2 dozen cookies
- 3½cups all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1¼cups granulated sugar
- 3large eggs
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- Coarse or decorative sugar, sesame seeds or poppy seeds
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
220 calories; 12 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 105 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
Step
2
In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium-high until the mixture is superlight, fluffy and pale, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add in two eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract and beat until everything is well combined, about 2 minutes.
Step
3
Add in dry ingredients and beat just to blend, about a minute. Load dough into cookie press and make shapes as desired, pushing dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and spacing cookies 1 inch apart.
Step
4
Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water. Using a pastry brush, coat cookies with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar (pearl, sanding and colored sugars all work here), black or white sesame seeds, or poppy seeds. Bake until golden brown and baked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
Tip
- Cookie dough can be made 5 days ahead, refrigerated (bring to room temperature before pressing them). Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead, wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature.
Ratings
4
out of 5
818
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
S Harrington
I do not recommend this recipe. I think the main problem is the leavening. The spritz cookie recipes that I have used previously were more of a short dough without baking powder. The baking powder renders them puffy and shapeless. My stars just turned into rounded flower shapes. Additionally, the parchment paper was not workable. They did sort of stick to an ungreased sheet pan however.
I am going back to my Joy of Cooking recipe.
Diane
I am sticking with my Joy of Cooking recipe. The note on "How to make sugar cookies " found below this recipe is confusing . A " Spritz" cookie recipe is all about the butter. I look forward to trying the spice and snckerdoodle recipes. Thanks !
Kim
I usually chill the dough for 20-30 minutes before trying to put it through the press--you won't need to add extra flour and the cookies will be more tender!
Jen
Like many others wrote, the dough did not hold its shape. The first sheet I baked had room-temperature dough, and all cookies spread completely flat. For the 2nd sheet, I refrigerated the pressed dough for about 30 mins., then baked. Same result: spread cookies. They taste great (like extra rich Pepperidge Farm Milanos), but without the shape, they weren’t spritz! I’ll move on to another recipe.
Shelley Dreyer-Green
Christmas Spritz have been my favorite cookie since I was very young. Growing up, I used to make them off and on throughout the year, much to my family's delight! What made them distinctive was the almond flavoring used in most traditional recipes. You can use all almond or both vanilla and almond, but for me, a Spritz without the almond flavoring doesn't live up to the name.
Clarence Beeks
These are delicious but do not hold their shape in baking. I recommend at least another half cup of flour and a 375-400 degree oven with shorter bake time. As another comment points out, the stickiness of the dough requires either fixing the parchment paper to the sheet pan or not using it. Egg wash is not required.
colleen
I did not live this recipe. They seemed pasty in my mouth. I live spritz cookies but will try a different one next time.
Betsy
I agree that you don't need to use parchment paper. Dough will not stick. Just use ungreased cookie sheet. I'm not really sure about the egg wash before baking. Sprinkles, and whatnot, stay on and the egg wash just makes top shiny and slightly brown. I've never used an egg wash on this type of cookie before and they have been just fine. I think having a really good cookie press is key to the shapes turning out. Only tried my xmas tree shape though, but that can be a tough one.
Suzanne in Virginia
I usually make these cookies with almond extract which is better. They were difficult to separate from the cookie press, however and had only a very mild taste. I appreciated the suggestion of poppy and sesame seeds. I also used cumin and M&M’s. The egg wash made them quite beautiful. I made different batches of colors and it took the entire afternoon.
Meg J
I love Allison Roman's recipes, but this misses the mark completely; two eggs is too much. My spritz shapes came out as unrecognizable blobs. Back to the recipe I have used for years; Norwegian Spritz Cookies from Gourmet. One egg, and a little baking powder in the flour for really crisp cookies. No need to brush the cookies with egg wash; the decorating sugar adheres just fine to the buttery dough.
Mary
I agree with others that this is not a worthwhile spritz recipe unfortunately. Stick to Melissa Clarke’s almond spritz recipe!
Tucson Cook
I concur. The standard recipe in Joy of Cooking gives a better result. Not only did the cookies lose their shape because of the baking powder, the metallic taste was evident. It was still fun for the grandkids.
SQ
Allison Roman is always off. There shouldn’t be leavening in a spritz cookie. It’s a classic short cookie. When I see her recipes now I just keep moving.
Danny Joe
COMPLETE fail, relative to the Spritz recipe that came on the side of the cookie press retail box. I followed recipe to a tee. I had TONS of trouble getting the cookies to stick to parchment from the press. Only a small set of the shape disks worked at all. I ended up just pressing them onto the baking sheet directly. The end result... I bunch of shapeless blobs. DISAPPOINTING to say the least.
Cathy
Anybody else have trouble getting the dough that comes out of the cookie press to stay on the parchment paper? Mine were all misshaped because I had to use a knife to get the dough to stay down.
Emma
I don’t know what all of the negative comments are about. I made these and they came out perfect. I don’t have a cookie press so I used cutters. It makes A TON.
ROK
Because its actually supposed to work as a recipe for Spritz cookie, using a cookie press, Which you don't even own?
dvnlilly
This recipe yields far more than 2 dozen. I ended up with like triple that.
Paige
What a mess. Egg wash glued the cookies to the sheet, broke apart trying to remove them. Embarrassing.
lollyemm
I actually broke my cookie press with this dough, so while I wouldn’t recommend it for that use I did roll and cut/stamp cookies instead and we couldn’t stop eating them. Tasty, but maybe not as a spritz recipe...
Lucy Bell
Too too much butter, yes puffy, yes too delicious
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