Quick & Easy Spritz Cookies
If you’re looking for a festive, fun, and easy Christmas cookie, you’re going to want to try spritz cookies. These are buttery, shortbread-esque cookies that are as adorable as they are simple. They’re perfectly bite-sized, and you’ll get quite a few from one batch. They’re perfect for the holidays and a fun addition to any cookie platter alongside other classics like gumdrop-buttoned gingerbread men and frosted sugar cookies!
What’s to love about these cookies:
Minimal decorating required for a festive look: just add sprinkles or dip in glaze.Only seven simple ingredients!No chilling needed.Customizable: add whatever food coloring or flavors you like. Freezes beautifully–great for making ahead!
What You Need
Just seven basic ingredients come together to make these cookies. Here are a few to take note of:
Butter. Make sure to let your butter soften to room temperature before starting. I like to use unsalted butter, but if all you have is salted, you can simply omit the salt in the recipe. Egg yolk. Adding just the yolk makes our cookies nice and tender, and it will help them hold their shape. If you don’t like to be wasteful and don’t want to just toss the egg white, save it to make a batch of candied pecans.Extract. A touch of almond extract is always a lovely addition to this recipe. Other flavors like peppermint, orange, lemon, etc. also work–just be sparing with them as they can be quite potent!Food coloring. This is optional, but if you want to add food coloring to your cookies, you certainly can. I prefer gel food coloring as it colors the dough quite vibrantly. Green Christmas trees or wreaths or red flowers (think: poinsettias) add splashes of fun color to any cookie tray.Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly; adding too much flour (the most common mistake when measuring) can make your dough too dry and crumbly to use.Cookie press. A good cookie press is key. I was gifted a Marcato cookie press (affiliate link) a few years ago and I love it, it’s well made and I expect it will last forever.
SAM’S TIP: My recipe is made without cream cheese, but I’ve included notes on how to easily turn these into cream cheese spritz cookies in my recipe notes. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Spritz Cookies
SAM’S TIP: As you’re mixing everything together you’ll notice that this is a rather stiff, dry dough. To make it workable, add the flour gradually (not all at once!) and use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl after mixing to make sure you don’t have any floury pockets remaining. SAM’S TIP: Don’t use parchment paper! I typically like to line my cookie sheets, but that’s not necessary here (we want the dough to stick to the sheet!). If your dough won’t stick to your cookie sheet, try chilling your sheets in the fridge before pressing the cookies onto them. If it’s still sticking to the press, don’t stress! Just gently pry the dough from the press and place it on your cookie sheet. A good cookie press makes all the difference when making spritz cookies. If you don’t have one, I’ve linked the one I use below. Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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