Best Spritz Cookie Recipe
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4.8
111 reviews
Excellent
Best Spritz Cookie Recipe
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Best Spritz Cookies are buttery, almond-scented cookies made by pressing or piping dough into decorative shapes before baking. Their texture is tender without browning heavily, and they can be colored with gel food coloring. An optional glaze with powdered sugar and almond extract adds sweetness after baking, and decorations like colored sugar or sprinkles can be applied.
Description
This recipe calls for creaming salted butter with sugar and kosher salt, then mixing in an egg, almond extract, and gel food coloring if desired. The flour is worked into this mixture to form a dough suitable for pressing or piping. The dough can be manipulated into festive shapes using a cookie press or piping bag.
Cookies are baked on chilled, light-colored baking sheets, though chilling the pans is optional since these cookies do not stick to parchment or silicone mats. The light-colored pans prevent excess browning, maintaining the cookies' delicate color and texture. The cookies typically maintain a soft crumb with minimal browning on the edges, emphasizing their tender, buttery quality.
An optional glaze can be made with powdered sugar, corn syrup, almond extract, and milk to decorate the cookies after cooling. Colored sugars or sprinkles provide further festive detail.
Spritz cookies are not designed to brown heavily; chilling pans helps dough stick during shaping but the cookies easily release when baked due to their texture and the baking surface used.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup butter I use salted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Gel food coloring
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- colored sugar optional
- Sprinkles optional
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup optional
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Place 2 light colored baking sheets in the fridge or freezer, if you have space.*
- Make the dough. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 1 cup butter until completely smooth and there are no lumps. If you have a stand mixer, use cold butter. If you are using a hand mixer, you will have to let the butter soften for a few minutes before you start beating. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through.
- Add 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (use a little less if using table salt). Beat well for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon almond extract. Beat until incorporated.
- Add gel food coloring to the dough at this point if you are planning to use it. Mix well. Remember that you are still adding flour after this, so add enough gel to make a bit of a deeper color than what you want for the final dough. Keep in mind also that gel food coloring intensifies with time.
- Spoon and level 2 and 1/2 cups flour into the dough. Beat until JUST combined, scraping the sides and bottom as necessary. Once you get to the point that you don't see streaks of flour anymore, stop beating and leave it alone. You don't want to over mix the dough or your spritz cookies will turn out tough.
- Press the cookies. Read the instructions on your cookie press to get it all set up. Put the metal disc in the bottom that is the shape that you want to press. Take a handful of room temperature dough, use your hands to shape it into a cylinder, and feed it into the cookie press. Add it all the way to the top. Screw in the top of the press.
- Press the cookies onto the chilled light-colored baking sheets. These cookies do not spread hardly at all. Place your press as close as you can to the shaped cookie next to it. The space of the press itself is enough.
- See photos for tips on how much dough to let out while you are pressing. Basically, the fatter you make your cookies, the more they will puff in the oven, and you risk not being able to recognize the shape as well. For really pretty, well-defined spritz cookies, press out the least amount of dough that you can per cookie.
- At this point, you can choose to sprinkle the cookies with colored sanding sugar if you like. It's much easier doing it before baking than doing it after, but I don't love the way it looks. (You almost always get sprinkles pooled on the outer edges of your cookie.)
- Bake the cookies at 375 for about 6 minutes. If you used a very dainty shape or don't trust your oven, start with 5 minutes. The larger cookies might take 7 minutes. The cookies are done when they are set (slightly firm) on the edges and no longer shiny. They should not be brown on the edges. If you see any browning or golden-ing, take them out immediately. (My mother-in-law Kris will argue with me about this until her dying day. But I said what I said. Spritz cookies should NOT be brown!) Bake all the same shape cookies on the same pan to avoid over/under baking. It's best to bake the same color dough all on the same pan too.
- Let the cookies set on the pan for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
- If you would like to add a glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and start with 1 tablespoon milk. Whisk it together and decide if you want to add more milk to get a thinner consistency. See photos. You want a fairly thin glaze.
- Once the cookies are cool, use a pastry brush to lightly brush each cookie with the glaze. (You can also brush with water or straight corn syrup). Dust each cookie with sanding sugar or sprinkles. Let set up on the cooling rack.
- These cookies should be stored well covered on the counter. They will keep for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: Spritz cookies freeze very well! We do it every year so that we don't eat them all at once. Freeze in a sealed container and then let thaw in the sealed container at room temperature. Or dip frozen ones in hot chocolate. I mean I'm just guessing this is really good, I'm definitely not the one pilfering from the freezer stash.
Notes
- Chilling the baking pans is optional but can help dough stick better during shaping;
- Use parchment paper or silicone baking mats to prevent sticking without chilling pans;
- Light-colored baking sheets help keep cookies from browning too much;
- These cookies have a tender texture and should not brown heavily on the edges.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Serving
1cookie
Calories
83kcal
(4%)
Carbohydrates
12g
(4%)
Protein
1g
(2%)
Fat
4g
(6%)
Saturated Fat
2g
(10%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
1g
(6%)
Monounsaturated Fat
1g
(5%)
Trans Fat
1g
(50%)
Cholesterol
14mg
(5%)
Potassium
10mg
(0%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
7g
(14%)
Vitamin A
119IU
(2%)
Calcium
3mg
(0%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 50Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 83 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1cookie | |
| Calories | 83kcal | 4% |
| Carbohydrates | 12g | 4% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 14mg | 5% |
| Potassium | 10mg | 0% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 7g | 14% |
| Vitamin A | 119IU | 2% |
| Calcium | 3mg | 0% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.8
111 reviews
Excellent
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