Learn how to make the best spritz cookies, a butter cookie pushed through a cookie press to create perfect cookies quickly and easily. This easy recipe is fast and doesn't require chilling!
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Ingredients for Spritz Cookies
If you want to make spritz cookies, you will need the following ingredients:
- butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your cookies may be too salty
- granulated sugar which helps give these cookies a crisp texture.
- large egg yolk—don't use smaller eggs because your cookie dough may be too dry and your cookies won't spread enough, but don't use extra large eggs because they could cause the cookies to be cakeier. The egg yolk adds richness to the cookie but also helps bind the ingredients of the dough
- whipping cream (35 % fat) is added to the dough to tenderize it but also helps bind the ingredients. It also makes a softer dough which is easier to push through the cookie press without struggling
- vanilla extract adds vanilla flavour to the cookies. You could use artificial vanilla extract, but use about half the amount since it may be more potent.
- all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the cookies structure, contributing to the crispy texture of the cookies as well. If you don't use enough flour, your cookies may spread too much as they bake and if you use too much, you will have a hard time using the cookie press to form cookies
- salt is really important to balance out the sweet flavour. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the cookies will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
Substitutions and Variations
- Butter: you can use salted butter instead of unsalted, and then omit the salt in the cookies
- Vanilla: you can use artificial extract instead of pure vanilla, and you can also incorporate a few drops of almond extract to make almond spritz cookies (use 0.625 mL or ⅛ teaspoon). A little goes a long way with almond extract, so don't overdo it!
- Chocolate: add 30 grams (⅓ cup) of Dutch-processed cocoa powder to the dough.
- Christmas tree spritz cookies: add green gel food colouring to the dough to dye it green and use the tree cookie press disk (if your kit has it)
How to Make Them
Step 1: Combine the cream, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl (image 1). Use a whisk to mix the ingredients evenly (image 2).
Step 2: Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (image 3) and mix them together until light and fluffy.
Step 3: Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl as needed (image 4), then add the cream and egg yolk mixture from before (image 5) and mix it until the mixture is smooth and the ingredients are well incorporated (image 6).
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (image 7) and stir until a thick dough forms (image 8). Divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape them into cylinders so that they fit the barrel of your cookie press (image 9).
Step 5: Assemble the cookie press with your favourite disk, following the manufacturer's instructions (image 10) then press out cookies on an ungreased, unlined half-sheet pan (image 11).
Step 6: Space and stagger the cookies so they have room to spread a little and for air circulation (image 12), then bake until golden brown and set (image 13).
Baking tip: if you want to use sprinkles, I like to garnish the spritz cookies with sprinkles before baking them. This way the sprinkles will better adhere to the cookies. Colourful sanding sugar is also great in this recipe!
Tips and Tricks for Using a Cookie Press
To be honest, I have a love-hate relationship with spritz cookies. They are so cute and festive, but gosh, every time I pick up the cookie press, I have to remember how to use the darn thing. The good news is a cookie press is not hard to use!
Once you get the hang of it, it works well, forming perfectly even cookies in the shape you want in minutes. Here are my tips and tricks for working with a cookie press:
- skip the parchment paper and dispense the cookie dough onto ungreased, un-lined cookie sheets. Seriously, it works. Otherwise, you will have trouble pressing out cookie dough onto parchment paper because the cookie dough will lift the paper and then the dough will smear. Trust me. Do not use parchment paper for this recipe!
- use a soft dough: the proportions of the dough are important as is the temperature of the dough in order for you to be able to press out the dough without struggling. I broke two cookie presses while developing spritz cookie recipes because my dough was too stiff.
- practice makes perfect: The first few cookies you pump out of the cookie press may be a little wonky. That's okay! Just scoop up that dough and press it out again later! This dough is forgiving, and you can reuse it a couple of times to practice and get the hang of it.
- unstick the baked cookies from the cookie sheet when they are still warm, before they get stuck. They will stick if you let the cookies cool on the ungreased sheet pan. The cookies will break when you go to lift them. There is a window of time when the cookies are firm enough to lift off the pan, but still warm. This is key.
Spritz cookies without a cookie press? It's possible! Pipe this butter cookie dough using a piping bag with a large star tip if you don't have a cookie press.
Tip: If the cookies are stuck, set the pan back in a hot oven to warm them up again to help you release them from the pan. This works for bundt cakes too though. I can't guarantee the results...
Preventing Spritz Cookies From Spreading
The beauty of using a cookie press to make spritz cookies is that the press pumps out perfectly shape, uniform cookies every time. But those cookies need to keep their shape when they are in the oven, without spreading or expanding. Here's how we do that:
- Don't use chemical leavening agents in spritz cookies: this recipe has no chemical leaveners. That's because we don't want to encourage the cookies to puff and rise up (from baking powder) or spread (which baking soda could cause).
- Get the ratio of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour right to prevent cookies from spreading. Too much butter, sugar, or eggs can lead to cookies spreading as they bake. Not enough flour relative to those ingredients can also lead to cookies spreading. Make sure to measure your ingredients carefully.
- Chill after pressing, not before: While many recipes indicate to chill the dough before baking to prevent spread, like for these cutout sugar cookies, we don't need to do that with these spritz cookies. However, if you do notice that your spritz cookies are spreading, try chilling the pressed cookies on the sheet pan for 15 minutes until hard before baking. This could reduce the spread.
- Bake the spritz cookies at a higher temperature at 375 ºF (190 °C) instead of 350 ºF (175 °C). This way, the exterior of the cookie dries and sets before spreading.
In case you are wondering, the cookie press I have is from Wilton (the latest version of the Wilton cookie press I have is available on Amazon). OXO also makes a cookie press with a wider range of disks for more interesting shapes.
Ways to Decorate Spritz Cookies
I usually like to keep spritz cookies plain because I like to dip them in hot cups of tea, but if you would prefer to garnish or embellish them, you can:
- Decorate them with sprinkles before baking. The heat will set the sprinkles in place. I like to use sparkly sanding sugar, which comes in various colours and doesn't melt.
- Dip them in melted chocolate, as I did with these matcha gingerbread cookies and then garnish with sprinkles (if you'd like).
More Fun Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you prefer rolling your cookies, try these sugar cookies, or for something spiced, you can make gingerbread people or even matcha gingerbread cookies.
If you tried this recipe for spritz cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 15 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
- 5 mL pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk(s)
- 230 grams unsalted butter softened
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 280 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- Sanding sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Get out two cookie sheets, but don’t line them with parchment.
- Whisk the egg yolk with the cream and the vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the granulated sugar and the salt. Add the egg yolk mixture and beat it in. Add the flour and mix it in on low until combined.
- Press the cookie dough together and fit it into the cookie press barrel, fitted with the Christmas tree stencil (or whichever you choose). I used this cookie press from Wilton available on Amazon.
- Press out cookies onto ungreased, unlined sheets, spacing them about an inch apart. If you are decorating with coloured sugar, now is the time to do so!
- Bake the cookies until the edges are light golden brown (about 12 minutes).
- Let the sheet of cookies cool no more than 2 minutes before using an offset spatula to gently unstick the cookies from the sheet pan. You need to do this when the cookies have just set but before they cool down too much, otherwise they will break.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- I used a Wilton cookie press and half-sheet pans.
- Cookie presses work best on ungreased sheet pans without lining them with parchment paper.
- If you find your cookies spread too much in the oven and you are sure you didn't mismeasure the ingredients, try placing the sheet pan in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill the spritz cookies before baking them. This will reduce the spread. Don't chill the dough before pressing out the cookies because the dough will be too stiff and you may break your cookie press.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, when the cookies are still quite hot, use a mini offset spatula to unstick the cookies from the pan gently. They should come off without breaking.
- If the cookies cool down and are stuck, you can try rewarming the sheet pan in the oven, and hopefully, when warm, the cookies will unstick more easily.
- For almond spritz cookies, incorporate (0.625 mL) ⅛ teaspoon of almond extract in the cookie dough.
- For chocolate spritz cookies, add 30 grams (⅓ cup) of Dutch-processed cocoa powder when you add the flour to make a chocolate spritz cookie dough.
- To decorate spritz cookies, either garnish with sprinkles or sanding sugar before baking, or dip in melted chocolate after baking.
- You can order the coloured decorative sanding sugar on Amazon.
- Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 350 °F (175 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.
Noah says
Hi Janice!
So, is there parchment or no parchment? Step 1 says yes, but photos say otherwise, and you mention 'unsticking the cookies from the pan' in Step 7.
Thanks!
Janice says
Whoops! It’s such a habit for me to use parchment and start a recipe with that step, that it slipped in! I find the parchment makes it harder to press out cookies and it makes the process more tricky. So I don’t use parchment paper anymore to make spritz cookies. I press them out directly on an ungreased, unlined sheet pan. Pressing out the cookies is easier this way. But then you just have to be careful to get the baked cookies unstuck when they are set but still warm so that they release more easily from the pan. A bit of a pain, but it works with a little offset spatula! If they get too cold, pop the pan back into the oven to help melt the bottom again and warm them.
I hope this all makes sense!
Medeja says
Beautiful Christmas cookies!
Janice says
Thank you! I hope you get to try them 🙂