Spritz Cookies

I've been on a cookie making marathon lately.  I guess you could say this is how I get in the Christmas spirit.  I usually only make three kinds of Christmas cookies - the three that are my favorite.  I made russian tea cakes which are a tradition in our family.

This recipe makes 8 dozen which may sound like a lot but it's really not.  These melt in your mouth!  Then I made my favorite chocolate snowflake cookies, always a treat.

So, tonight I dug out the old cookie press.

Do you have one of these? You can make cookies that are all kinds of cute little shapes.

Now the bad news.  When I use my cookie press for Christmas cookies, I always use the same shape…the Christmas tree.  Why?  I just like the way they look!  

I have used other shapes but they don't look as cute as the Christmas tree. However, I decorate them with all different colors, not just green.  It's fun to find different kinds of sprinkles to decorate your cookies.  The recipe I use is the one I use for the halloween cookie recipe only I halve the batch since the cookies are so much smaller and it still makes 7 dozen cookies.

These are called Spritz Cookies from the German word spritzen, or "to squirt" because they are made by literally squirting the dough through a cookie press.  It can be tricky "squirting" the dough through the cookie press as the dough has to be the exact, correct consistency.  It seems to work best to make them immediately after mixing up the dough; do not refrigerate the dough.  If the dough is cold, it will be too hard.  With this recipe, the dough has never been too soft for me and works perfectly.  Have fun with your Spritz cookies!  

Makes 7 dozen cookies

2-1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 sticks of butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

2 tsp. vanilla

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3.  In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.  The fluffier, the better and easier they will go through the cookie press. 

4.  Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.

5.  Beat in vanilla.

6.  Transfer flour mixture into a sifter and sift directly onto the butter mixture.  Beat on low speed just until mixed and then stop or else the dough will get too tough and won't go through the cookie press easily. 

7.  Put dough into the cookie press.

8.  Press cookies onto cookie sheet without parchment paper.  I usually use parchment paper with cookies but not these because you want them to stick to the pan so they  come off the cookie press.  And they won’t be too dark, either. They still slide off the pan easily after baking without sticking or burning.

 9.   Decorate cookies with colored sprinkles or whatever Christmas cookie decorations you have.

10.  Bake for 8 minutes.

11.  Remove from oven and cool cookies on wire racks.

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