Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Posts Tagged ‘christmas spritz’

Have you heard about this thing called a cookie press? Maybe you’ve seen it used on a cooking show or asked a baker how they make those amazing Spritz cookies. The cookie press is a great help to the home baker who wants to turn out perfectly shaped cookies every time with little effort.

The cookie press is one thing that can’t and shouldn’t be automated unless you are working in a bakery. For the home baker, it’s your elbow grease that’s going to make the press work. You won’t need to put much muscle into it, but know that it’s one kitchen gadget that still works the old fashioned way.

Cookie presses work when they are loaded with a special type of dough. You will need to have inserted a cookie shape onto the head of the press, and then you can push down on the plunger or crank the handle. The press will turn out one perfect shape of the design you have chosen. Most cookie presses come with several discs like Christmas trees, poinsettias, snowmen, and other familiar shapes - perfect for those holiday cookie gifts!

Once you have pressed a cookie onto a sheet pan, move onto the next. Fill the cookie sheet with pressed cookies that you extract one by one from the press. Once you have them all laid out, you can sprinkle edible glitter, jimmies, or any decoration you like onto them.

Each recipe will give you the exact time necessary for the cookies to bake. But it’s usually about seven minutes. While the cookies are in the oven, change your disc if you like and press out another batch onto your next cool cookie sheet. Keep the process going. You’ll want a cookie press that allows you to change discs easily without emptying the entire press.

You can find antique cookie presses on auction sites like eBay and at vintage shops. If you see one, pick it up. They usually cost very little and are charming reminders of yesterday.

Here is a recipe from allrecipes.com for a classic pressed Spritz cookie:

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

1/2 cup shortening

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese

1/3 cup white sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together shortening, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and lemon extract. Combine flour and salt; gradually mix into the creamed mixture in three additions, mixing well after each. Load dough into a cookie press, and press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Need more cookie ideas? Try making these reindeer cookies!

Spritz cookies have been a Christmas staple in our family for at least 30 years.  My Mom has a really old-fashioned cookie press that you have to twist to extract the cookies....personally I like the trigger version, but mine has been replaced several times (because the plastic broke) while her old one just keeps going and going.  On the plate below, you can see some snowflake design cookies that we made and then just added green and red sugar.  You can also color the dough with food coloring (this is what we do to make green Christmas tree shaped cookies).

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer with the white paddle), cream butter and sugar together. Then add the egg, milk, vanilla, almond extract beating well. Stir together flour and baking powder in a separate bowl or on a piece of wax paper (to make it easy to add to wet ingredients). Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture, mixing to a smooth dough. If you are going to add food coloring to the dough, I recommend doing it when you have about half of the flour mixture added so that it is easier to mix in.  Do NOT chill the dough! Shape dough in small logs and place in a cookie press (see the video below for great tips). Choose the press die to create the cookie shape that you want.  Then press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degF for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on a rack. Makes 7 to 8 dozen Spritz cookies.

My Tips - If you are making Christmas trees or wreaths, you will likely want to color the dough green. I recommend using the paste type food coloring so that it doesn't change the consistency of the dough. No matter what the cookie shape, you can decorate them with colored sugars prior to baking in the oven.

Here is a great video that I found at YouTube.  It shows how to load and use a cookie press to make Christmas designs.  It also details how you can take those shapes and arrange them to create a Christmas cookie wreath.

Are you a little lost when it comes to these spritz cookies? That's okay! Here are some Tips for Buying a Cookie Press.