Get in the mood for the countdown to Christmas with Buttery Spritz Cookies! These red, white and green cookies are the sweet little treats that are a totally irresistible addition to your cookie tray.
Okay, so these spritz cookies may not be covered in chocolate or frosting, but they are definitely worth taking the time to bake. They’re so colorful and festive! I can’t help but smile when I look at them… Christmas is only about a month away, you guys!
Coming back to the cookies, these Old Fashioned Spritz Cookies are a great treat for your kiddos to help with because they’re so easy to bake and decorate. How do I get those perfect shapes, pictured above? By using a Cookie Press! (Scroll down for more info on how it works.)
I hope you all enjoy these cookies as much I do. Merry (early) Christmas, from my kitchen to yours!
Spritz cookies get their name from the German word ‘spritzen,’ meaning ‘to squirt’ in English. I don’t know if I’d describe using the cookie press as ‘squirting out cookies,’ but close enough.
Taste-wise, spritz cookies are a lot like sugar cookies; sweet, soft, chewy, and totally delicious! They’re also kind of like shortbread cookies, but the egg makes them less crumbly.
Recipe Ingredients
Can’t you already smell that freshly-baked-cookie scent? Here’s what you’ll need to transform your imagination into reality:
- Salted Butter: you’ll want to soften 2 sticks of butter before you start.
- Powdered Sugar
- An Egg: to help the cookies keep their shape when using the cookie press and when they are baking.
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Red Food Coloring*
- Green Food Coloring*
- Red Sugar Sprinkles
- Green Sugar Sprinkles
- Red, Green and White Variety Sprinkles
- Cookie Press Tube
*These colors can easily be customized according to the holiday/season.
Let’s get these cookies into the oven and onto your table! Follow these 10 simple steps for fun and festive spritz cookies:
Cream Butter: In a large bowl, whip the butter until light and fluffy with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Add: Sift in the powdered sugar into the bowl and beat again until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract and beat again until well combined. Sift in the flour and stir until combined.
Mix in Food Coloring: Divide the dough into three separate bowls. Mix as much of the green food coloring into one third of the dough until desired color reached. Repeat with the red food coloring, leaving the third bowl plain.
Chill the Dough: Cover the bowls and chill dough for 30 minutes in the fridge, or up to 48 hours.
Prep: Preheat the oven to 375°F and prepare a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
Pick Cookie Shape: Select the cookie press shapes that you would like to use and push the dough into the tube according to the instructions on your cookie press manual. Place the disk shape that you are using on the tube and seal it.
Place Cookies: Press the cookies out onto the prepared baking sheet, not too far apart as these will not spread that much. Sprinkle your choice of sprinkles onto the cookies, if desired.
Bake Cookies: Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn a light golden color.
Let Cool: Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5-6 minutes before removing them from the pan and cooling completely on a cookie cooling rack.
Repeat: Repeat the baking process with the remaining dough then serve once cooled.
A cookie press is a cylindrical baking tool with a plunger on one end, and a disc with a cutout that will give the cookie its shape on the other end.
All you have to do is load the dough into the tube of the cookie press, carefully press down on the plunger with the opening of the cookie press on the baking sheet, and press out a cookie! Sometimes the cookie will stick to the press when you lift it up, but you can just gently peel it off and place it on the baking sheet.
Read through some of these tips for the best results with your spritz cookies:
- Dip Them in Chocolate: A chocolate coating (or a glaze) would be divine on these cookies.
- Don’t Over-Bake: Once the edges of the cookies start to turn golden, pull them out and let them finish baking/cooling on the pan.
- Getting the Dough to Stick: If the cookies won’t stick to the parchment paper you can remove it and just bake them on the pan, but this means you will have to watch the baking time even more closely.
- Cream the Butter and Sugar Well: The lighter and fluffier you can get it to be (I recommend at least 5 minutes), the easier the dough will go through the cookie press.
These cookies can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. If you want, you can store them in the freezer for 2-3 months in an airtight container, too.
Buttery Spritz Cookies are a colorful, festive way to celebrate Christmas! If you're looking for an easy Christmas cookie recipe, you're in the right place. Bonus: look how cute those sprinkles are!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of salted butter, softened
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon of milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1-2 teaspoons of red food coloring
- 1-2 teaspoons of green food coloring
- Red sugar sprinkles
- Green sugar sprinkles
- Red, green and white variety sprinkles
- Cookie press tube
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip the butter until light and fluffy with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Sift in the powdered sugar into the bowl and beat again until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract and beat again until well combined. Sift in the flour and stir until combined.
- Divide the dough into three separate bowls. Mix as much of the green food coloring into one third of the dough until desired color reached. Repeat with the red food coloring, leaving the third bowl plain.
- Cover the bowls and chill dough for 30 minutes in the fridge, or up to 48 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and prepare a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
- Select the cookie press shapes that you would like to use and push the dough into the tube according to the instructions on your cookie press manual. Place the disk shape that you are using on the tube and seal it.
- Press the cookies out onto the prepared baking sheet, not too far apart as these will not spread that much. Sprinkle your choice of sprinkles onto the cookies, if desired.
- Bake for 6 -7 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn a light golden color.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5-6 minutes before removing them from the pan and cooling completely on a cookie cooling rack.
- Repeat the baking process with the remaining dough then serve once cooled.
Notes
These cookies can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 69Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 34mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 3gProtein: 1g
Looking for more easy Christmas Cookie recipes? Here are a few of my favorites!
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- The Best Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Salted Caramel Cookies
- Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
- Red and Green M&M Cookies
- Pfeffernusse Cookies
- White Chocolate Dipped Gingersnap Cookies
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