Buttery and tender spritz cookies originated in Germany and are typically made from little more than flour, butter, sugar and eggs. This recipe is nearly that simple, but includes a bit of cream, vanilla and almond extracts to add more flavor. If you have a cookie press, now's the time to use it. If not, a pastry bag and a star tip is all you need to create wreath shaped cookies that you can decorate any which way you like.
I can't remember a Christmas without spritz cookies.
They were a Christmas staple that both my mom and Grandma made every year without fail. My mom still does. Every year, when we join her for Christmas Eve dinner, dessert is a plate full of cookies that always includes a few spritz.
My mom always uses a cookie press (as did my Grandma), which produces adorable small cookies in all sorts of different shapes. At one point, I had also had a cookie press. But, somewhere along the way it got lost or broken and I've just never bothered to replace it. No matter. A pastry bag and large star tip turns out lovely wreath cookies that you can decorate at will.
Used in this recipe:
- Large star decorator tip
- Disposable Pastry Decorator Bags
- OXO Cookie Press
- Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker’s Half Sheet (2 Pack)
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
more christmas cookie recipes:
- Decorated Brown Butter Citrus Cookies with Chocolate Fondant
- Mini Ginger Snaps with Sorghum and Brown Sugar
- Chocolate Kiss Cookies
- Christmas Funfetti Cookies
- Marshmallow Brownie Crinkle Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Dark Chocolate Biscotti
- Malted White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Halva Buttercream
- Cherry Almond Rugelach
- Chocolate Mint Brownies
Spritz Cookies are a Building Block Recipe
Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.
📖 Recipe
Spritz Wreath Cookies
How to make perfectly buttery and tender spritz cookies. With a bit of cream, vanilla and almond extract for extra flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (or another teaspoon of vanilla)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt (Or, 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment and use a biscuit cutter to trace circles on the paper. Flip the parchment paper over, so the marked side is faced down. (You should still be able to see the circles through the paper.)
- Put the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed just to combine, then on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Add the egg, heavy cream, and extracts and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes longer, until completely incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add to the mixing bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated. *If coloring the dough, add the food coloring now, beating on low until the dough is the desired color.
- Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill the bag with cookie dough - OR, add dough to a cookie press. Using the circles as a guide, pipe "wreaths" onto the parchment covered baking sheet. Decorate with sprinkles, candies, or decorative sugar if desired.
- Bake the cookies for 10-16 minutes (depending on their size), until the cookies along the edge of the cookie sheet are just barely beginning to brown at the edges. Remover the cookies sheet from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet.
Notes
The wide range of bake time is to accommodate whatever size wreaths you happen to be baking.
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