Description
Spritz Butter Christmas Cookies are classic holiday treats with a buttery, tender texture and festive shapes pressed right from the dough using a cookie press. These pale green, wreath- or tree-shaped cookies are easy to prepare and decorated with colorful sprinkles, perfect for Christmas celebrations and cookie exchanges.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Green food coloring (liquid or gel), about 4 drops gel
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Decoration
- Sprinkles or colored sugar, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Heat your oven to 375°F to prepare for baking the cookies.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. This step aerates the dough for tender cookies.
- Add Egg, Vanilla, and Food Coloring: Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture and continue beating until well combined. Gradually incorporate the green food coloring drop by drop until you achieve a pleasant pale green color, adjusting for intensity as desired.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Stir in the all-purpose flour and kosher salt using a wooden spoon just until combined, taking care not to overwork the dough to keep cookies tender.
- Shape Cookies with Cookie Press: Pack the dough into a cookie press fitted with your choice of shape disks, such as wreaths or trees. Press the dough shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Avoid greasing or using parchment paper as the dough’s stickiness aids in releasing shapes from the press.
- Decorate Cookies: Sprinkle the pressed cookie shapes with colored sugar or festive sprinkles for holiday cheer.
- Bake Cookies: Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn golden. Monitor closely to prevent overbaking.
- Cool and Store: Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Use gel food coloring for a more concentrated color with fewer drops compared to liquid food coloring.
- Do not grease the cookie sheet or use parchment paper, as the dough’s stickiness helps release the shapes from the cookie press.
- You can experiment with different cookie press disks to create various festive shapes like wreaths, trees, or stars.
- Allow cookies to cool fully before storing to prevent them from becoming soggy.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 90
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 55mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 10g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
