This German Spritz Cookies Recipe makes light and buttery cookies are just melt-in-your-mouth delicious and will also make a gorgeous addition to any holiday dessert table. Easy to make and fun to decorate, this recipe will become new holiday baking tradition the whole family will enjoy.
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German Spritz Christmas Cookies
Spritz cookies are a traditional German butter cookie that are often made at Christmas time. Also known as German Spritzgebäck cookies, the name comes from the German word spritzen … that means “sprinkle,” which is fitting since they are typically decorated with beautiful and festive sprinkles. They’re cute little buttery cookies that are so easy to make and are completely irresistible to eat!
When it comes to holiday baking, it’s always a lot of fun to try new and interesting recipes like these Hidden Kiss Cookies and these Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies, but it just wouldn’t be Christmas without including some classic recipes like holiday spritz cookies.
These cookies also make a great choice for gifting giving because they are so easy to package up. Add some to a clear cellphone bag tied up with a pretty bow or a decorative cookie tin, and you’ll give a gift that’s sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Why We Love This Recipe
- Traditional Christmas Cookies: These German Christmas cookies so much fun to make and are a great way to create holiday baking traditions with your kids or grandkids every Christmas season.
- Simple Ingredients: Buttery cookies that only require basic baking ingredients you probably keep in your pantry.
- Freezer-friendly: They freeze really well which is great when you need to get a jump on holiday baking or to keep on hand for those last-minute guests that pop in.
- Fun shapes: You can form these butter cookies into many different shapes depending on the holiday or occasion.
Recommended Tools
- Cookie Press
- Baking Sheet (2)
- Electric Mixer
- Cooling Rack
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Bowls (3)
What’s Needed to Make German Spritz Cookies
- Unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
- Confectioners sugar
- Kosher salt
- Egg, room temperature
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract – the almond flavor adds a more unique flavoring and balances out the vanilla
- All-purpose flour
- Leaf green and forest green gel food coloring
- Christmas colorful sprinkles
How to Make Classic Spritz Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
Step One: Mix Wet Ingredients
- Using a large bowl or standing mixer, cream the soft butter, powdered sugar and a pinch of salt until light and fluffy on medium speed.
- To the butter mixture, beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract
Step Two: Add Flour
- Gradually beat in 1/2 of the flour and mix, then add the remaining flour. Mix just until the wet ingredients and dry ingredients are combined
Step Three: Add Food Coloring
- Divide the dough in three bowls
- In one bowl, mix in a few drops of leaf green gel food coloring
- In the second bowl, mix in a few drops of forest green gel food coloring
- Leave the third bowl of dough as is.
Step Four: Press the Cookie Dough
- Add the dough spritz cookie press and follow the directions on the back of the cookie press box. The steps my vary depending on the type press you have.
Step Five: Decorate and Bake
- Once your cookie dough is pressed onto the lined ungreased cookie sheet, add the Christmas sprinkles on top.
Tip: This is a soft dough so if the parchment paper keeps lifting with the dough, you may want to try a silpat baking mat instead.
- Bake cookies in the oven for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies look baked and the edges of the cookies look slightly brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking tray before transferring to a wire rack to finished cooling from the trays and enjoy
Spritz Cookie Variations
- Colors – We used green food coloring to the dough to symbolize the real colors of a Christmas tree and a Christmas wreath. But if you are making flower or other fun shapes, you can use so many different festive colors to represent different holidays. Pastels for Easter, red and blue for patriotic holidays, orange for Thanksgiving, the possibilities are endless.
- Toppings – Sprinkles are always fun, but you can add a melted chocolate drizzle over the tops of with cookies with melted dark chocolate or white chocolate chips.
- Citrus Cookies – Give the cookies a zesty bit of flavor by adding a little bit of orange zest or lemon zest to the dough. An orange spritz cookie is awesome with a chocolate drizzle on top. You can substitute the almond extract with orange or lemon extract to give them more citrus flavor.
- Other Extracts – You can swap out the almond extract with teaspoon rum extract. Peppermint extract will give them the festive flavor of candy canes. Maple extract and coconut extract are other tasty options.
How to Make Spritz Cookies without a Cookie Press
Cookie presses are great for creating uniformed shaped cookies, but if you don’t have a cookie press, no worries! It can be just as much fun to free form your cookies not using one. You can make them as big or in any shape you choose.
To shape the cookies, not using a press, just add the dough to piping bag or pastry bag fitted with a star tip. To make the dough a little easier to come through the tip, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes to an hour. Once you’ve added it to the decorating bag, try to squeeze out as much air as you can so you won’t have little air pockets in the baked cookies.
Then have fun and create any shape you prefer. You can make them in figure 8’s or circles. You can pipe them out into a straight like line churros and dip the ends of the cookies in caramel or melted chocolate for a fun twist!
Can I Use a Cookie Cutters to Make Spritz Cookies?
If you want to use cookie cutters, you should keep in mind the consistency of the dough is a little sticky. Place dough on a flat surface you have sprinkled with a little extra. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough until it is about a half inch thick rectangle. Be sure and dip the cookie cutters in a little flour as well.
Tips for Making the Best Holiday Spritz Cookies
- Don’t rush – When you are beating the sugar and butter together, always use an electric mixer and allow it time to incorporate air. You want this mixture to be light and fluffy. You’ll know it’s time to add the flour once the butter mixture has changed colors and appears lighter and the texture is fluffy.
- Butter is a must – I love adding my own twist to recipes, but when it comes to the butter in this recipe, please don’t try to use margarine or cooking oil. Butter is the most essential ingredient in these cookies and is a must for making these light and crispy cookies.
- Watch the baking time – The butter in these cookies make them bake fairly quick and there are a couple of things that can make the bake time differ. The type of sheet pan, whether you use a silpat or parchment paper or even just how different ovens bake can cause you to bake them a minute or so less or longer. These cookies are done when the edges of the cookies just begin to brown.
- Let the rest – Because these cookies are delicate when they first come out of the oven, you’ll want to leave them on the cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes before you try to move them. This ensures they won’t crumble and will keep their pretty shape.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Christmas Wreath Cornflake Cookies
- Ooey Gooey Christmas Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Pinwheel Sugar Cookies
- Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Fruitcake Cookies
- Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
- Frosted Christmas Cookies
German Spritz Cookies
Equipment
- cookie press
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet cream butter unsalted, softened
- 1 ¼ cup confectioners sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- leaf green and forest green gel food coloring or colors of your chosing
- Christmas Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a large bowl or standing mixer, cream the butter, powdered sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract.
- Gradually beat in the flour until combined.
- Divide the dough in three bowls.
- In one bowl, mix in a few drops of leaf green gel food coloring.
- In the second bowl, mix in a few drops of forest green gel food coloring.
- Leave the third bowl of dough as is.
- If you have never used a cookie press before, follow the directions on the back of the cookie press box.
- Once your cookies are pressed onto the cookie sheets, add the christmas sprinkles on top.
- Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies look baked.
- Allow the cookies to cool before removing from the trays and enjoying!
Nutrition
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