Christmas Spritz Butter Cookies – recipe
These cookies are good any time of year. They are tender and buttery – and the spritz press is available from many manufacturers, with a collection of die-plates for making decorative cookies for holidays or everyday teatime treats. If you don’t have a spritz cookie press then just use a piping bag.
Here is my version of a spritz cookie for Christmas:
Ingredients:
230 grams butter – salted or unsalted, at room temperature
100 grams granulated white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp pure almond extract and/or 2 tsp mixed spice, or to taste
275 grams plain flour, sifted
¼ tsp salt if using unsalted butter
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Butter two baking trays and two sheets of foil the same size as the trays, and put them in the refrigerator to chill.
Beat the butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy – this should take about 3 minutes. Add one egg yolk and the extracts and spice, and continue to beat until they are well-combined.
Add half the flour (and the salt if using) and beat. Add the second yolk and beat, and then add the last of the flour. Continue to beat until you have a smooth dough.
Select a decorative die-plate and fit to the end of the cookie press. Push some of the dough into the cookie press cylinder, and assemble. Hold the base of the cookie press perpendicular to the baking tray and touching it, and press out the cookies, leaving about 2.5 cm between each.
Bake the two sheets full of cookies for around 8 minutes. They should be just getting a little brown around the edges.
While the cookies are baking press more cookies onto the two sheets of foil.
Remove the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool. Place the foil sheets with the next cookies onto the baking sheets and repeat the process.
Enjoy these cookies in a variety of shapes at Christmas and throughout the year.
Recipe by Chrissie Walker © 2018
