Delicate spritz cookies are buttery, tender, and such festive Christmas cookies! The cookie dough is super easy to make, and there are so many ways to decorate them. This spritz cookie recipe makes a BIG batch of cookies, perfect for holiday baking.
Ever since I started making spritz cookies myself, I can’t get enough! They are so dang good. I would describe them as a cross between a cutout sugar cookie and shortbread cookies made with a cookie press. They have a lovely sweet flavor accentuated with a touch of almond extract.
As long as you don’t overbake them, these crisp butter cookies stay super soft and tender for at least a week. Each cookie melts right in your mouth. Whenever I make these, I literally cannot stop eating them.
I’ll admit, in the past, spritz cookies never really appealed to me. Whenever I had them, they were store-bought versions that lacked the flavor and texture I expect in a great cookie. But as with most things, when you go homemade, you see how things should really taste. Total game changer.
Now, I Love Spritz Cookies. Especially These Ones!
The word “spritz” comes from the German word “spritzen”, meaning to squirt. Traditional German spritz cookies are named for the way they are made: By squirting/pressing the cookie dough through a cookie press. Here’s why these homemade Christmas spritz cookies are always the best:
- The final cookies are purely amazing. Soft, tender, and buttery. There’s no hint of artificial flavoring here. It’s hard not to eat one right after the other until they’re all gone.
- These are SUPER easy to make. The cookie dough comes together quickly, and there’s no chilling required.
- Perfect for batch baking. These spritz cookies don’t spread much while baking, and they’re small. You can bake a bunch at one time, so they’re a great make-ahead treat for holiday parties and Christmas cookie exchanges.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Head to the pantry to gather the ingredients you’ll need to make these easy butter cookies. Scroll to the recipe card for the full recipe measurements.
- Butter – Bring your butter to room temperature.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar or light brown sugar is best here.
- Egg – This can also be at room temperature.
- Flavoring extracts – I like to use a mix of vanilla and almond extract. You can omit the almond extract or replace it with extra vanilla if preferred.
- Flour – Measured using a kitchen scale or by spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it with the back of a knife. Avoid scooping directly from the bag. You’ll end up with too much flour and dry cookies.
- Gel food coloring – Gel icing colors yield the brightest, most vibrant-colored cookies without watering down the dough. You can use red, green, or any colors you’d like.
- Sprinkles – Optional, for a festive finish!
How to Make Spritz Cookies
Here’s a quick overview of how to make this classic Christmas cookie recipe from scratch.
Start by preheating the oven to 350ºF while you line your baking sheets with silicone mats (or leave them unlined). I don’t recommend using parchment paper, as the cookie dough won’t stick when you press it.
Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until lighter in color.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
Add the flour and salt to form the dough. Do not overmix.
Coloring the Cookie Dough
If you want to use a few colors, divide your dough into parts and color it. I recommend gel icing color, not food coloring. You only need a small amount of gel icing color to achieve bright colors. With food coloring, you have to add a lot, and it thins out your cookie dough, which will cause your cookies to spread too much.
Divide the cookie dough.
Add a little gel icing color at a time to color the cookie dough.
Press the Cookies & Bake
Now, add your cookie dough to the cookie press and shape your cookies! I’m a big fan of this cookie press, but feel free to use whichever you have. Be sure to follow the setup directions according to your press.
Hold the cookie press perpendicular to the baking sheet. Press out the cookies.
Decorate with sprinkles.
Bake at 350ºF for 5-8 minutes, then cool on the pan for 4-5 minutes.
How to Use a Cookie Press
- Set up the press. In most cases, you’ll add the plate of the shape you want to make to the bottom of the press. Then, add your cookie dough into the top. Hold the press upright with the bottom directly on the cookie sheet. Press the lever to release a cookie, then lift the press, and you have your cookie!
- If the cookie dough sticks to the press, you can use your finger to gently release the cookie. If it holds its shape, great. If not, add it back to your press and keep going. It is important not to try to press the cookies out onto something that’s really non-stick, like parchment paper. See my tips and troubleshooting notes below.
Why Are My Cookies Not Sticking?
- Surface material matters. Be sure you aren’t using parchment paper, which is naturally non-stick. A silicone baking mat is best, but you can also pipe the dough directly onto the cookie sheet.
- Make sure it’s oil-free. Wash your mat or cookie sheet with warm, soapy water before using it. If any residual oils or anything are present, it could prevent the cookies from sticking.
- Too much coloring. If you’ve thinned out your cookie dough to the point where it won’t stick, you could try adding a touch of flour to it, a teaspoon at a time. You could also put the cookie sheet and/or baking mat into the freezer for about 5 minutes, then quickly use the press to make the cookies. The frozen mat should be sticky while cold and help the cookie dough stick.
Tips for Perfect Spritz Cookies
- Avoid dry cookies. It’s important to measure your flour correctly, particularly in these cookies. Too much flour will give you dry cookies that won’t stick when you press them. I highly recommend a food scale or the spoon-and-level method.
- No nuts, no problem. If you can’t use almond extract, that’s fine. Just replace it with additional vanilla extract.
- Color correctly/avoid spreading. Do not use water-based food coloring to color these cookies. It won’t make a vibrant color without adding quite a bit of color, which will thin out your cookie dough, causing the cookies to not stick to your baking mat and to spread too much. Go with gel icing colors and add only as much as needed. Even with the gels, too much can make it hard for the dough to stick when using the press.
- Dough that sticks. If your cookies aren’t sticking when you press them, first try washing your mat or pan very well to be sure there’s no grease or anything, then try again. If that doesn’t work, even after trying several times, pop the cookie sheet and/or baking mat into the freezer for about 5 minutes, then quickly use the press to make the cookies.
- Add sprinkles quickly. If the cookie dough sits for a while before you add the sprinkles on top, the dough won’t be as sticky, and the sprinkles may not stick well. I recommend adding the sprinkles just after pressing out the cookies.
- Don’t overbake. These cookies are pretty small, so they really don’t need long to bake. Take them out of the oven just after they no longer look glossy, and they should be perfect.
Storage and Freezing
- To store homemade spritz cookies, place them in an airtight container to keep them fresh and prevent them from drying out. Layer the cookies with parchment or wax paper to avoid sticking, especially if they’re decorated with icing or sprinkles. Store them at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze. For longer storage, freeze the cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months, thawing them at room temperature before serving.
More Christmas Baking Recipes
Buttery Spritz Cookies Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- ¾ cup (155g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ¼ cups (293g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Red gel icing color (optional)
- Green gel icing color (optional)
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats. I don’t recommend parchment paper with these cookies. You want the cookie dough to stick to the surface you press them onto and parchment paper is non-stick. Set cookie sheets aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. You should be able to see the mixture lighten in color and get a creamy texture and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg and mix until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and almond extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough is combined, then remove the bowl from the mixer and finish combining with a rubber spatula, if needed. Do not over mix.
- If coloring some of the cookie dough, divide it into parts. I used white, red and green, so I divided it evenly into three parts.
- Use the gel icing color to color the dough. Add small amounts to begin with, then add more as needed. You can always add additional color, but can’t remove it if you add too much. Adding too much liquid will thin out your cookie dough a bit.
- Add one of the colors of cookie dough to your cookie press (I use this one) and follow the directions for your press to set it up. Hold the cookie press perpendicular to your cookie sheet and press out the cookies. They can be fairly close together, since they don’t really spread.
- Decorate the cookies with sprinkles, if desired.
- Bake cookies for 5-8 minutes. I prefer them nice and soft, so I went with 5 minutes, but feel free to increase that time and adjust based on your oven.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an air tight container for up to about 1 week.
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Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
My dough is so sticky and won’t even make shapes. It’s a big mound of soft dough. I followed the recipe exactly and used gel coloring, not liquid. I can’t imagine what went wrong 🙁
I added a 1/8 cup more of flour and chilled for 10-15 minutes before pressing. They get sticky when warm
I had the same problem. I used King Arthur AP flour, too.
So good!
Glad you enjoyed them!
I use liquid coloring befor the flour mixture been doing this for 50 years hope this helps others
These are so yummy. Ordered the cookie press and the only trouble I had was getting them to release onto pan. But I really think it was just a new gadget I am going to have to work with and learn. It was all good though, we just ate the ones that messed up immediately. Very good cookie. Thank you.
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
The recipe states “don’t over mix “. How are you supposed to tint the dough without mixing your guts out. I think it ruined my dough as my cookies spread too much
Mixing and gently folding are two different things. When you’re mixing the dough, you’re often using a mixer, which can over mix the dough. When adding the color, I do it by hand and am basically folding the dough. You obviously want to do it as little as you can, but it should be fine. I just made these cookies exactly like the photos 2 days ago and they were perfect. If they spread too much, you may have just added too much coloring. Did you use the gels?
Hi, Lindsay. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it was delicious! I also have the OXO Good Grips cookie press, but I had a little trouble in between batches. The first one came out perfect. There was no issue with the cookies sticking to the mat whatsoever. For the second batch, I rinsed the cookie press because I was switching shapes/colors and it was really hard to get the cookies out of the press. They were not sticking to the mat and I had to do a ‘double press’ pretty much for them to get out, which left that pretty shapeless, looking like a blob. Any tips on how to avoid that? Thank you so much!
Hmm, I actually made these yesterday too. 🙂 I did the same as you describe with washing between shapes/colors and didn’t have any issues. Often, the not sticking is due more to what you’re pressing them onto. Did you use a silicone mat? Do you think that got a little greasy, so they weren’t sticking well anymore? You could try washing that. I didn’t need to do that, but it’s a possibility. But it’s probably more to do with the surface you’re pressing them onto.
The cookie dough may not release and stick to the cookie sheets because the cookie sheets are too warm. I use two separate cookie sheets. One cools off while the other pan is in the oven.
I hadn’t considered someone using warm baking sheets. Great tip!
Hi Lindsay,
Thank you for the reply! I did indeed use a silicone mat, but reading some other comments and talking to a couple of people, I do believe it might have something to do with the temperature of the baking sheet/cookie dough. Next time I make them, I’ll keep an eye out for that. Thank you so much.
I make these every year and I think I’ve pretty much got it figured out. There is a bit of a trick to it I have found. I use regular nonstick cookie sheets but I put them in the freezer and only work with one at a time so that I can keep alternating cold pans. It usually takes several cookies to get them to come out of the extruder correctly. I collect that waste dough and reserve it for the end. After they bake I put the unwashed pan back in the freezer and grab the fresh cold one. Again any duds I collect the dough for and at the end combine all that dough and make some fun multicolor cookies. These usually get eaten up first by the kids. Also I don’t wash the cookie press in between colors. I’ve never had a problem with the colors being affected. I also add more vanilla and almond then this recipe calls for.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂 So glad you enjoy them!
Thank you all so much for the replies and tips. That makes perfect sense, I do believe the issue here was something related to the temperature. I left the unused cookie dough out while the different batches were baking, next time I’ll try refrigerating the extra batches until they’re ready to be used. I’ll also leave the sheets in the freezer prior to use. Thank you so much!!
Hi there. Can these be frozen? I’d like to bake some this wknd for Christmas. Thanks
Yes, they freeze great. Just keep in mind that it’s possible for the sprinkles (if you use them) to bleed a bit when they are thawed.
I’m so excited to use this recipe! If I’m only using vanilla extract, do I just double it (to replace the almond extract); so 2 tsp total?
Yes, you could double it. I hope you enjoy them!
Can I use Jell-O to color the dough?
I haven’t ever tried it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Made these spritz cookies today. Followed recipe as written. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! The perfect spritz…tender, buttery, just a lovely cookie. 💖🎄
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I am using an original metal press which I got at an estate sale. After washing, should I treat the press and the pieces with spray on oil, or just use after washing and drying?
I haven’t used a metal press like that. I might try looking that up specifically.
I have my grandma’s original metal press and have made spritz cookies with it before, and because of the butter in the dough, it doesn’t stick; no need to prep anything!
Hi Carla, My mother always uses a metal press (from the 1970s) and she never oils or greases it. The butter in the batter seems to do the trick. In my experience the old metal presses are the best!
This was a great recipe. I followed your instructions except for the almond extract which I don’t like. They turned out wonderful. Ended up having to make more because the family loved them.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Can I use regular food coloring?
The problem with regular food coloring is that it is a thin liquid rather than a concentrated gel, so you have to add more of it to get a deeper color and it thins out the cookie dough too much. If you were going to use it, you’d need to use a very small amount.
I love this recipe! Makes the best Spritz! I did an experiment and substituted sugar with stevia and flour with almond flour. Let’s just say I’ll be sticking to the original recipe
I’m so glad you enjoy them!
threw the entire batch out as it would not even form , way too soft. I tried adding a little flour and it didn’t work, then I tried chilling and it didn’t work. I followed recipe to a T.
I’m sorry you had trouble with them, but I’m also very confident in the recipe. It sounds like your butter was either much too soft (read about room temperature butter here, it’s not always what people think), or you didn’t fully cream the butter and sugar. When it’s properly creamed, it should visibly lighten in color and texture should become fluffy and actually grow in volume. The other option is that you under measured your flour, which is possible but not as common.
Can you make the dough in advance and keep in the refrigerator till yr ready to use it say 3 days?
I haven’t tried it, but I’d think it’d be fine. Just bring it back to room temperature before using it.
Thanks will let you know.
I’m going to try spritz for my first time. Can I use margarine instead of butter?
I would stick with butter. Sorry.