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.
Can the dough be made ahead and frozen until ready to use?
I haven’t tested that, but it should be fine.
They only last one week?? I want to make now but Xmas is in 3 weeks? Is that ok?
You could consider freezing them or making them a little closer to Christmas. Most cookies don’t last 3 weeks.
Can you freeze these after they are prepared?
Yes, just be aware that if there are sprinkles on them, the colors may bleed when they thaw.
I loved this recipe. I think the almond extract added the perfect amount of flavor. My grandchild loved them and Requested more!
I used the same cookie press that was used in the recipe and I had 70+ cookies!
I made the recipe but added a bit more sugar. I didn’t get very many cookies at all, I used a pampered chef press and some came out ok but I didn’t have a baking mat and the dough wouldn’t stick to pan and I would forget to wipe it off so would squeeze one more time. I still don’t see how you get so many cookies out of this recipe…my advice…make a double batch! Other than that they taste great!
Chill your cookie sheet
Great recipe! I haven’t made these in a long time and I couldn’t find what I had used in the past. These turned out perfect. Both 5 minutes and 6 minute cooking times turned out great! I had no food coloring on hand so they are all plain but either way my kids will gobble them up!!
These are delicious! I colored and marbled my dough and they turned out great! Such wonderful tasting cookies too, thank you for the great recipe!
We followed the recipe exactly and these cookies are horrid. We gave them to our dogs.
My coolies came put too soft – almost wet in the center – even after an 8 minute bake.
Could i have over worked the dough?
I used wilton gel color.
There can be variations between ovens. You may have just need to bake them longer. It could also depend a little on how much gel you added to the cookie dough. If it thinned out the dough a little bit more then they may have needed a smidge more of baking time.
what brand of gel icing color do you recommend?
I use Wilton and AmeriColor.
Is there anything you can use besides a silicone baking mat? Can you just put it on the cookie sheet?
The cookie press works best when the cookie dough sticks to what you press the cookies onto. I find the baking mat works best.
This receipe is a little confusing. The top says cook time 25 minutes but the recipe itself says 5-8 minutes.
Can you make the dough and refrigerate until ready to use
Yes, that should be fine.
I used this recipe last week, and forgot to bring it with me to my boyfriends house.. So I ended up using another recipe. This one by far is better! Just do remember not to use parchment paper. I spent so long fighting with these and when I came home the silicone mat is perfect. I LOVE these! I am in Culinary School for Pastry and baking and I am very picky on my recipes!
I made this recipe for the very first time and it was a hit! I made the recipe just as instructed with the exception of using coloring. I decided to just do plain with sprinkles so good!
So glad you enjoyed them!
This was super easy! Years ago I tried spritz cookies with my kids got frustrated and tossed my cookie press. I got the Oxo this year. I let my butter sit at room temp until soft. I used salted butter and omitted the salt. I used 3/4 teaspoon almond extract since I have a picky kiddo. They were SO EASY and delish! Now if you could tell me how to stop eating them!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!