These Spritz cookies are an Italian classic that has a crumbly texture accompanied with an enticing almond flavor
I love all the restaurants and bakeries in Cleveland’s Little Italy. It’s my go to spot for good Italian food. And one of the cookies that have always caught my eye are Spritz cookies. While spritz cookies are originally German cookies, I have found there are many variants from other regions.
And I love having a new recipe to explore and play with. This one is especially fun as the cookie is shaped through a press which gives the spritz cookies a unique form. Learning how to use the cookie press was a bit of a challenge.
There was a fair amount of swearing and only a slight breakdown in the learning process. But that’s what learning is all about, gaining knowledge you don’t have. But why can’t it be a smooth process? It probably would be if I could remain calm more often if I’m being honest.
Check out the Craft section of MCG for more fun patterns in strings and things or more unlimited ideas.
Supplies
I don’t really have any ingredients to highlight for making Spritz cookies. The only non-standard ingredient would be the almond extract. But this is a common ingredient that can be found in any typical grocery store. The more interesting thing about this recipe is the use of a cookie press. This is a tool I have never used before, and wow is it weird. Luckily, the cookie press was available at a local store, so it wasn’t too difficult to find.
Process
Making the Spritz Cookie Dough
To make cookies, you first need to make dough. But the spritz cookie dough was a bit different. The consistency of the final dough reminded me more of a choux dough rather than a cookie dough.
To start, I put the butter and sugar into a stand mixer and whisked for some time. This was to help incorporate some air into the butter while also smoothing out the texture of the sugar. I don’t like my cookies being grainy. Typically, I like using a stand mixer for this step, but an electric whisk is also fine. Heck, you could use this as a workout if you so desired, although it might not be an even workout for both of your arms.
Then I added in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Once again, I whisked everything together. Scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl is important at this step otherwise you might end up with butter clusters. Not saying a bite of butter would be such a bad thing but that’s not what I’m aiming for.
I wanted to keep the original dough color for the first time that I made the spritz cookies, but I have seen them in a variety of colors before. And this would be the point where food coloring is added. I decided to skip this step and move ahead to adding in the flour.
The dough ended up being both stiffer and looser than I anticipated. It was very similar to a choux dough; pipeable but also stiff. It was an odd dough to work with, where I wanted it to move but not too much.
Piping the Cookies
In my mind, one signature aspect of spritz cookies is the shape. While there are a variety of shapes, I feel like the cookies are typically made up of some combination of dots or lines. The most classic of these shapes is the wreath made of dots. I loaded the cookie press with my batter and the desired design and started piping.
Or, at least, that is what was supposed to happen. My dough was a bit too cold to pipe through the cookie press easily (I may have put it in the fridge since I had to step away between making the dough and piping). The colder the dough, the stiffer it becomes and the less pipeable it becomes.
It is really important to keep the temperature of the cookie dough in mind. Lukewarm or room temperature is the most preferable. The dough has a natural stiffness and it’s really the combination of heat and butter than makes it pliable.
After too many tried, I finally figured out how to use the cookie press. For the most part. One thing I loved about the cookie press is the satisfying click noise it made indicating one cookie has been dispensed. Dispensing the dough directly onto the baking sheet was needed as the dough didn’t really take to the silicone mat or parchment paper.
Baking
The last step of the process is baking. I choose not to add any extras to my cookies as I really wanted to go with its most simplistic form. I have seen sprinkles, or other such things added as decoration. These extras can be added before or after the bake. If you can’t decide, you can always start baking and determine if you want to add anything at the end.
For adding sprinkles at the end, some sort of adhesive will be needed to keep the sprinkles attached to the cookies. This can be done with corn syrup or icing. Although, in terms of flavor, I prefer to go with the icing.
Reflections
I was surprised how much I enjoyed these spritz cookies. The almond flavor had me a bit more skeptical about the taste since I am not the biggest almond extract fan. But these spritz cookies were absolutely irresistible. They had a firm crunch on the outside, despite being only slightly golden. And their crumbly texture? So good.
This is definitely a cooking I want to explore with more because it does feel like there is a lot you can do with this base. From playing with flavor, to color, to decorations. It’s like a cookie playground!
Lessons
What is a Cookie Press?
Okay, I’ve mentioned a cookie press several times in this article and I figured I should write a little bit about it. First, what is a cookie press? This tool is made up of a tool that can hold dough, a plunger with a gun like trigger, and a faceplate that the dough is pushed through.
Typically, the faceplates have various designs made from some combination of dots and lines. While there are ubiquitous shapes like flowers and stars, holiday shapes (especially Christmas) are also readily available.
Once everything is loaded, the cookie press is placed directly on the baking sheet and then the gun is triggered until that click goes off (the click might be unique to mine, but I am not sure, make sure to check out the instructions if you buy a cookie press).
Then I gently pull away the cooking gun from the baking sheet. I found that doing the removal at a slight angle would help dislodge the dough, keeping it on the pan.
Quick Recipe
Classic Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter softened
- ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Almond Extract
- 2 ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, salt, and sugar with an electric sand mixer or whisk.
- Add in egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- If a color is desired, mix the color into the mixture at this step before adding the flour.
- Then add flour and mix until combine. The mixture should move but be on the stiffer side.
- Fill cookie press with dough and choose desired pattern. Press onto an uncovered baking sheet.
- Bake for about 8 minutes or until the bottoms are just starting to turn golden. Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before mobbing to a baking rack to cool completely.
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