If you love these easy spritz cookies and think they are the best thing ever, be sure to check out my Christmas Pinwheel Cookies and Easy Jam Thumbprint Cookies as well! And don’t miss any of my best Christmas cookies recipes! So spritz cookies aren’t my favorite cookie of all time, but they really are a fun addition to a holiday cookie plate because of their unique shapes and wonderful texture and flavor. Plus, using a spritz cookie press (affiliate link) is like playing with play-doh for grownups. It’s so much fun!

The name of these cookies comes from the German word “spritzen” which means “to squirt”. The soft dough is pressed, or squirted, through decorative plates using a cookie press to create all sorts of delightful shapes and designs! Classic shapes include wreaths, snowflakes, trees, flowers, and rosettes.

How to Make Spritz Cookies

Making spritz cookie dough is incredibly easy. It’s just a matter of creaming butter and sugar, then adding eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour.  Don’t chill the dough, because you actually want it to be very soft so it’s easy to press. If you want to color some of the dough, I recommend using gel food coloring (affiliate link) because it only takes a drop or two to get really vibrant colors in this cookie dough.  Fill the barrel of your cookie press with some of the spritz cookie dough, the press individual cookies onto a baking sheet. I took these pictures using parchment paper, but ended up finding out that it worked better to press the cookies onto a silpat mat, which was heavier and gave the cookies something to stick to.  The most common problem when making spritz cookies is when the pressed cookie dough doesn’t release from the plate after it has been pressed. But I found that after peeling off one of two cookies, I didn’t have any further problems with my cookies sticking.  And if some of your dough DOES get stuck, you can just add it back into the barrel and press it again. 

How to Decorate Spritz Cookies

It’s so fun to change the shape of the die cut on the bottom of the press to make different designs. I sprinkled some of them with sparkling sugar and others with sprinkles before baking. You can use all sorts of fun colored sugars to change these up. But another fun choice is to dip the cookies in a simple glaze after they bake and sprinkle them then. It adds an extra layer of sweetness for anyone who thinks spritz cookies are boring tasting. Another option would be to dip or drizzle them in melted chocolate.

Storing and Freezing Instructions

I don’t recommend freezing the spritz cookies if they have been glazed because the glaze can get sticky, but otherwise the unglazed cookies freeze beautifully. The cookies will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container on the counter before they start tasting stale. But they can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe ziploc bag.

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