Spritz cookies always feel so Christmas-y to me. Growing up, my mom & Aunt Betty dedicated an entire day to baking an overwhelming assortment of Christmas cookies: toffee bars, sugar cookies, Aunt Sue's butter cookies, peanut butter bars, chocolate chip bars, fruitcake bars (Uncle Charlie loved these), peanut blossoms and spritz cookies. Their spritz cookies were usually in the shape of a tree, tinted green and almond flavored. They would also make the swirled spritz variety with a cherry in the center.
Spritz were never my first choice; the peanut butter bars were (and still are) my favorite Christmas cookie. However, I have come to really love making and eating spritz cookies. I use a different recipe that is much shorter (higher butter ratio) and rich with vanilla flavor.
Today we made bright green Christmas trees after T came home from school. By the time I left to do the soccer carpool, they were all mixed, pressed & baked (less than an hour). Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do. Uncle Charlie may have been partial to fruitcake bars, but my little Charlie (his namesake) loves Spritz cookies.
1 cup salted butter, softened
3 egg yolks, room temp is best
2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream butter & sugar. Add yolks & vanilla. Mix and add dry ingredients. When does comes together, put into cookie press. Do not chill. Do NOT use parchment or they will not release from cookie press. Bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. I err on the side of removing at 7 minutes and letting them continue baking on hot cookie sheet. But that's me:)
Thanks for sharing this. I was just thinking of making some of these this year with that Pampered Chef cookie press you passed along to me. I have never used it before (or any cookie press before for that matter!). Hope they turn out OK. :)
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