'Tis that time of year... holiday cheer, sweet treats, and snowstorms on the East Coast making headlines. I thought I'd select the first and second options to talk about today (the 3rd is certainly getting talked about by plenty of other folks).The following recipe is a family tradition. We have the original recipe torn out of a magazine and slipped into a plastic sleeve... every year there is a mini crisis while we try to find this precious piece of high gloss paper. I'm going to post it here, sharing and preserving it for years to come!
Spritz cookies is what we're talking. Remember that old aluminum press your mother or grandmother pulled out once or twice a year to make cookies? Looks like this:
They are getting hard to find... this one was actually a Christmas present from my darling mother- she found it on Etsy amongst the "vintage" items!
Nowadays they all seem to have a "gun" thing going on.What does that say about society?But I digress. Ok, so you have your press, gun shaped or old school. A stand mixer is nice though not strictly necessary, and some food dye sends these cookies over the top.
Spritz Butter Cookie Recipe
1C butter, room temperature
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
(I usually AT LEAST double this recipe. Doubled it makes enough to fill a 3" tall 8" diameter tin with about 20 cookies left over...)
Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Gradually add in flour until dough reaches a play-doh-like consistency.
Divide dough into 3 portions and add dye. I like to do 1 part white, 1 part red, and a little more than 1 part green. Don't be afraid to use a lot of dye. I find the gel kind works better to make brighter cookies.
Now the fun part. You have endless possibilities in combining colors in the press. I like to make Christmas trees, wreaths, and poinsettias (ok, they are really just swirlies, but I think they look like poinsettias). You can also add sprinkles as desired! I don't know how the gun versions work, but you'll want to screw down the cookie press until you can just see the cookie coming out from underneath the press, then lift straight up.
Cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Here are a few spritz cookie tutorial photos:
Plain old lovely green trees.
Tri-color wreaths.
Red and White Poinsettias.
Yum!
1C butter, room temperature
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 C flour
(I usually AT LEAST double this recipe. Doubled it makes enough to fill a 3" tall 8" diameter tin with about 20 cookies left over...)
Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Gradually add in flour until dough reaches a play-doh-like consistency.
Divide dough into 3 portions and add dye. I like to do 1 part white, 1 part red, and a little more than 1 part green. Don't be afraid to use a lot of dye. I find the gel kind works better to make brighter cookies.
Now the fun part. You have endless possibilities in combining colors in the press. I like to make Christmas trees, wreaths, and poinsettias (ok, they are really just swirlies, but I think they look like poinsettias). You can also add sprinkles as desired! I don't know how the gun versions work, but you'll want to screw down the cookie press until you can just see the cookie coming out from underneath the press, then lift straight up. Cook at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Here are a few spritz cookie tutorial photos:
Plain old lovely green trees.
Tri-color wreaths.
Red and White Poinsettias.
Yum!
Enjoy your cookies with a glass of cold milk or leave them out for Santa (if there are any left). Just don't let the bad cat get them.
Cheers! (And remember the free shipping at my Etsy shop until 12/21/09!)
Cheers! (And remember the free shipping at my Etsy shop until 12/21/09!)
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