Grandma Prudy’s Spritz Cookie Recipe

A few days ago Eric and I received a box in the mail from our friends Sarah and Brian. It was obviously a Christmas present. I was about to start cutting it open (I knew there were going to be cookies in it), and Eric, as usual, said, No, we have to wait until Christmas! 

We have this argument every year. I think Eric must like stale cookies or something. But I won. Besides cookies, here’s what was inside:

We have the most awesome friends ever. Who else gives you homemade pillows for Christmas that feature your favorite poets? Eric has a man-crush on Bono, and I took an American Gothic Literature course in college, where I fell in love with Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.

Sarah and I were roommates in college. (So were Brian and Eric, actually.) It was not love at first sight; the first time Sarah and I met was in our dorm room, which she had already decorated with anime and “make love not war” posters. Later she told me that I came in with my snappy blonde hair, talking on my cell phone nonstop and saying “like” all the time, and she pretty much decided to hate me right then and there.

But some things were meant to be, and Sarah and I were, well, meant to be. Sarah loves poetry, and I think our fate was sealed when I wrote a poem for another roommate of ours once, when I borrowed some Q-tips from her. It was something like this:

I have taken

the Q-tips

that were in

the medicine cabinet

and which

you were probably

saving

for your ears.

Forgive me

they were perfect

so white

and so fuzzy.

Grandma Prudy’s recipe for spritz cookies

This spritz cookie recipe is another one from Grandma Prudy. When Eric first described the spritz cookies that they make every Christmas at his house, I was thinking to myself, “They sound like those hard little shortbread cookies they sell in tin cans. Gross.” But never fear!  Homemade cookies always win. These are not even comparable to the tin can variety.

We call spritz a traditional Swedish recipe because we got it from Eric’s great-grandmother Prudy, who was Swedish, though I suspect other Scandinavian countries claim it as well. But it also has German roots. After all, “spritzen” in German means “to squirt.” So, spritz cookies literally means squirt cookies, because you squirt them out of the cookie press onto the pan. Isn’t that the most adorable thing you’ve ever heard??

They are buttery. They are sweet. They have amazing almond flavor. And they are tiny. This means you can eat about 10 before you even know what happened. You have to try them!

What is a spritz cookie?

Spritz cookies are traditional, buttery, almond-flavored cookies made with a cookie press. Aside from their delicious flavor, spritz cookies’ biggest calling card is their tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. That sets them apart from sturdier shortbread. This is because spritz dough is pressed, unchilled, and without rolling, straight onto the baking sheet.

Shortbread dough, on the other hand, is chilled and needs to be rolled or shaped. The resulting cookie, though still really delicious, isn’t quite as tender.

Choosing the best cookie press for spritz cookies

My mother-in-law Kris has an electric cookie press that is AWESOME. It was the first press I ever used when I visited Eric’s family the first time. Sadly, they don’t make them anymore, and you can hear lots of complaints about this in the reviews for basically any cookie press on the market. Come on, spritz gods, bring back the electric press!

Okay, hold up…

I literally just went to Amazon to check out their cookie press selection, and there IS an electric press! I was researching just last week and couldn’t find a single one. But look, here it is, a “Number 1 New Release,” meaning it must be brand new. You guys, THE SPRITZ GODS HEARD ME!!! Ha! It has zero reviews as of this writing. If anyone buys it, chime in to let us know how it works!

My first cookie press

When Eric and I got married, someone in the family gifted us our own bare-bones cookie press, very similar to this metal version ($16 bucks). It’s a little clunky, but it’s fine. It’s lasted us the last 12 years. This is a good option if you are on a budget. It gets the job done. Though I don’t care what the label says, you hand-wash all those metal parts if you don’t want them warping on you.

During my testing for this post, I decided I wanted to try a new cookie press to see if I could better control how much dough is released with each press. I bought this Oxo brand cookie press ($32) at Bed Bath and Beyond (pictured above) and am pleased with it. It doesn’t have quite the level of control I was hoping for, but it is sleeker and easier to use than the metal one. I’m happy with it and recommend it. And I was happy to learn that the plates (the discs with the shapes on them) from the metal press fit the new Oxo press just fine! So now I have double the shapes.

If you are looking for the king of cookie presses that will stand the test of time (like if you plan to make it an heirloom), try the Marcato Cookie Press. It’s pricey but has very high reviews. All metal parts mean it’s not going to snap in half anytime soon.

What is the easiest cookie press to use?

You can make spritz with an electric cookie press, a plastic cookie press, or a metal cookie press. They all work just fine, but the electric cookie press is definitely the easiest. I find a plastic cookie press a little easier to use than the metal one I own. All of that being said, I used a metal cookie press for 12 years and loved the hundreds and hundreds of cookies I made with it. 

Can you make spritz cookies without a press?

Short answer? Well, yes. But you’ll have no way to make those cute little shapes. I’ve heard of some people using a piping bag and a star tip to shape the dough. I tried it, and the cookies baked flat as a pancake. Just all wrong. If you’re going to bother making spritz, I would just buy a cookie press!

Key ingredients

• The butter is what gives these cookies their signature tender texture. Cold works best if you’re using a stand mixer; if you’re using a hand mixer, let it soften just enough to beat smoothly. 
• Don’t skip the almond extract. This is where your spritz cookies will get their rich, distinctive flavor.
• Measure the all-purpose flour carefully using the spoon-and-level method. Too much flour can make the dough stiff and tough to press.
• If you want colorful spritz cookies, gel food coloring (rather than liquid coloring) is a great way to add a visual pop without adding extra liquid to the dough.
• A very light mist of water before adding the sprinkles can replace the glaze. This is a great shortcut, the water evaporates as they set.

How to make spritz cookies

This is one of the simplest cookie doughs you will ever make. 6 ingredients, no extra handling, and no chilling required. Otherwise, it’s made just like any other cookie dough. Start by beating the butter til smooth. (I use chilled butter in my stand mixer. It makes for the perfect temperature dough. If you only have a hand mixer, soften your butter on the counter for a few minutes.)

Cream the butter and sugar together. (Don’t add cream!! “To cream” means to beat, I have gotten this question so often lately!)

Add in the salt, eggs, and almond extract. At this point, you can add in some gel food coloring if you want. Don’t use liquid food coloring. It will mess with the liquid ratio of the recipe. I usually only do green to make green trees and green wreaths. You can try red, but it might end up looking pink. The sky is the limit!

I like to add the gel food coloring before I add the flour, to make sure that I don’t overbeat the flour. Overmixing is how you get a tough dough and dense cookies. So when you are adding food coloring to the butter mixture, add enough so that when you add in the flour, the color won’t be drowned out. I added at least 1/4 teaspoon of gel to a full batch.

Next, add in the flour. The dough is pretty sticky. That’s okay!

Use your hands to shape the dough into a cylinder and feed it into the tube of your cookie press.

For the prettiest shapes, press out as little dough as possible. If your cookies are spreading or flattening, chill the pressed cookies for a few minutes before baking. And use gel food coloring rather than liquid (especially if you’re using natural coloring), since the extra liquid affects how much the cookies spread.

Once the dough is pressed, bake on the middle rack, using light-colored baking sheets. Spritz cookies should be set but not browned; even a bit too much color can make them crispier than you want.

How to use a cookie press

Here’s how to press your spritz cookies perfectly every time.

• Use your hands to shape the dough into a cylinder and feed it into the tube of your cookie press.
• Press the cookies onto a chilled baking sheet. Chilled, I say!! Don’t use parchment paper, silicone mats, or anything else that would come between the baking sheet and the spritz dough. 
• Press as little dough through the cookie press as possible to create the spritz shape – they’ll look much nicer after baking this way.

Spritz cookie tips and tricks

Why won’t my spritz cookies come out of the press?

If you’re having trouble getting your spritz cookie dough to come out of the press, you may have one of the following problems:

• Your baking sheets aren’t chilled. If the dough is coming out of the press, but not creating a tidy little cookie on the baking sheet, you need to chill the pans. I know it’s an extra step but it’s worth it! (And remember – no parchment or silicone mats. Those cookies have plenty o’ butter, they’ll come off the baking sheet just fine.)
• You added too much flour. I always use the “fluff and scoop” method: fluff up the flour in your bag or container, then use a spoon to scoop it into the measuring cup. Gently level it. It’s amazing what a difference the right amount of flour makes.
• You chilled the dough. Don’t chill the dough! Don’t do it! You’ll only want to curse the heavens and die if you’re trying to squeeze rock-hard dough out of your cookie press.

My spritz cookies won’t stick to the pan!

• Press the cookies onto a chilled baking sheet. Chilling the baking sheets helps the cookie dough stick to the pan. I promise, once baked, they come off the pan like a dream. There is so much butter in this dough you don’t have to worry about the baked cookies sticking.

• Do not use parchment paper! Do not use silicone baking mats! I hardly ever make cookies without lining my pans, but it’s totally unnecessary for these Spritz cookies. The dough just will not stick to a lined pan.

• And speaking of pans. It’s best to use light colored pans for spritz making. Darker pans will make your spritz cookies brown very quickly, and they will turn out crispier than you want them.

• If the dough gets too warm (you can tell because the dough will feel a little greasy and melty), the cookies will bake flatter than you want. Stick the dough in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm it up. Not too long, though! Chilled dough will not go through the press.

How to prevent “blob” cookies

For very nicely shaped cookies, press as little dough through the cookie press as possible. I have an example here: the dough is in the left picture, the baked cookies are in the right-hand picture. On the left cookie, you can see there is a lot less dough pressed.

They both look nice. But the cookie on the left is prettier.

This can be hard to control, and some cookie presses are better than others. I just wanted you to be aware of HOW to achieve the proper shape: press less dough.

Bake the cookies for 5-7 minutes. Do NOT let them brown! They should be firm on the edges but should not brown on the edges, or if they do it should be a very light golden. (My dear mother-in-law Kris loves crispy cookies and will fight me on this until her dying day.) Either way you bake them, they are going to be delicious!

They both look nice. But the cookie on the left is prettier.

Can you freeze spritz cookies?

If you’d like to freeze spritz cookies, put them in a sealed container and they’ll last for MONTHS. Theoretically. If you’re anything like me, you’ll definitely eat them before then.

And that is everything you need to know to make the best spritz cookies of your life! This is such a fond tradition in our family.  I know Grandma Prudy is smiling down on us whenever we bust out the cookie press. Merry Christmas, my friends, and merry spritz-making too!