These are my favorite spritz cookies! Using a cookie press, shape this easy buttery cookie dough into intricate shapes and have fun decorating with sprinkles, chocolate, and chocolate chips. No cookie dough chilling required and the cookies freeze and ship wonderfully.
I originally published this recipe in 2018 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and additional success tips.
What Are Spritz Cookies?
The base dough is very similar to my sugar cookies, butter cookies, and pinwheel cookies. Each are shaped a different way, and spritz cookies are shaped with a cookie press. They’re buttery and sweet and, with the right recipe, hold their intricate shape when baked. Spritz cookies are also similar to shortbread cookies, but spritz cookies usually contain an egg. Eggs help the spritz cookies hold their shape when baked, so they don’t crumble like shortbread cookies do.
The word “spritz” actually comes from the German word spritzen which means “to squirt.” This refers to squirting or pushing the cookie dough through a cookie press. I don’t know why, but I always associate the word spritz with “spritely” because spritz cookies remind me of something little spritely fairies would eat!
One reader, Julie, commented: “The cookies came out great, and tasted delicious! I’m very new to baking, so I ordered the OXO cookie press, read all of your tips, and was thrilled with the results. If I could make these, anyone can! I can’t wait to make these again! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Patti, commented: “I have been making spritz cookies forever. I saw that you were using the same cookie press that I have so I decided to try your recipe. This is the nicest my cookies have ever looked since I started baking them. ★★★★★”
What Is a Cookie Press?
I added a cookie press to my baking tools collection a few years ago. Inside this baking tool is a metal plate with a stenciled shape. A cookie press presses your cookie dough through the metal plate to create beautifully shaped cookies. It’s actually a lot easier than a rolling pin and cookie cutters!
- I recommend this OXO cookie press. This is not a sponsored post; I genuinely love this cookie press. It’s the easiest to use and comes with 12 different shapes you can swap out. Just read the hundreds of positive reviews. It also makes a wonderful holiday gift! I always include it in my annual guide full of Holiday Gifts for Bakers.
How to Make Spritz Cookies
This is my favorite recipe for spritz cookies. I love it so much that I published it in my cookbook Sally’s Cookie Addiction. Here’s why this is my favorite:
- Uses very basic ingredients
- 1-bowl recipe: Like snowball cookies, another easy and classic Christmas cookie!
- No dough-chilling required
- Fun to decorate, with no separate icing recipe required: Use sprinkles, chocolate chips, melted chocolate; and try tinting some of the dough a color.
- Freezer-friendly: After thawing, they still taste fresh!
- Ship wonderfully: These cookies hold their shape during the journey! Learn more about how to ship cookies.
The dough comes together in 1 bowl, using a mixer. There is no baking powder or baking soda needed; these buttery spritz cookies are dense, not airy. They hardly spread, so you can fit a bunch onto your baking sheets. Since the cookies are small, you can use 1 batch of dough to make a variety of shapes with your cookie press. You can even tint some of the cookie dough red or green like you see in my pictures!
How Do I Use a Cookie Press?
Each press comes with a set of instructions and the OXO cookie press I recommend is super user-friendly. Select a plate, such as the snowflake shape, and place it in the bottom compartment. After your cookie dough is prepared, spoon it inside the tube. Attach the top of the cookie press to the tube. Hold the cookie press upright, with the bottom pressed against your baking sheet. Press the lever until it clicks and lift up the cookie press. The shaped cookie will be on your baking sheet! *If the cookie dough sticks to the cookie press, use your fingers or a knife to release it and place onto the cookie sheet.
- No Cookie Press? Instead, use a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (13 mm) open star tip and use my butter cookies or chocolate butter cookies recipe, which is this cookie dough with a little milk to help make it pipe-able. 🙂
Can I admit I prefer making these over decorating sugar cookies with royal icing? Spritz cookies are much neater and faster to make, and are festive right out of the oven!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
My Favorite Spritz Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 84 bite-size cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are my favorite spritz cookies! Using a cookie press, shape this easy cookie dough into intricate shapes and have fun decorating with sprinkles, chocolate, and chocolate chips. No cookie dough chilling required and they freeze and ship wonderfully.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional: gel food coloring, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and melted chocolate for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Line 2 or 3 large baking sheets with silicone baking mats, or use nonstick baking sheets with no liner. (Do not use parchment paper because the cookie dough, when pressed out of the cookie press, will not adhere to it.) While the oven is preheating, and if your refrigerator or freezer has room, it’s helpful to chill your lined baking sheets. It sounds odd, but dough coming out of the cookie press adheres much better to a cold surface.
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- On low speed, beat in the flour and salt. Turn up to high speed and beat until completely combined.
- Press the dough: Follow cookie press manufacturer’s directions to fit your cookie press with a decorative plate. Scrape some of the dough into your cookie press. Hold the cookie press perpendicular to the cold lined baking sheet and press out the cookies 2 inches (5 cm) apart. If desired, decorate the shaped cookie dough with sprinkles or press a chocolate chip into the center. Note: It’s helpful to lightly brush the shaped cookie dough with water before adding sprinkles—this helps them stick.
- If the cookie dough becomes too soft as you work, chill the shaped cookie dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking.
- Bake until very lightly browned on the edges, 7–9 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate.
- Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 4 days before pressing the dough through the cookie press. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months; allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before continuing with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months; thaw before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | OXO Cookie Press | Cooling Rack | Gel Food Coloring (if desired for tinting the cookie dough) | Sprinkles (such as Red Sanding Sugar, Green Sanding Sugar, Sapphire Sanding Sugar, or Christmas Nonpareils)
- Almond Extract: Almond extract adds such a wonderful flavor and I don’t recommend skipping it. If desired, you can leave it out completely or add another 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract in its place. You can also substitute with 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, lemon extract, or another flavor extract you enjoy. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon is delicious too!
- Food Coloring: I tinted 1/4 of the cookie dough green with 1 very tiny drop of green food coloring. I recommend gel food coloring. Use sparingly; 2 drops is plenty for the entire batch.
- No Cookie Press? No problem! Instead, use a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (13 mm) open star tip and use my butter cookies recipe, which is this cookie dough with a little milk to help make it pipe-able.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Thanks so much for the info on freezing. I got two pans baked and just needed to stop. I was crossing my fingers hoping that putting the rest of the dough in the fridge wouldn’t ruin everything! I love your recipes. They never let me down.
I didn’t chill the dough because it didn’t say to-but I checked on my cookies after three minutes and they were a melted mess. It’s all direct directions to a T.
These were great and held their shape! I used the same oxo cookie press. I took the tip from step 6 and refrigerated the cookies for 10 minutes.
This was my first time using a cookie press and now these are a new favorite Christmas cookie! I colored the dough green and added red sprinkles.
While in Hi we tried some of their macadamia peppermint shortbread cookies. They are tiny and crunchy and have so much flavor. Maybe you can try to make something similar. I was looking at this for the base but they don’t have an almond taste but bits of crunchy peppermint and macadamia nuts throughout
Hi Deb, sounds delicious! You might enjoy trying these shortbread wedge cookies, and using crushed candy canes and chopped macadamia nuts as the add-ins. Let is know if you give it a try!
I have been using this recipe for the last couple of years. I usually leave the dough in the fridge for a couple of days before baking. This year I am going to try and freeze it! I love the mix of almond and vanilla extract and find they taste the best the next day or when they are not warm from the oven.
I made these with my 5 year old yesterday, they were great! The only issue was that, oddly, the last shape disc he wanted to use (a flower, after trees, hearts, and rectangles) resulted in almost every single cookie sticking to the disc. We needed to hurry up so the last pan of cookies is weird looking.
Did the dough get too soft? I was guessing that was the issue and would have put it in the fridge but like I said, we needed to wrap it up.
Great cookies though, fun for all of us. My son really enjoyed choosing the discs, pushing the plunger on the press, decorating the cookies, and of course making the dough. And the cookies are so little that they’re perfect for my cookie obsessed one year old and as a diabetic even I can have one!
I’ll admit I’m going to try a keto Spritz recipe later today so I can have more than one but this recipe is great and I see no need to look further for a good spritz recipe. We all love almond extract but I’m curious to try lemon and mint versions at other times of the year.
We’re so glad these were a hit, A! Yes, it sounds like the dough may have gotten a bit too warm towards the end of the batch. If time allows for the next batch, you can let the dough chill a bit if it starts to get too warm.
I think this recipe is too bland. Also, I did have to refrigerate because it would not come off of the cookie pressl
I use this recipe every year, and have tried about 4 different brands of cookie presses. My latest from William Sonoma just didnt want to push the cookies out this year (and yes, I made sure all the parts were working). Thank goodness you had the option to pipe these out with a huge tip, so it saved my batch. I’ll have to look into the Oxo brand. BTW, the cookies are delicious–I use anise flavoring instead of almond, as I make my decorated sugar cookies with the almond flavor and like to mix it up.
About cookie presses, I used a vintage Mirro press for 50 years. It took practice to get uniform presses but is indestructible. Needing something easier for my elderly hands I bought OXO. It was great for 2 years and then the plastic bits just gave out. This year my daughter sent me a Marcato Biscuits press. It is a wonder! And, it looks like it will hold up indefinitely like the Mirro. If you try it be sure to get an authentic Marcato, Amazon is littered with fakes.
Thank you Took these cookies to our church exchange ! Great Recipe
When do I add the food gel to cookie dough
Hi Joanne, you can add the optional gel food coloring when you add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
This recipe did not work with my Nordic Ware cookie press. I’ve used it several times before with no issue. I think the dough was too thick. Also, the flavor ended up being pretty bland. I think I’ll stick with the recipe in the Berry Crocker book.
Have you tried a savory/salty version?
I have not, but let me know if you do!
Have you substituted honey for the sugar?
Hi Amber, we don’t recommend that swap here.
I tried a sample half batch this morning, some plain, the rest the cinnamon variety. Both are delicious and such a simple recipe. Thank you!
Haven’t made yet. Is there another extract I can substitute for almond.. Not a fan.
Hi Jodi, I’m glad to help. See the recipe note about almond extract: you can leave it out completely or add another 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract in its place. You can also substitute with 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, lemon extract, or another flavor extract you enjoy. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon is delicious too!
I love all of Sally’s recipes. I’m going to make Spritz cookies soon. I have the problem of the pressed cookie spreading out when baking. I saw the comment about using chilled butter at room temperature. How cold should the butter be? Also, I use egg white mixed with a little water to make the sugar crystals stick. For me, this works better than plan water.
Hi Wendy, proper room temp butter is actually still cool to the touch, about 65 degrees F. You can read more about it here: https://route-span.live/room-temperature-butter/%3C/p%3E
Spritz cookies have been a holiday tradition in my family for 50+ years. Your recipe is perfect. Thank you!
Hi, I would like to try this recipe. Two questions please, how do I put the sprinkles on the cookie to hold? Do I put before I put cookies in oven to bake? Won’ they discolor or run? Secondly, can I use cookie plungers as I do not have a cookie press? Kindly advise please…thank u
Hi Tina, it’s helpful to lightly brush the shaped cookie dough with water before adding sprinkles—this helps them stick. We haven’t had any issues with the sprinkles bleeding this way. If you’re using cookie plungers, we’d recommend using our traditional sugar cookie dough instead. Enjoy!
I tried this recipe. Very good. Thankyou
Made these for the first time. What a great and easy recipe. It is a keeper forever. Thank you so much
I’ve made these twice now and love them so much, they look so beautiful and are almost effortless to make. I wanted to ask you advice on decorating with melted chocolate like the example you showed with the chocolate chip and chocolate drizzle. Do you add anything to the melted chocolate to help it harden? When I tried melting chocolate to decorate my cookies with, I noticed it didn’t firm up until I put it in the fridge! Any tips would be great!
Hi Rebecca! We just use a bar of pure baking chocolate melted down. You could use melted chocolate chips, although those can be difficult to get in a melting consistency since they contain stabilizers. No need to add anything else, it could simply take longer based on how warm your kitchen is, how thick the drizzle is, etc. Popping them in the refrigerator to speed up the process is a great option!
These cookies will only last a day, maybe two. After that,they will be GONE. 😀
My cookies seemed to spread and flatten out a bit. I followed the recipe exactly. Any suggestions?
Hi Bonnie, thank you for trying this recipe. If you ever try this recipe again, make sure your butter is cool at room temperature— that’s the usual culprit behind cookies over-spreading. You can also chill the shaped cookies in the freezer before they go into the oven. The colder the shaped dough, the less they will over-spread. Sorry for the trouble!
I will try chilling them before baking. Thanks! Also wondering if there’s a modification to the recipe for making them with cream cheese that you can recommend?
We haven’t tested a cream cheese version of these exact cookies, but we do love these cream cheese sugar cookies!
I have just used this for my first ever attempt at a cookie press and I’m very happy with the result! I followed the recipe exactly for my first time but looking forward to experimenting with other flavours etc in future. Thank you for a great recipe! One happy Aussie mum (and family) here.
why, oh why, do you give 5-6 pages of “info”, but not how many it will make?
Hi Marthena, you can find the yield for this recipe (and all of our recipes) at the top of the gray recipe box. You can scroll down to find the recipe box or use the pink “Jump to Recipe” box at the top of the page. This recipe yields 84 bite-size cookies. Thank you!
I notice you are using a silpat for the butter spritz cookies, and that is what I would have used too. All the recipes I read said ungreased pan with no silpat. Have you noticed a difference at all?
Hi Shelley, We recommend a silicone baking mat because they grip onto the bottom of your cookies, preventing the cookies from spreading too much. These mats also promote even browning. Let us know if you give these cookies a try!
Love these! I press them onto a silpat lined cookie sheet and put the whole thing in the freezer, then I lift off the frozen unbaked cookies and stick them back in the freezer. When I’m ready to bake I put the frozen shapes on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with colored sugar and bake. These are for a cookie exchange so I have 4 batches of frozen unbaked cookies in the freezer and I can bake them all a few days before, then put the baked cookies in their containers back in freezer. Sounds like extra work but I’m too old to do them all at once!
I made these last night and they are so good. We can’t stop eating them. I baked them on baking mats, for 10 minuted, they barely browned. I put mini chocolate chips on some of them and sprinkles on the others. Delicious!