Spritz Cookies
Soft and buttery Spritz Cookies are super simple to make with just a few ingredients. Tender and flavorful, this is the BEST Spritz Cookie recipe and I’ve been making it for years. Not just for Christmas, you can use this easy cookie recipe for every holiday and occasion.
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Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
Losing a whole week between Thanksgiving and Christmas really puts a wrinkle in your baking plans….if you’re a baker. I usually have piles of cookies at the ready by now to hand out to friends and neighbors, but alas, this year….I have just two containers of cookies. It’s not faring well for the recipients of cookies in the past but these easy Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies will be going out to everyone.
They’re super simple to make and take no time at all to bake. This easy Spritz Cookie recipe is made using a cookie press so it slashes your cookie assembly process drastically. And they’re really fun to decorate, too!
What Are Spritz Cookies
Spritz Cookies are a simple butter based or cream cheese sugar cookie recipe that originated in Germany. The name “spritz” comes from the German word spritzen meaning to squirt because the dough is pressed though a cookie press to make a variety of designs.
They’re a holiday tradition for many people, including mine. I hadn’t made them in YEARS because I lost my cookie press but I recently found this one and I LOVE IT!!!
Spritz Cookie dough is very much like my sugar cookie dough except it’s a little softer. Sugar cookies can be cut into shapes and spritz cookies are formed using the cookie press I mentioned above.
What Is A Cookie Press
First, I love the cookie press and it’s not just for Christmas cookies. It’s a small kitchen tool that comes with a small metal plate with a stencil in the center. The cookie dough is pressed through the tube using a plunger and forces the dough through the stencil creating cute, shaped cookies. It’s so much fun to churn out these adorable cookies in record time.
Cookie Press
We love this Cookie Press by OXO because it comes with a case for all the disks and has a clear body so you know exactly how much dough is left in the press. It’s easy to clean, too.
How To Make Spritz cookies
This is, in my opinion, the best Spritz Cookie recipe. The cream cheese dough makes them extra soft and tender with a great flavor that’s not bland as I’ve experienced with other spritz cookies of my past.
The dough comes together in just one bowl with only FIVE ingredients and they bake in just a few minutes. The cookies don’t spread that much when baked so you can cram a bunch on one baking sheet making just a few batches leaving more time for eating the cookies. Or decorating.
- If you want to color your spritz cookie dough, I like to add a few drops of food coloring to make them a bit more festive.
- Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and add food coloring, if using.
- Fill the cookie press with the dough and press the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a cooling rack and then decorate, if desired.
- If you don’t own a cookie press (and you can’t get one before the holiday), you can fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the cookie dough and pipe the star shaped cookies onto a prepared baking sheet. The cookies will taste just as amazing.
Spritz Cookie Variations
I like to mix things up a bit with my Spritz Cookie recipe by playing with the flavors a bit. Here are a few examples:
- Swap out the vanilla extract for orange extract to give a bit of citrus to your cookies.
- Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the dry ingredients to make Chocolate Spritz Cookies.
- Add 1/2 tsp almond extract to the dough to make Almond Spritz Cookies
- Skip the cream cheese and replace with 4 ounces of additional butter for a buttery spritz cookie.
And feel free to play around with the flavor of the dough making your own cookie masterpiece. Kind of like a signature cookie….we all need one, don’t you think?
More Easy Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for even more easy holiday cookie recipes we are in LOVE with this Classic Gingerbread Cookie and the best ever chocolate chip cookies can’t be beat. And these No Bake Peppermint Bark Cookies are a quick on the fly option, as well.
We also love making these easy Pizzelles all year long.
Get the Recipe: Spritz Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- food coloring
- melted chocolate
- sprinkles
Equipment
- cookie press
- 1 cookie sheet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.
- Place the butter, cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth, approximately 2-3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla, mixing to combine.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix until blended.
- If coloring the dough, divide the dough in half and color with desired food coloring.
- Press 1/4 of the dough into the barrel of the cookie press. (It helps to shape it into a log and then push it into the cylinder.)
- Press the cookies directly onto the baking sheet, approximately 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and golden brown around the edges.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- If decorating, place the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.Microwave in 30 second increments until melted, stirring until smooth.
- Dip the cookies into the chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow the chocolate to set and serve or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.