You only need 7 ingredients to make these buttery Spritz Cookies. My recipe has a classic flavor and texture and requires NO chilling! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Quick & Easy Spritz Cookies
If you’re looking for a festive, fun, and easy Christmas cookie, you’re going to want to try spritz cookies. These are buttery, shortbread-esque cookies that are as adorable as they are simple. They’re perfectly bite-sized, and you’ll get quite a few from one batch. They’re perfect for the holidays and a fun addition to any cookie platter alongside other classics like gumdrop-buttoned gingerbread men and frosted sugar cookies!
The word “spritz” comes from the German word “spritzen”, which means to squirt. This makes sense since we’ll be “squirting” our cookie dough through a press to form fun shapes. If you don’t have a cookie press, don’t worry; I’ve also included instructions in my FAQ section on how to make these without one.
What’s to love about these cookies:
- Minimal decorating required for a festive look: just add sprinkles or dip in glaze.
- Only seven simple ingredients!
- No chilling needed.
- Customizable: add whatever food coloring or flavors you like.
- Freezes beautifully–great for making ahead!
What You Need
Just seven basic ingredients come together to make these cookies. Here are a few to take note of:
- Butter. Make sure to let your butter soften to room temperature before starting. I like to use unsalted butter, but if all you have is salted, you can simply omit the salt in the recipe.
- Egg yolk. Adding just the yolk makes our cookies nice and tender, and it will help them hold their shape. If you don’t like to be wasteful and don’t want to just toss the egg white, save it to make a batch of candied pecans.
- Extract. A touch of almond extract is always a lovely addition to this recipe. Other flavors like peppermint, orange, lemon, etc. also work–just be sparing with them as they can be quite potent!
- Food coloring. This is optional, but if you want to add food coloring to your cookies, you certainly can. I prefer gel food coloring as it colors the dough quite vibrantly. Green Christmas trees or wreaths or red flowers (think: poinsettias) add splashes of fun color to any cookie tray.
- Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly; adding too much flour (the most common mistake when measuring) can make your dough too dry and crumbly to use.
- Cookie press. A good cookie press is key. I was gifted a Marcato cookie press (affiliate link) a few years ago and I love it, it’s well made and I expect it will last forever.
SAM’S TIP: My recipe is made without cream cheese, but I’ve included notes on how to easily turn these into cream cheese spritz cookies in my recipe notes.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Spritz Cookies
- Cream together the butter and sugar, then stir in the extracts and salt.
- Add the egg yolk and mix until combined, then gradually add the flour.
- Form roughly ½ cup of dough into a log, then drop this into your cookie press.
- Press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet (no parchment paper, either, the dough won’t stick to it like we need it to) and bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on their sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Add glaze, if desired.
SAM’S TIP: As you’re mixing everything together you’ll notice that this is a rather stiff, dry dough. To make it workable, add the flour gradually (not all at once!) and use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl after mixing to make sure you don’t have any floury pockets remaining.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Simply place your dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large icing tip (like a big open-star Ateco or Wilton tip) and pipe onto your cookie sheet, just like I do with my butter cookies.
Cleary there is one obvious difference: the cookie press. There are a few more though!
Spritz cookies have one additional ingredient that shortbread cookies are missing: egg. Adding egg yolk to the dough makes it a bit easier to work with and helps the the cookies hold their cute shapes.
Also, while today’s cookies can be baked right away, shortbread cookies require chilling time before they can be rolled, cut, and baked. This entire process gives shortbread a more crisp texture than spritz cookies.
These cookies last quite a while in a sealed container (about a week) and also freeze very well. Just let your cookies cool completely before placing them in an airtight container (or a freezer Ziploc bag) for up to one month.
SAM’S TIP: Don’t use parchment paper! I typically like to line my cookie sheets, but that’s not necessary here (we want the dough to stick to the sheet!). If your dough won’t stick to your cookie sheet, try chilling your sheets in the fridge before pressing the cookies onto them. If it’s still sticking to the press, don’t stress! Just gently pry the dough from the press and place it on your cookie sheet.
A good cookie press makes all the difference when making spritz cookies. If you don’t have one, I’ve linked the one I use below.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Buttery Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract optional
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups (295 g) all-purpose plain flour
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk I use whole milk, but any milk will work
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkles for decorating, optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamed.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- Add vanilla extract, almond extract (if using) and salt and stir until well-combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula to ensure ingredients are well-incorporated.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add egg yolk and beat until combined1 large egg yolk
- With mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add flour until completely combined (you will most likely need to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl several times for this, as the mixture is fairly dry and crumbs tend to settle at the bottom of the bowl).2 ¼ cups (295 g) all-purpose
- Break off about ½ cup of dough and use your hands to form it into a log.
- Insert cookie dough log into the tube of your cookie press and fit with your preferred tip. Place cookie press directly on an ungreased cookie sheet and use press to squeeze out one cookie. Squeeze out cookies in rows, spacing at least 1″ apart.
- Decorate with sprinkles, if desired, and transfer to 350°F (175°C) oven. Bake for 9-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool for at least 5-10 minutes on baking sheet before using a spatula to gently remove from the cookie sheet and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Glaze (optional)
- Add (3 Tablespoons of) milk and vanilla extract to powdered sugar and whisk until combined. If mixture is too thick, add additional milk, about a teaspoon at a time, until you have a smooth glaze that ribbons off your whisk and holds its shape for several seconds before dissolving back into the bowl. (Note: if glaze is too thin, add additional powdered sugar until you have the proper thickness).1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar, 3-4 Tablespoons milk, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Drizzle or dip cookies in glaze. Top with colorful sprinkles, if desired.Sprinkles
- Allow glaze to set before enjoying.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
To make these cream cheese spritz cookies, simply cream 3 oz of softened cream cheese with the butter and sugar. The dough will be a bit softer as will the resulting cookies, but they still hold their shape perfectly! Because the cookies are a bit softer, it’s harder to dip them with glaze, so I would recommend drizzling them instead.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Jessica
These are so delicious! Unfortunately, my brand new cookie press broke the first time I used it, and I neglected to read the section about piping them out, so I just rolled them into balls with my hands and flattened them a bit. They weren’t the cutest cookies, but still so yummy!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Oh no! We’re glad you were able to enjoy them regardless, Jessica! Thanks for the 5-star review ❤️
LESLIE M BUCHANAN
Freeze after glazing or before?
Sam
I would freeze before glazing.
lois
can u freez
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Jen
These are amazing. Do you know if these could be made with cocoa powder for a chocolate spritz cookie? Thank you.
Sam
Hi Jen! I haven’t tried it but I think it could work.
Jen
These cookies are amazing. Do you think I could add coco powder to make a chocolate spritz cookie? If so, how much coco? Thank you.
Sam
Hi Jen! It would take some adjustment and I haven’t tried it to know for sure how to do it, but I think it could work. 🙂
Cookiemauss
The recipe that my mother passed down to me calls for 2x melted baking chocolate and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda added to the basic recipe. Her recipe (which came with the cookie press) is very similar to this one.
Jan
Can this recipe be doubled?
Sam
Yes it can, enjoy!
Sora
I was looking for a spritz cookies without nuts like my mother used to make when I was a child, about a million years ago. These worked great. Easy to mix and the dough was very easy to work with. I liked the fact that you only used the egg yolk. Maybe I think that they might need a little more salt? Also, I would love a lemon version, if you have one.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy the recipe was a success for you, Sora! You can certainly add some more salt or substitute lemon extract. Enjoy!
Theresa
Can you pipe them without a press?
Sam
Yes! I cover this in the post, enjoy 🙂
Jan
I bought the cookie press you linked to and made a batch of these cookies yesterday. Never liked spritz cookies but these were delightful! So light and airy. I think I will add some almond extract next time and also experiment with dipping some in chocolate. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them so much, Jan! 🙂
Stephanie
Hello, can I use gluten free flower?
Sam
Hi Stephanie! Unfortunately I am not very familiar with gluten-free baking so I’m not sure, but I’m hoping that someone who is can chime in.
Cindy
I never heard of sprinkles goin in while baking them!!! This is awesome news!,
Sylvia Snell
best!
Pam
These cookies were so easy to make and taste great! Definitely will be making all the time.
Sam
Thank you so much, Pam! I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies so much! 🙂
pauline morris
JACK AND I MADE YOUR COOKIE’S THEY TURNED OUT…………AWESOME!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Pauline! Thanks for trying my recipe and for your comment. Happy Holidays! 🙂
Monica
I’m having trouble getting my spritz cookie dough to stick to my cookie sheet – any suggestions?
Sam
Hi, Monica. Make sure your pan hasn’t been greased, and if it hasn’t, and you still have issues, you can just peel them off the bottom of the press and place them on the sheet. 🙂
Ann
Sticking to the cookie sheet use to happen to me (even if the sheet wasn’t greased), I found that chilling the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for a few minutes really helped the dough stick.
Bill
I had the same problem. I bought a modern gun. Made sure my baking sheet was scrupulously grease free by using a white vinegar and water solution. Chilled my cookie sheets before using, but not the cookie dough. After the dough hit the metal cookie sheet, hesitated a second before lifting the spritz gun with authority. It worked. Good luck.