Holiday Spritz Cookies Recipe

Bake the Holiday Spritz Cookies Recipe for crisp, buttery shapes, then decorate with colored sugar and sprinkles.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• colored sugars or sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

Step 1: Chill the Cookie Sheet and Preheat the Oven

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your baking sheet in the refrigerator while the oven comes up to temperature so the dough will hold its pretty pressed shapes and minimize spreading; a chilled surface gives those clean, crisp edges everyone loves. While it chills, gather your tools so the pressing stage is quick and tidy: the cookie press, the mixing bowl, and a small tray for sprinkles.

Step 2: Combine the Dry Ingredients

In a small bowl stir the flour and salt together until evenly distributed; sifting is optional but helpful if you want the lightest, most tender crumb. Having the dry mix measured and at hand makes the final blending smooth and reduces overmixing, so set this small white ceramic bowl to the side near your main mixing bowl.

Step 3: Cream Butter and Sugar

In a matte light-grey ceramic mixing bowl, cream the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until the mixture becomes pale, airy, and slightly ribbon-like. You should see tiny air pockets and a noticeably lighter color — that trapped air is what gives the cookies a delicate lift once baked. Pause to scrape the bowl with a silicone spatula so everything is evenly aerated.

Step 4: Add Yolks and Extracts

Add the two egg yolks along with the vanilla and almond extracts and mix just until the mixture becomes glossy and silkier; the color deepens to a pale butter yellow and the texture smooths into a cohesive, slightly glossy batter. Work gently so you don’t over-develop the dough. Keep the same matte grey mixing bowl and the spatula in frame as the active tool so the scene reads as a continuous workflow.

Step 5: Incorporate the Dry Ingredients

Add the flour-and-salt mixture a little at a time into the buttery batter, mixing until a soft, cohesive dough forms that still feels slightly tender to the touch. If it seems too rigid, loosen with a teaspoon of milk, but aim for a dough that will press cleanly through your cookie press without sticking. The dough should sit in the same matte grey mixing bowl, smooth on top with faint flour dusting along the rim, and the metal cookie press or nozzle should be visible nearby, ready for filling.

Step 6: Press, Decorate, and Bake

Fill your cookie press with the prepared dough and press six-petal floral shapes two inches apart onto the chilled baking sheet. Sprinkle each raw pressed cookie with festive colored sugar or red and green nonpareils right away so they adhere before baking. Transfer the sheet to the preheated oven and bake 6 to 8 minutes, watching for the very edges to just begin to brown; remove the pan and let the cookies sit for 3–5 minutes on the sheet before moving them to a wire cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool fully so the decorations remain intact and the centers set.

Notes

• Chill cookie sheets for better shape control
• Use pure vanilla for best flavor
• Freeze baked cookies in single layers with parchment between
• If dough is too stiff, add a teaspoon of milk
• Do not overbake; remove when edges just begin to brown