Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A Little Spritz Please

Only 8 more days until Christmas! Can you believe it? The Thanksgiving leftovers are barely gone. Now it's crunch time. Last minute gift purchases and, my favorite, baking time. Spritz is one of my favorite cookie recipes. Light, buttery cookies that are formed with a cookie press. And easy to make.

 
To make these babies, you're going to need:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract (I prefer to make these with the almond extract, however I have a son-in-law who is allergic to almonds, so for him I use the vanilla)
 
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
 
Cream butter and sugar. Yeah, like that. Just beat the living daylights out of it.


 
Beat in egg and extract until combined, then add remaining ingredients and mix well.
 


Place dough into a cookie press.
As you can see, it's very easy to shape.

 
"Press" you cookies onto a baking sheet, using whatever shape you like.
I like to add sprinkles before baking.


Bake until set, but not brown, approximately 6-8 minutes.
Remove from cookie sheet immediately.
See, they look almost the same as they did when they went into the oven, just a little fluffier. Well, except those few on the left. They did get a little over done.
 
We hosted a Christmas party Saturday night and I was doing a three-tiered stand with peanut butter balls and peanut clusters, so I wanted something to break up all that chocolate. And these look so festive on the plate.
 
From start to finish, these cookies didn't take more than thirty minutes. Perfect when you need something quick.
 
After the multiple parties, concerts, and other events of last week, we get to slow down for a few days. That is, until round one of Christmas arrives on Saturday. I can hardly wait.
 
What's on your holiday checklist this week?


26 comments:

  1. These are just lovely, Mindy. You give me hope that I could do this.

    Love the melt in your mouth goodness as well.

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    1. Pretty and easy. What more can a gal ask for? Except maybe the melt in your mouth goodness part. :)

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  2. I've always used the recipe that one of the Ohio church ladies gave my mom ages (and ages, and ages) ago. I love the taste of the cookies, but I've broken at least three cookie presses in the first twenty-five years of our marriage. I finally gave up, thinking the dough was too dense, and started rolling out the dough and cutting it with itty-bitty cookie cutters.

    Time consuming, to say the least.

    I think I'll buy a new cookie press (if I can find one at this late date!) and try your recipe. I love how lovely and simple they are!

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    1. Jan, no wonder you gave up. How frustrating. I remember my mother's being a pain in the patootie. Come to think of it, I may have broken that one. Hmm... :)

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  3. I love spritz! Do they sell the presses on Amazon? That's been the only thing stopping me from making them. Jan, we need to go shopping together for cookie presses!

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    1. Yes, they do have them on Amazon, Piper. I shared a link below, but here it is again. http://www.amazon.com/Bakeware-4866-Hutzler-Cookie-Press/dp/B0010390NY/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1387311131&sr=1-8&keywords=cookie+press

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  4. Okay, I've never even seen a cookie press and don't even remember hearing of one (unless y'all have mentioned it before)! I feel clueless. Will have to splurge! These are so cute, and like Jan said, the cookie cutters would be more work.

    Yum, Mindy! They're so cute. I love buttery cookies. (have never heard the term spritz, though)

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    1. Just went and ordered an inexpensive Wilton cookie press! These should be fun. Thanks for sharing, Mindy!

      BTW, I FINALLY also ordered new cooling racks (old ones are broken). And also ordered my first Silpat sheets. After spending over $5 on a roll of parchment paper last week, I decided it was time.

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    2. I want a Silpat mat, Missy. Drat! I should have put that on my Christmas list. Guess I'll have to stick with parchment paper a while longer. But where on earth are you paying $5 for a roll? I buy the Reynolds version at Walmart for $2-$3.

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    3. It was Reynold's. got it at grocery although saw the same price at Target.

      The silicone mat is actually another brand. Got a good deal for 2. Hope they work as well as the real Silpat.

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    4. You'll have to let me know how they work out, Missy. I've seen them and wondered.

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  5. I actually have one and have never used it. I got it from Pampered Chef.

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    1. Just about everything Pamper Chef has is good, so you should have no problem, Tina. Just be sure to read the instructions. ;)

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  6. I'm sure there are other good/easy cookie presses out there, but here's the one I use. http://www.amazon.com/Bakeware-4866-Hutzler-Cookie-Press/dp/B0010390NY/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1387311131&sr=1-8&keywords=cookie+press
    Growing up, I remember the cookie press that my mom had was so difficult to use. So when I bought this one years ago on QVC, I was very impressed. No more figuring out how much pressure to use. It does it all for me.

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  7. They look so yummy. I tried a really old cookie press once with disastrous results. The dough ended up getting stuck in the press and it was well...yucky. But I think I tried using a favourite cookie recipe -- not one specifically for a cookie press. :-)

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    1. Cookie presses used to be horrible, Kav. Very persnickety. I think they've improved them greatly over the years. Which is good. Makes it much easier to enjoy these tasty little morsels.:)

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  8. Replies
    1. Aren't they cute, Julie? And people gobble them up. :)

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  9. Breaking news at the cafe, y'all. I just sold my second book to Love Inspired! Title isn't confirmed yet, but it will be a September 2014 release. For those of you who read the first book, this one is Taryn's story. :)

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    1. Doing the happy dance for you!!! :) Congrats!

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    2. I'll be your dance partner, Missy. :)

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    3. Ugh! Hit send too soon. Meant to say thank you, too. ;)

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    4. Woohooo! I'm doing a reader happy dance. How awesome is that?????? Congratulations!!!!

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    5. Thanks, Kav! And to answer your question...VERY awesome. :)

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  10. Congrats, Mindy and thanks for the link!!

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