This spritz cookie recipe has been in my family for years! Buttery, tender, and decorated with sprinkles, they're our favorite Christmas cookies.
This spritz cookie recipe comes straight from my mom’s recipe box! My family has been making it every Christmas for over 40 years—my first kitchen memory is of baking these spritz cookies with my mom and sister for the holidays.
Made with a 6-ingredient dough, these spritz cookies are buttery, tender, and scented with almond extract, not unlike sugar cookies or shortbread. What sets them apart from other cookies is how they’re made. Spritz cookies get their festive shapes from a cookie press. Their name comes from the German word spritzen, which means “to squirt,” which describes how the dough squirts out of the press.
I hope you’ll try this spritz cookie recipe this holiday season. Delicious, easy to make, and fun to decorate with sprinkles and colored sugar, it’s one of my absolute favorites. Don’t let the cookie press scare you—this recipe really is simple. I think you’ll love it.
How to Make Spritz Cookies
You can find the complete spritz cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:
Start by making the cookie dough. We use softened butter in this recipe, so I make the dough in my stand mixer. An electric hand mixer works too!
Next, shape the cookies. Working in batches if necessary, load the dough into your cookie press. Press out the dough onto two ungreased sheet pans to form cookies in your desired shapes.
- Tip: If the dough isn’t holding its shape, chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.
Why no parchment paper? I skip it because the cookie dough sticks better to an ungreased cookie sheet, which is helpful when you’re pressing the cookies. The pan also browns the bottoms of the cookies nicely.
Decorate them as desired. I always top these cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles before baking.
Bake until lightly golden brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Tip: Bake one sheet at a time so that the cookies brown evenly in the oven.
How to Use a Cookie Press
Ok, let’s talk cookie presses! I like this Wilton cookie press and this stainless steel cookie press.
Both of them work in roughly the same way:
- Start by choosing what shape you’d like your cookies to be. Remove the bottom cover from the cookie press. Place the plate that corresponds to your desired shape inside the bottom cover.
- Next, fill the press with cookie dough. Pull back the rod at the top of the cookie press and fill the barrel with cookie dough.
- Then, shape the cookies. Screw the bottom cover back onto the cookie press’s barrel. Hold the press upright against your baking sheet, and press down on the top lever to form a cookie. The cookie dough should stick to the pan, but if it doesn’t, gently remove it from the press with your fingers or a knife.
Every cookie press will have slightly different instructions, but that’s the gist!
How to Store Spritz Cookies
Spritz cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week (though good luck keeping them around that long!).
They also freeze well for up to 3 months. They thaw within an hour at room temp.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you love these classic spritz cookies, try one of these holiday cookie recipes next:
Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 2ÂĽ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- â…” cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Colored sugar or sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and egg and mix until well combined. Mix in the almond extract.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Use a cookie press to press the dough onto two large ungreased baking sheets, leaving at least 1 inch between cookies. If the cookies come out of the press loose or unformed, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Top the cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles and bake, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
This post contains affiliate links.
This is a great recipe with great tips and directions throughout! The cookies came out perfectly and taste so good. Adding this to my holiday “must-do” list now!!
I’m so glad you loved the cookies!
I looked at every Spritz cookie recipe out there before I picked this one. It is (by far) the best recipe I found. Your recipe was even more complete than Betty Crocker! Their recipe left out Baking Powder!!! I told my husband that the recipe needed Baking Powder. When I found yours included a teaspoon of it, I knew then that I found the perfect recipe.
Your recipe that all the right quantities and the right ingredients in the right steps to make a perfect cookie dough. And perfect it was!
As for vanilla or almond extract, I use both 1 teaspoon if each. The two extracts blend well together and make for a tasty Spritz cookie.
I put green food coloring in the dough and I sprinkled the cookies lightly with red and white crystal sprinkles and placed a small red confetti heart in the center of each cookie to make Grinch cookies.
They turned out delicious and perfect. Grinch would be proud of my Christmas cookies. Thank you for posting a perfect recipe!
And am making another batch, this time a different holiday cookie shape.
Hi Phyllis, I’m so glad you loved the cookies so much!
Do we bake the cookies with the sprinkles???
Yes, bake with sprinkles first. They meld into the cookie while baking.
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! Can I omit the almond extract? If so, should I replace with vanilla?
You can use either extract or use one of both. I make homemade vanilla extract and used both extracts in the recipe. I’m really into extracts and these two blend well together to give the cookie a very yummy flavor.
Will vegan butter (Earth balance) work in this recipe?
Hi Susan, we haven’t tested using vegan butter in this one, so I’m not sure if it would work.