Lemon-Cheese Pressed Cookies

Cream cheese in a spritz cookie dough is a trick that changes the whole game. It adds a subtle tang that balances the sweetness and creates a texture that’s more tender and melt-in-your-mouth than an all-butter version. Combined with lemon zest and fresh lemon juice, these pressed cookies have a bright, citrusy flavor that standard spritz cookies don’t come close to.

Creaming the butter and cream cheese with sugar until fluffy is the foundation. Both fats need to be truly softened (not melted, not cold) so they whip up with air pockets that keep the cookies light. Cold cream cheese creates a lumpy dough that jams in the cookie press.

The one-hour chill after mixing is essential for pressed cookies. The dough needs to be firm enough to hold its shape when pressed but still pliable enough to flow through the disc. Too warm and the shapes spread and blur. Too cold and the dough cracks and won’t extrude smoothly.

Load only a quarter of the dough at a time into the press. Working in small batches keeps the dough at the right temperature. By the time you press out one batch, the next quarter from the fridge is ready to go.

Bake just until the edges go light brown. The centers should still look pale. These firm up as they cool and overbaking makes them dry.

Pro Tips

• Both butter and cream cheese must be at room temperature. Microwave softening creates hot spots that melt the fat unevenly
• Press cookies directly onto an ungreased, cool sheet. Warm or greased sheets make the dough slip and shapes won’t hold
• If the dough warms up in the press and goes soft, refrigerate the loaded press for 10 minutes
• Store in layers separated by waxed paper. The cream cheese makes them stick to each other

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of poppy seeds to the dough for a lemon-poppy seed version
• Drizzle cooled cookies with a thin lemon glaze (powdered sugar plus lemon juice)
• Swap lemon for orange zest and juice for a citrus variation