Swedish Spritz Cookies
Submitted by NYC28
Classic Swedish spritz cookies made with butter, almond extract, and a simple cookie press. Crisp, buttery, and ready in 20 minutes with chocolate and nutty variations included.
YIELD
1 dozenPREP
10 minCOOK
10 minREADY
20 minSpritz cookies are one of those Scandinavian traditions that earn their place on every holiday cookie tray for good reason. Five ingredients, a cookie press, and you get tender, butter-rich cookies with a hint of almond that practically melt on your tongue.
The dough comes together fast: cream butter and sugar until fluffy, beat in egg yolk and almond extract, then work in the flour. No chilling required. That’s a big deal if you’ve ever lost patience waiting for cookie dough to firm up. The unchilled dough goes straight into the press and onto the sheet. Watch the edges during baking: you want them firm but not browned. That pale, golden look means a cookie that’s crisp on the outside and short-crumbed in the middle.
Kitchen Tips
- Room temperature butter is key. Cold butter won’t cream properly and the dough will fight you in the press.
- Pull the cookies when edges are just set. They’ll continue firming as they cool on the rack.
- If the dough feels too soft to press cleanly, chill it for just 10 minutes.
Variations
- Chocolate spritz: Reduce flour slightly and add cocoa powder before the flour for a rich, dark cookie.
- Nutty spritz: Fold finely ground toasted almonds or hazelnuts into the dough with the flour.
- Marbled spritz: Layer tinted and plain dough in the press for a swirled, festive look.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.
Add the egg yolk and almond extract; beat well.
Beat or stir in the flour.
Force the unchilled dough through a cookie press on to ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are firm but not brown.
Cool the cookies on wire racks.
Variations: For a nutty cookie, stir in ½ cup finely ground nuts with the flour.
Toast the nuts before grinding, if you like.
For a chocolate cookie, reduce the flour to 2¼ cups.
Add an additional ¼ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder.
Add the cocoa before adding the flour.
If you like, dip the tops of the cookies in icing; then, sprinkle with chopped nuts or colored sugar.
Or sprinkle on the decorative toppings before baking.
For a marbled dough, alternately put about ¼ cup of each color of dough in a cookie press.
Or put some coloring on white dough and knead it a few times to marble; then place in the cookie press.
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