Butter Spritz Cookie Recipe
These are known as butter “spritz” cooking because, well, they’re spritzed: squirted out of a pastry bag or if you’re a fan of Ron Popeil, a cookie gun. Make a chocolate version by stirring in 1/3 cup cocoa powder…or do half and half!
8 ounces (2 sticks) soft butter
3.5 ounces (1/2 cup) sugar
1 large egg
11.25 ounces (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
coating chocolate, sprinkles, raspberry jam or other embellishments
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. In a medium bowl whisk together the lemon zest , flour and salt. Slowly stir it in to the creamed butter-sugar mixture, adding almond or vanilla extract along the way.
Load the mixture into a pastry bag or cookie gun/press and extrude shapes of your choice. Decorate as you’d like and bake about 8 minutes until not-quite-golden. Cool on a wire rack. Dip the ends in melted chocolate if you wish!
We call them ‘Grama’s Butter Cookies’, even though we know Spritz is the correct name. You know how the family tradition thing goes. I wonder just how much weight those divine bites have put on me over the years…
Hehe…thanks Sandi!
– Joe
We just call them “Christmas Cookies” in my family – they are true fat bombs made with a pound of butter, egg yolks, and a mountain of white sugar. I’m the only one who still makes them and they are fought over and hoarded like cigarettes in jail…lol… In keeping with family tradition (unbreakable rules), these cookies are only made for Christmas, never after, and if you don’t return the decorative tin they came in then you’re cut off next year.
This year, my plan is to try out one batch with a gluten-free flour blend and see if anyone notices a difference. I’m hoping that the overwhelming amounts of fat will make up for the flour swap. What do you think?
There’s only one way to find out! Let me know if anyone notices!
Cheers,
– Joe
Hi Joe! I have been reading your blog for a while. I love it and direct people to you all the time. I had searched your blog a few weeks ago for a spritz cookie. I was SO excited when I read the Up next Butter Spritz cookies! I made them tonight. I left out the lemon zest and used vanilla extract. I have dark pans so I cooked at 375. I took them out at 7 minutes. I think they’re awesome! Kids and hubby liked them too. I always like to know the yield so I took note, I got 78. Thanks Joe!!
Hey Heather!
Good to know, thanks! Did you use a press? I ask because I piped mine and got about half that number. They were pretty big though. Thanks for the very useful comment!
Cheers,
– Joe
Hi Joe,
I did use a press. I just measured the three shapes I made and they are 2 or less inches.
Gotcha. That definitely is useful. Thanks!
– Joe
Hi Joe,
How shld we incorporate milk powder into this recipe?
Hi Kay!
I’m not completely sure I understand the question. Is there a particular reason you’d like to supplement it with milk powder?
– Joe
Hi Joe, because I saw online that adding milk powder into cookies actually increases the calcium percentage (not sure how true) which I thought, would be good for my four year old nephew ((:
I’m not sure how much calcium is in milk powder to be honest, but you can try it. You can substitute the powder for some of the flour…about an ounce or so.
Good luck with the project!
– Joe
My family in Germany has a special attachment for their meat grinder that is used to make spritz. You leave out the grinding blades and the disk has a few different shapes. Its like a cookie press on steroids.
I need to find one of those some time, Myrna. Thanks for the comment!
– Joe
Hi Joe,
The cookies were buttery and crispy soft, and were all gone in less than 10 mins when I came back with a cup of tea. I tasted a couple and they were really delicious. I must have missed something as they came out from the oven losing its shape; yours looked it held its shape quite well. I may have left the cookie in the oven for 3 more mins to get them brown a tiny bit. Any suggestion to get the cookies looked like yours?
Thanks, Milan
Hello Milan!
If the consistency of the batter was similar to mine — very stiff — then there are two possibilities I can think of. First, temperature. If it was warm in your kitchen the butter may have started to melt, then when it hit the oven heat it ran. You can try chilling your piped cookies for half an hour or so before baking. That will probably fix it.
Also, make sure you’re using a decent quality butter. It doesn’t have to be very expensive, just in the middle range. Less expensive butters tend to melt faster than more expensive ones due to the mix of fats they contain, which is related to the cow’s diet. So that’s another possibility to consider.
Thanks very much for the comment and sorry about your wait!
– Joe