I forgot to tell you about making Spritz cookies with Kayla. We did this when she was home over Christmas break.
Spritz cookies were a family tradition for me growing up. My dad’s parents came from Sweden and they brought the tradition of making these with them. My mom learned how to make them and we had them often at Christmas time. I have always loved them.
They are beautiful and they are a butter cookie and what more is there to love than that.
I never learned to make them from my mom. She passed away when I was 24 and she wasn’t one to prompt teaching. If you asked, she would show and teach, but she didn’t purposely seek me out to teach me things.
So when Kayla showed an interest in making Spritz years ago, I got a cookie press. I bought the ingredients and encouraged her to try to make them. Kayla ran with that and learned to make them.
This is the recipe she uses…
As I said, butter is the base for the cookies.
The dough is really yellow like this…
You can see it’s a thick dough too.
My mom always colored parts of the dough. She would load the cookie press a little like Kayla did the photo with some green, red or plain.
We didn’t have green color so used blue instead.
This is how the cookies look ready to come out of the oven. YUM.
There are many different discs to put in the cookie press to get different shapes but this shape is the family favorite. Kayla and I break them apart segment by segment and eat one at a time savoring them.
It drives up crazy when the guys come in and pop the whole thing in their mouths. UGH. They don’t realize that it does take more work to make these.
I’m so happy that Kayla has picked up this family tradition and carried it on. It’s a favorite tradition of mine.
So curious minds want to know…have you had a Spritz cookie??
Yes! I love them and have made them. I lost my cookie press a long time ago. I need to get a new one and teach my grand daughters how to make them.
We had a cookie press when I was growing up and occasionally made spritz cookies. I think that was my favorite shape too.
I am Dutch and grew up on Butter Cookies. The recipe is nearly the same. Mom always made bar cookies though.
Absolutely nothing better!
Yes l have made them many times. I make mine using butter flavored crisco. My mother in law had a bakery (which I worked at) and we would make
A cheese straw recipe and press them with the
Flower shape in the press. We called them cheese wafers.
Yes, as a German family we always made Spritz. However we made them in the long thin ribbons using the cookie press. We never colored them but would sprinkle them with the tiny colored balls. It’s been over 40 years since I’ve made or eaten them as my husband doesn’t like butter cookies of any kind. I don’t think my grown kids have ever had them and I never bake Christmas cookies. Neither do my siblings, so after our mother passed away over 20 years ago none of us have had any Christmas cookies. Rather sad isn’t it?
I have made these and really like them but for some reason I have made in several years – probably since my helpers married and moved away. Haha. Once again, you have inspired me and I think I will get out the press and make some. Like you said, butter and sugar, what’s not to like. BTW, Kayla is a cute daughter! You are so fortunate to have your close enough to come and bake cookies together, I sure miss doing that tighter.
We always had them at Christmas. Wonder how my
Mom came to bake them? No German or Swedish I. Out family…English or Welch. I’m going to ask her. Many years when my oldest daughter got married he was here when I was making them and he was very intrigued by them a d jumped right in to use the press. Now he was of German decent but I don’t think anyone made these. Cookies in his family. Kayla looks great
My family is Irish and English, and we would make them at times. Not too often because they time consuming. I think many were introduced to them and just had to have the recipe.
I love them! When I was a child my Dad was the cookie baker in our house. We didn’t have much money back then so we would give Christmas cookies to our friends and neighbors. Dad made hundreds of Spritz cookies – green Christmas trees, tri-colored wreaths (like Kayla) and my favorite – little chocolate dogs. Thanks for bringing back some great memories! ☺️
That recipe looks like it is from a Betty Crocker cook book and is the recipe I use. For my church Christmas cookie walk, I have made many dozens of them each year. So simple and delicious.
We color the dough green and use the tree shape at Christmas. A few sprinkles for decorations before they go into the oven. So yummy…no one can eat just 1!
Yes it’s been a family tradition from my grandma. I now have an electric press and it goes pretty quick. Just don’t like the cleanup process!!!
The electric press really helps when you are making them!! Arthritis made them a pain to make until I found electric!! I love to make several recipes of them and pop them in the freezer for later in the year when I need a sweet, buttery treat!
My grandma always made these when I was growing up, green trees like one of your readers said, wreaths and ribbons. I would help her and thought they could be tricky to make. I have a press but have rarely made them. Now that I see how good Kayla’s look maybe that should change.
My Mom used to make these quite often for the holidays, but I haven’t had them for years. I did bring home her spritz cookie press so I guess I should try it out. Kayla’s cookies look great. Love the idea of adding colors. Fun!
We always had these when I was growing up….my earliest recollection of them was when I was about 12 years old. I have the cookie press that my mom always used, but it has been a while since I made them. One thing I remember was that we made them for Easter as well as Christmas. We still used the wreath wheel, and made them in pastel colors. I think I will try to make them for Easter this year. Thanks for triggering my memory!!
I love spritz cookies, but this is my favorite recipe for a butter cookie:
Snow Flake Cookies
1 cup butter
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and cream cheese. Continue beating while gradually adding sugar. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla and orange rind. Sift flour with salt and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture. Fill cookie press. Press onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Your recipe sounds wonderful, I will have to give it a try next year. Thanks for sharing.
Yes I do make them. I grew up having them and made them every Christmas for my my kids growing up. Now I make them for the grandkids. Love them.
Yes, I made these years ago but stopped making them about ten years ago. My press has different shapes and I even have a brand new one from Pampered Chef. They are a tasty butter cookie.
I made them this year with my 6 and 10 year old granddaughters. I have an old electric cookie press we used. I let them press some out too. The ones they made were not perfect but they loved doing it. They decorated all the cookies and they all had a lot of sprinkles. I just want to make good memories with them.
My mother gave me a cookie press for a Christmas gift soon after my husband and I were married. I have made them but not for several years. I never colored the dough. I love the multicolored cookies. I will have to try them again. The last time I seemed to have lost the knack for it. The Christmas cookie recipes I always make are a cutout sugar cookie that has cream cheese and almond flavor in the dough and almond flavor in the frosting and cutout gingerbread people with frosting and decorations.
I make them all year round. My recipe is similar, but it calls for a yellow Jiffy cake mix too. I always use almond flavoring and double it. Sometimes I drizzle a glaze on them too.
Would you be willing to share your recipe with the yellow Jiffy cake mix, please??
I love spritz cookies with almond extract! My grandmother made them when I was growing up, but I didn’t start making them until I was in my 30s. I’ve already worn out one cookie press. You can use the cookie press for other things, but my favorite is the cookies. Spritz cookies freeze really well, so you can have them after Christmas without making another mess. Yum!
Yes, when all the kids lived at home I made cookies every Saturday and a fresh loaf of bread every day. My oldest loved these coolies and still does.
Oh my goodness! My mother-in-law introduced me to Spritz cookies. She had the exact same cookie press as you have, but she made a variety called Snowflake cookies (with cream cheese) from a recipe that came with the cookie press. Her cookie press was from the 1950’s from when she got married. I eventually inherited her cookie press and we make those cookies every year at Christmas time. Thanks for the memories!
My mother made spritz cookies. I had a press when we first got married and then got an electric one. I seem to do better with the electric one. I made a bunch for a friend’s sons’ wedding in the flower shape with colored sprinkles.They make a nice small cookie. More festive than my usual “big as your head” cookies I usually make. I use the recipe that came with the press. I love the butter cookies but have made chocolate dogs too.
I learned to make spritz cookies in Home Ec, 8th grade and up. I’m impressed with the little bit of sugar required. Have one grand that gets pretty active from sweets, so will think of this recipe along with some others that don’t require a great deal of sugar. I remember these cookies as really yummy and Kayla’s look so good.
They’re so much work to make and oh so delicious!! My mom adds the sugared sprinkles to them before cooking for another piece of decoration!
Yes! Butter ones like yours but also a peanut butter version using the flower disc with a chocolate chip in the center-they look like sun flowers! I have bought my daughters each a press that was found at antique stores and looks like mine!
Would you share your peanut butter version recipe, please??
haven’t seen these presses in Australia. How would you make then without a press they look and sound absolutely delicious.
I’d buy a press. I don’t think there is a different way
You could chill the dough and cut them out or roll and slice the dough. I sometimes use the dough that way. You could frost after they are baked and cooled or decorate with colored sugars prior.to baking. Good luck!
Love spritz cookies! made them growing up and then for my children. Now I make them with my grandkids.
We use a different recipe that takes powdered sugar instead of regular. But same melt in your mouth goodness.I have two hand presses and found one at a yard sale for my daughter. Would not be Christmas without the green Christmas trees, and red wreaths.
Okay, now I need to make Spritz cookies using your recipe with almond extract. I did not make them for Christmas, but
my sister and a friend gave us some. I think my press has a heart disc, so that would be perfect for Valentines Day!
Thanks so much for this post, Jo. Kayla is absolutely adorable.
We make ours in shapes but also into “roads” as my brother when he was little would say. So they are known as road cookies at our house. I make long roads and then bake them some plain and some with sprinkles. When they are hot out of the oven I cut them with a butter knife into shorter lengths. Then I take the plain ones and put melted semi-sweet chocolate between two and let it harden again. mmmm! Those go really quick! I have an electric press but I loved my mom’s one because she could make her “roads” really thin. I have to add less flour to get my dough soft enough to go through my press. We have never colored our dough but we do put lots of sprinkles on them! :-) I like that it makes a lot. So glad you and Kayla could do that together. Thanks for sharing about spritz cookies. I just made chocolate chip ones tonight otherwise might have made those tomorrow. K-
I am German and make Helles (light) Spritzgebaeck and Dunkles (dark) Spritzgebaeck. I use butter, sugar, almond meal, egg yolks, vanilla, flour and cornstarch. For the dark dough I add cocoa. They are the best.
My mom had a press and made these quite a bit when I was younger. I even had it passed it along to my older daughter.
Love and prayers
yes my mother had an old German recipe that we used to make these. Had a cookie press too! If you dont have a press, you can roll out the dough and make little S’s. That is what they were called.
I loved making these as a kid, but I didn’t (and still don’t) like butter cookies. My family loved them, so I had my fun making them, and they had fun eating them! :)
My mothers parents were Swedish and we always had these cookie at Christmas. My mom always made them and then I learned when I was a teenager. It has been a few years since I have made these cookies and now I really want to make them again. I love these cookies and I use the same Betty Crocker recipe from my book that my father gave me for my 16th birthday. I have used that cookbook 46 yrs. I need to get it rebound as it is falling apart. Thanks for the memories that were brought up after reading your blog post.
I haven’t used my cookie press in 20 years but now I think I need to clean it up and make some. I use the same recipe that Kayla used. I never thought to color the dough, that would be fun for different holiday.
These were a family tradition at our house, too, when I was growing up. Mom used that exact recipe and made that shape, along with green Christmas trees. I still have her old cookie press and its original box, but don’t make them anymore. This brings back good memories! A friend of mine who makes spritz cookies started calling them “walk-by’s” because her family couldn’t walk by them without grabbing one or two!
I bought a cookie press when we had our first child, (she is now 52 )and have been making them every year since. Each of the daughters bought their own press when they got married so the tradition continues. I have made colored dough but usually make untinted and decorate with colored sugar, pecans and maraschino cherries. It makes a festive plate.
German/English ancestry here. We always had green almond spritz trees at Christmas time. I make them every year! Now, my married daughter makes them for her family too. I may have to make some red (pink) almond hearts for Valentines Day. Thanks for the reminder!
I love them!! Have not made them in a few years-I want some now! When I lived at home, my Mom had a cookie press that was copper colored. When I wanted to bake with my kids, I bought one for our family, an Elmo one! Different, but taste was still good! Thanks for the reminder! Hugs to the whole family,
My Swedish grandmother brought Spritz every year for Christmas Eve. This is her recipe:
Spritz
1 cup.butter (no substitution)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, one at a time. Add vanilla. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Place dough in a cookie press. I use the die that looks like a straight line with peaks. Press cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Watch closely; these are thin. They should be just lightly browned. Ciut cookies diagonally in 3-inch segments. Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet to cool.
My Mom gave me a cookie press for my bridal shower so she wouldn’t have to make these cookies. LOL
Better with butter, no substitutes! My mom gave me my cookie press — she bought it when she was working part-time for an aluminum siding company. This recipe is from an old Betty Crocker cookbook and has been included in revisions to the cookbook for decades, it’s that popular. One of my sons asked for a cookie press for Christmas one year, and of course the only one I could find was on ebay for $17. I often find them at estate sales, just like those cake decorating sets they must have been a necessity for the excellent homemaker’s kitchen1
Love spritz cookies. We made mostly tree and wreath shapes with the colored granulated sugar sprinkled on. Just twist the “road’ shape in a circle. The almond flavoring is a key ingredient. Love the recipes from the other readers.
My mother always made Spritz at Christmas and so do I. The very best recipe is the one Nancy sent in for Snow Flakes. I have it in a booklet that came with my first press given to me for a wedding present 50 years ago! I make the trees, decorate them with green sugar and a cinnamon imperial or two. I make other shapes with different colored sugar sprinkles. I never color the dough. Maybe I will try that sometime. They are definitely one of my favorite Christmas cookies. My mom made many kind of cookies and gifted them to neighbors and friends at Christmas. Now I do the same.
Making spritz was a fun easy project to do with my girls as they grew up. I was so please this year when they decided to make them on their own. They are 17 and 19. and it was gratifying to see them working together in the kitchen. We like the flower shape best, too. We like to put a Red Hot or Cinnamon Imperial in the center. it makes a nice little poinsettia and the cinnamon gives the cookie a little kick.
I loved making Spritz cookies many years ago. Almond extract is the only flavor my recipe called for and that’s what made them so special for me!
Love spritz cookies!!! I love that shape as well because I like eating one segment at a time too…just to stretch out the eating of them because they are certainly high in calories, but I can’t resist them!! Love how you do the different colors of dough – looks so festive in the cookies, so I’ll be trying that!!
I made spritz cookies at Christmas time for many years, but I haven’t in the past couple of years. I still have my cookie press. I should get it out and make some for Easter.
My Mom made Spritz cookies every Christmas. She had a disc that made them in the shape of a Christmas tree. When she passed, I was fortunate to get her cookie press. I’ve made them a few times at Christmas. I always make the green trees and decorate them with sprinkles.
I don’t recall my Mom or Grandma making Spritz cookies but I was able to get my Grandma’s cookie press in the original box and original pamphlet of cookie recipes. I laminated the recipes so they would not get destroyed as time goes by. I like making them, my husband has some favorites.
Ahhh!! This post brought back many memories from years and YEARS ago. My mom used to give plates of Spritz cookies to relatives and friends around Christmas. And I remember helping to decorate them as a child. We used several different shapes, as I recall. My job was to put the colored sprinkles on before baking. Think that was the beginning of my “creativity,” and I remember having to think about what color to use on what shape. As a child, I never knew they were supposed to be “butter” cookies. And I KNOW my mom never used butter!! I’m sure they were made with the most inexpensive “oleo” available. We would make them starting in November, if my memory serves me correctly (HA to that one!) and she had “tins” that we would store them in, lined with waxed paper, until it was time to make up the plates for delivery. Have no idea what happened to my mom’s cookie press. I did buy an electric one at some point, and I made them for a couple of years. Don’t know what happened to mine, either. Hmmmm. May have to do some excavating to find it, and continue the tradition. All I really remember is that they were GOOOODDDD!!! And relatives always looked forward to receiving them at Christmas. One of my mom’s cousins remembered that and shared the memory with me at my mom’s funeral service. It was a good memory. And you helped me remember that good memory as well!!
Things that bring up good memories are so wonderful and to be cherished!! I hope you can find your press and make a batch to reinforce those memories!!