This happened many decades ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a teen and I had a friend over. Around 11:00 pm we decided to make Spritz Cookies. We doubled the recipe (a huge mistake) and made the dough. Still feeling energetic, we even separated the dough into different bowls and dyed each portion a different color. Then, we hauled out my mom’s dusty old cookie press and began squeezing out shapes.
The thing about the old cookie presses was that they were a pain to use. The dough stuck, the shapes wouldn’t drop onto the pan and whenever you wanted to change the shapes you had to empty the canister of dough. It also only held a small amount, so you had to keep taking it apart to add more dough.
We quickly became exhausted. As the clock struck midnight and then 1:00 am, we wondered why we had decided to bake cookies to begin with. We still had a big pile of dough yet to shape and bake. My mom was a big proponent of finishing what you started and so we toiled on well into the night (morning?).
I never made Spritz after that.
This year I happened to see a recipe from The Pioneer Woman along with hints on how to simplify the process. I decided to try again. It should be noted that I am exhausted and overwhelmed this year so I didn’t hold much hope that this venture into Spritz-Land would go any better.
First of all, the dough was so easy to make and only needed a few ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of softened butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 ¼ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Dash of salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and the almond extract and stir until mixed.
Now, for the easy switch!
Simply roll the dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Press the tops down with a fork and throw a few sprinkles on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until set.
That’s it! No more cookie press, no more changing discs and coloring dough! You don’t even have to chill the dough. Just make and bake.
Ann Kirsten
Now that I am an adult, I often ignore my mom’s “finish what you start” rule. In fact, I’ve had gingerbread dough in my fridge for the last week. But this version of the dreaded Spritz was so easy that I actually got them all done in a flash.
Spritz cookies will now be added to my Christmas baking list once again.
Romans 5:3-4 says: “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
There is no suffering in making these cookies so you’ll just have to find your character-building in other ways. Perhaps visit a busy mall to Christmas shop?
Did You Know?
Both Germany and the Scandinavian countries have claims of being the inventers of Spritz cookies. The German word “Spritzen” means to spray or squirt and since these cookies are usually extruded from a cookie press, the name makes sense.
The cookie press is believed by many to have been invented in Germany, but there are those who say that Scandinavia also invented one around the same time. These presses became popular in the 1930s through the 1950s (that’s probably when my mom got hers). Modern cookie presses have improved vastly. I’ve even heard that you don’t have to empty the dough tube before you change the shape discs!
In Norway, spritz cookies are piped into S and O shapes. I researched why this was and the only reason given was that in the old days, when presses weren’t very user-friendly, these shapes were easy to form. Why not other letters? Who knows? But, to this day traditional bakers from Scandinavia still form Spritz into these shapes.
Whatever shapes you prefer, try the easy recipe above and you’ll have some to enjoy with your tea before you know it.
Happy Baking!
PIN THIS!
Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
