Butter-Rich Spritz Butter Cookies

These Butter-Rich Spritz Butter Cookies are the kind of old-fashioned holiday cookie that earns a permanent place in the recipe box. The dough is buttery and tender with a delicate crispness around the edges, while vanilla and almond extracts give every bite that familiar bakery-style aroma. They are sweet without being overwhelming, which makes colored sugar and sprinkles an easy finishing touch.

What makes this recipe a keeper is how much you can do with one simple dough. A cookie press turns it into trees, wreaths, flowers, stars, and other festive shapes, and a little food coloring can make each batch fit the occasion. These are especially fun for kids to decorate, and the short baking time makes them wonderfully manageable during a busy holiday baking day.

I also appreciate that there is no chilling or rolling required. Mix the dough, load the press, decorate, and bake. Once cooled, the cookies hold their shape nicely and store well enough to make ahead for cookie trays and homemade gifts.

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Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

Colored sugar or sprinkles (Optional)

Food coloring (Optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and confectioners’ sugar until pale, smooth, and fluffy.
4. Add the flavorings. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract until evenly incorporated. If using food coloring, mix it into the dough now.
5. Finish the dough. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until a soft, uniform dough forms. Avoid overmixing.
6. Press the cookies. Fill a cookie press with dough. Press cookies directly onto an ungreased, unlined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart. Add colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired.
7. Bake. Bake at 200°C / 400°F for 6-8 minutes, or until the cookies look set and their bottoms are just beginning to turn light golden. Avoid letting the tops brown.
8. Cool. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet briefly to firm up, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely.

Cooking Notes

For the cleanest spritz shapes, the dough should be soft enough to press but not greasy or sticky. If it becomes overly soft in a warm kitchen, refrigerate it briefly before continuing.

Do not grease or line the baking sheet unless your cookie press specifically requires it. Spritz dough needs enough grip on the baking surface to release cleanly from the press.

Watch the first batch carefully. These small cookies can go from perfectly baked to overbrowned quickly. Look for set edges and pale-golden bottoms, rather than deeply colored tops.

For a seasonal variation, replace the vanilla or almond extract with lemon, orange, or peppermint extract. Start conservatively with stronger extracts, particularly peppermint.

Nutrition

Yields: 36 servings; 1 cookie per serving

The ingredient quantities produce approximately 3 dozen small pressed cookies. Allowing for normal moisture loss during baking, the finished batch is approximately 1.4 lb, or roughly 0.6 oz per cookie.

Estimated Nutrition per Serving

• Calories: 95 kcal
• Fat: 5.5 g
• Carb: 10.8 g
• Protein: 1.1 g

Nutrition is estimated from the full ingredient quantities and divided among 36 cookies. Decorations are not included because the amount of colored sugar or sprinkles can vary. The estimate also closely aligns with the supplied recipe’s reported 97 calories per cookie.

Recipe Science

Spritz cookies are a high-fat, relatively low-moisture cookie built primarily from flour, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and egg yolks. Creaming the softened butter with confectioners’ sugar distributes tiny air pockets through the fat, while the yolks contribute emulsifiers, fat, color, and tenderness. The absence of chemical leaveners helps the pressed designs retain their definition in the oven.

The relatively high proportion of butter limits extensive gluten development and produces the characteristic short, tender texture. Confectioners’ sugar dissolves readily and contributes to a fine crumb, while vanilla and almond extracts supply aromatic flavor without significantly altering dough consistency. Baking for only 6-8 minutes at 200°C / 400°F sets the small cookies quickly before excessive spreading occurs.

Spritz cookies are practical for make-ahead holiday baking because cooled cookies can be kept in an airtight container for several days. They can also be customized with extracts, food coloring, sugars, and sprinkles without changing the basic dough structure. For best texture after storage, keep the cookies tightly covered and away from humid conditions.

Dietary Notes & Health Alerts: Using FDA Daily Values of 2,300 mg sodium, 20 g saturated fat, and 50 g added sugar, a single cookie does not reach the 20% Daily Value threshold for these nutrients. Butter remains the primary source of saturated fat, however, and multiple-cookie portions increase saturated fat and added sugar proportionally. Unsalted butter is appropriate when controlling sodium intake.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Classic Holiday Flavor: Butter, vanilla, and almond create that unmistakable old-fashioned spritz cookie flavor.
• No Chilling Required: The dough can go from mixing bowl to cookie press without an extended refrigerator rest.
• Perfect for Decorating: Food coloring, colored sugar, and sprinkles make one dough suitable for countless holiday designs.
• Quick to Bake: Each tray needs only about 6-8 minutes in the oven.
• Great for Families: Pressing shapes and adding decorations gives kids an easy way to participate in holiday baking.

FAQ

• Why won’t my spritz dough stick to the baking sheet? Make sure the baking sheet is cool, clean, dry, and ungreased. Parchment or silicone mats can prevent the dough from gripping the surface as it leaves the press.
• What if my dough is too stiff for the cookie press? Make sure the butter was properly softened before mixing. Very cold dough can be difficult to press. Let it sit at room temperature briefly rather than adding extra liquid.
• Can I make different flavors? Yes. Lemon, orange, and peppermint extracts can create easy seasonal variations. Because extract strengths vary, add stronger flavors conservatively.
• Can I make the dough ahead? Yes. Refrigerate it tightly covered, then allow it to soften enough to pass comfortably through the cookie press before shaping.
• How do I keep the cookies from spreading? Do not melt the butter, and avoid placing dough on a warm baking sheet. Properly softened butter should yield slightly when pressed but should not look oily.

Conclusion

There is something especially comforting about a simple butter cookie that generations of families keep making, and these spritz cookies have exactly that timeless quality. Change the colors, try a new extract, or let the kids take charge of the sprinkles; making the recipe your own is part of the fun.

What shapes and colors will you use for your next batch? Happy baking, and I hope there are plenty of warm cookies and happy memories in your kitchen.