Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies
Delicate, buttery and festooned with colored sugar or sprinkles, spritz cookies are a holiday staple. You can make excellent ones without any special items like the vanilla bean paste and cultured butter called for here. But those ingredients will make your cookies even more delicious. You can leave them tasting purely of vanilla, or add another optional flavoring, such as citrus zest, cinnamon or cardamom, or almond extract. These fragile cookies don’t ship well on their own, but you can increase their stability by turning them into sandwich cookies, filled with chocolate, Nutella, or thick jam.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), preferably cultured, softened
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/55 grams light brown sugar
- 1large egg, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or use 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)
- 1teaspoon grated lemon zest or orange zest, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 2 ¼cups/290 grams all-purpose flour
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- Decorative sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and the zest, spices or almond extract (if using), and mix until well combined and smooth.Step 2
Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour and salt until just incorporated.Step 3
Load dough into a cookie press. Following the directions that came with your cookie press (models can vary), push the dough onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Sprinkle cookies with decorative sugar.Step 4
Bake until firm to touch and golden brown at edges, about 12 to 17 minutes. Transfer cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.