Spritz Cookies

I have an old Pampered Chef cookie press tucked away in my pantry, and sometimes I forget it's there! I needed to make a treat for a cub scout pack meeting last week, with practically no ingredients on hand, and I remembered my cookie press. So here's the Pampered Chef Spritz Cookie recipe that I used. It calls for vanilla extract, but I like to use almond. It's an easy dough to work with, not too sticky. I divided it in half and added green food coloring to make some trees and wreaths. I sometimes have a hard time getting the dough to stick to the pan instead of stay on the press. I found that using just the right amount of dough is what makes it work for me (which is 1 and a half clicks of my trigger). A cold pan is supposed to help with that too. Spritz cookies aren't just a Christmas cookie even though that's how I think of them. My press has all different shapes, even a 4 leaf clover and pumpkin. If you don't have a press and want to try these, just roll them into tsp sized balls and press them down a little with your thumb. Happy baking.

Spritz Cookies

Pampered Chef
1½ cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3½ cups flour
Colored sugar or sprinkles (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed of the electric mixer about 3 minutes or until creamy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the egg and vanilla; beat well.
3. Add the flour; mix on low speed just until blended, scraping down the sides as necessary. (The dough will be soft; do not refrigerate.)
4. Fit the cookie press with the desired disk and fill it with the dough. Press the dough onto the cookie sheet 1" apart.
5. Decorate the cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Cool the cookies 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove cooking rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.