Try this Spritz Butter Cookies recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 11.0014050555556 g
- Cholesterol 335.648 mg
- Fat 7.21902411111111 g
- Fiber 0.000147222222222222 g
- Protein 4.31410683333333 g
- Saturated Fat 2.59789844444444 g
- Serving Size 1 1 cookie (40g)
- Sodium 943.267147117995 mg
- Sugar 11.0012578333333 g
- Trans Fat 0.284860377777777 g
- Calories 126 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Butter 2 cookie sheets and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until incorporated.
- Gradually add flour and salt and beat until well mixed.
- Transfer to a pastry bag with a star tip.
- Pipe onto sheet while nearly touching tip to pan. Leave at least 1" between cookies.
- Decorate with sprinkles, other decorations or chopped nuts.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes or until the edges are barely brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Swapping half of the all-purpose flour for equal-weight cake flour changes the crumb from dense to exceptionally tender by reducing gluten development. Professional pastry kitchens frequently use this ratio adjustment when working with piped doughs that require structural definition without toughness. Softened butter must remain cool enough to hold an impression when pressed, ideally registering around 65 degrees Fahrenheit, so the fat does not melt prematurely during the creaming stage.
Chilling the piped unbaked dough sheets on metal pans for 15 minutes solidifies the fat content instantly. This thermal shock prevents the butter from rendering too fast in the oven, which would otherwise cause the piped star shapes to spread into flat disks before the proteins set. Keep the oven temperature regulated at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, monitoring the baking process closely until the very edges display a pale golden tint, usually requiring between 11 and 14 minutes.
Day-old spritz cookies develop a more cohesive flavor profile as the dairy fats fully hydrate the surrounding starches overnight. Storing these baked sweets in an airtight metal tin lined with parchment paper preserves their fragile crispness for up to five days at room temperature. Placing a slice of plain white bread inside the container absorbs excess moisture fluctuations, protecting the texture from turning soggy over prolonged storage.
Pressed butter biscuits of this style share deep historical roots with Scandinavian holiday baking traditions, evolving from ornate hand-molded holiday pastries into mechanical press adaptations during the nineteenth century. Mastering the mechanical consistency of the dough ensures clean detachment from the pastry bag star tip without tearing the delicate ridges.
