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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
10 minutes
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makes
About 4 dozen
Author Notes
Special equipment required: a cookie press! These may be the underdogs of your cookie platter, but what they lack in splendor they make up for in Christmas spirit. Little green wreaths and trees galore! —Kendra Vaculin
Test Kitchen Notes
These adorable spritz butter cookies will find their place on your dessert table every holiday season. The recipe does require a cookie press, but investing in one will be well worth it here, and you can read more about why below. And you probably have most of the ingredients already. Making these cookies couldn't be easier, and you'll please both kids and adults alike. Whatever shapes or colors you like, the possibilities are endless.
Kendra Vaculin, who developed this recipe, wrote about why she loves these cookies so much and why you should make them too: "Once all of the other cookie offerings have been exhausted, my family falls upon the pile of wreath- and tree-shaped bits left over on the platter, only to find that it’s impossible to stop. Right. This is why we make these. They are relatively plain and a bit off-puttingly verdant, but also crisp, buttery, addictive, and small enough to justify eating a forest’s worth.
"I’ve never had a Christmas without spritz cookies, and even as our dessert platter gets cooler and less traditional each year, I don’t think I’ll ever let one pass without making sure the little green guys are included."
She knows that her own kids will be continuing the cookie press tradition, with imperfectly shaped trees and wreaths, no matter what new and fun cookies hit the scene every Christmas. It may be a generational tradition you can start in your family, just like Kendra's. We can't wait to read about the shapes you come up with too. —The Editors
Ingredients
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2
sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
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1 cup
granulated sugar
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1
large egg
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2 1/2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
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Green food coloring (liquid or gel)
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2 1/2 cups
all-purpose flour
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1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
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Sprinkles or colored sugar, for decorating
Directions
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Heat the oven to 375°F.
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Using an electric mixer on medium speed, in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and light. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined.
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Add the green food coloring drop by drop, using the mixer to incorporate, until you reach your desired hue; gel food coloring will take fewer drops than liquid. I usually use 4 drops of gel food coloring to get a nice pale green color (anything too too green gets Grinch-y and creepy).
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Add the flour and salt, then stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
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Pack the dough into a cookie press fitted with the disk design for wreathes or trees (or whatever! Live your life). Press the dough into shapes on a cookie sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Don’t grease your cookie sheet or use parchment paper—the stickiness will help release the shape from the press. Decorate the cookies with sprinkles or colored sugar, if using.
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Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until slightly golden at the bottom edges. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
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