Okay, so summer is long gone and now it’s only three months until Christmas … Hurrah!! Not just Christmas to look forward to but a whole host of festivities : Halloween, Diwali, Thanksgiving and New Year. Gosh, my kitchen is going to be busy busy busy. Hence why I feel I should get a head start and roll out some festive recipes now rather than later. I am a terrible procrastinator and I put things off all the time and then drive myself crazy towards the very end as the clock ticks down. That’s pretty much what happens every year.
I had a whole list of things I wanted to make for Christmas last year … no less than six different baked goodies to give out as Christmas boxes to my neighbours. Alas, I only managed to make half of what was on the list. I had grand ideas but oh well, my fault I guess. I made dark chocolate fudge Christmas cupcakes. They went down a treat. Then there was the Christmas Yule Log and the Meringue Tower for the office. And a batch of failed sugar cookies.
Christmas Meringue Tower & Dark Chocolate Fudge Chrismas Cupcake
Took me three days to finish that meringue tower. This year however, I am focusing on less ambitious persuits and will therefore (in theory) afford me more time to complete each project. So, starting off with this years festive baking, I present … the Spritz Cookie!! *cue music*
I initially thought that these cookies were an American creation but upon further research I think they originate from Scandinavia. Makes a whole lot more sense with a name like Spritz. Either way these cookies are great at Christmas time to serve at home or simply to give out as gifts. The beauty of this recipe is that you can make A LOT of cookies with just a single batch. And they are super fun and easy to do since you will be using a cookie press. None of the rolling and cutting of cookie dough required.
So I bought me this cookie press. It’s a Marcato brand stainless steel cookie press, made in Italy. I was so inspired by all the wonderful things this thing could do (while watching video demos online) that I just had to have one for myself. Thanks YouTube. I also did some pre-reading on JoyofBaking.com, which is pretty much my go-to website before I embark on anything new. I never knew about cookie guns or presses before until I stumbled upon a YouTube vid of Martha Stewart one day. I was looking for new Chirstmas baking ideas and after that video next thing I knew I was online shopping for a cookie press. Sheesh.
A week later my cookie press arrived in the mail. Hurrah!! It was much smaller than I thought it would be … which was a relief actually. Day by day my cupboards get filled with yet another online purchase for all my baking needs. I am running out of space. I’m sure many avid cooks / bakers out there can empathise. Anyway, back to the cookie press … the stainless steel barrel is very sturdy, it has a nice weight … heavy but not cumbersome. Mine came with 20 interchangable discs (not all are featured in my photograph above) and four plastic piping nozzles. I found this a bit odd, but no matter.
The cookie dough is filled in the barrel and the disc is screwed on. Raise the plunger and press, press, press away! I used a Martha Stewart recipe and it turned out great. Pressing out the cookies tho wasn’t as easy peasy as I thought it would be; it takes some practice. The dough should preferably be chilled and rested before you press them out, but I couldn’t wait and they still turned out fine; I was too excited about baking these beautiful little things. R helped weigh and measure out all the ingredients … that’s his default job in the kitchen when I am baking. That, and licking bowls and spatulas after a cake has been made. He’s pretty good at that bit.
As for the recipe itself, it’s pretty basic and it’s very flavourful. The key is to use good quality unsalted butter as that’s where this cookie gets most of it’s flavour. You will need :-
Ingredients
- 340 g (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
- 220 g (1 cup) sugar
- 2 egg yolks, at room temp
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 520 g ( 3.75 cups) all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
1. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl several times to make sure everything is mixed in well.
2. Add the egg yolks and beat this into the butter mixture. Then add the vanilla extract. I decided to be Miss Fancy-Pants and used 1.5 tbsps of orange blossom water instead. Yummy! Would have been better if I also had some orange zest to go along, but I didn’t.
3. Now slowly add the flour and salt to the wet mix. If it seems a bit to dry and crumbly, try adding a couple of teaspoons of milk, just to bring it all together. What you will end up with is a soft butter dough that can be rolled into a log. Make several logs, wrap them in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
4. After 30 mins remove the dough and bring them up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (190º fan).
5. Fill the barrel with a log of cookie dough, screw on a template disc of your choice and press out cookies onto an unlined, ungreased cookie sheet. These cookies will not rise or expand so you can place them close together on the tray.
6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until the edges are just slightly golden. Let them cool completely and they will harden. Once cooled you can decorate them anyway you like, using royal icing, coloured sugar and dragees.
Experimenting with colours and flavours would be awesome using this recipe. I already have ideas swimming about in my head : chocolate, coffee, chai, cinnamon, lavender, orange-cardamom. The possibilities are endless. So do give these ago at Christmas and watch the delight spread across the faces of your recepients. I’m sure they will love it.
~ ENJOY!!~
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