Festive and easy? Sign us up, especially if you’re baking with kids. These delicate, buttery cookies may look complicated, but they’re one of the easiest cookies to make, according to Tiffany Dahle, founder of the cooking blog Peanut Blossom.
The recipe, featured in Dahle’s new cookbook, “The Ultimate Kids Baking Book” (Page Street Publishing Co.; $22), uses a cookie press to churn out the pretty, dappled shapes. Don’t own a press? Roll the cookies into balls with clean hands and then press your thumb in the top to make a thumbprint cookie. Once they are baked, you can fill the thumbprint with melted chocolate.
Spritz Cookies
Ingredients:
½ pound (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1¼ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 to 3 tablespoons water
Decorations: Assorted sprinkles, melted chocolate
Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a wire rack on a piece of parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined and then continue to beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl as needed.
Crack the egg into a small bowl to check for shells. Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the egg. Gently whisk with a fork to break up the yolk and combine the extracts with the egg. Pour the egg mixture into the butter mixture and beat until just combined. The batter will appear slightly curdled, not smooth.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.
Spoon the dough into a cookie press fitted with the decorative disk of your choice, and press the cookies directly onto a cookie pan, 2 inches apart. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes; the cookies should be firm but not browned. Transfer the cookies to the wire rack to cool.
For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Gently stir to form a glaze. If the mixture is too thick, add another tablespoon of water. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies or dip them right into the glaze. Before the glaze sets, scatter sprinkles over the top, if using.
You can also dip the cookies into melted chocolate. They look pretty completely covered or just half-dipped. Add sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.
— Reprinted with permission from “The Ultimate Kids’ Baking Book” by Tiffany Dahle (Page Street Publishing Co.; $22)