These are the softest Spritz Cookies ever! They are so good, I have to bake them weekly because my family is begging for more. There is the secret to how they get so nice and tender that they are irresistible.
My Spritz Cookies melt in the mouth! They are hands down the best cookies and I’ll let you in on the secrets to how they turn out so amazing.
The Spritz Cookie Ingredients
To make these Spritz Cookies, you have to use really soft butter! Also, the eggs must have room temperature so they don’t cool down the eggs.
Another secret of these cookies is, that I don’t use regular sugar. Instead, I am using confectioners sugar.
For the taste, I recommend using this vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. This product has so much more vanilla taste – just wonderful!
The Technique
It is very important to …
- whip the butter with the confectioner sugar until the butter is really light, fluffy, and foamy and has a light color like almost white
- mix in the flour and starch just enough to be combined with the butter and as short as possible
If you heed this advice, you will end up with the most tender and delicate cookies and probably win any baking contest!
The Decoration
There is nothing wrong with baking these cookies year round but mostly they are baked around Christmas. So, the typical decoration in Germany would be to cover them 1/3 to 1/2 with chocolate and then put some colorful sprinkles on top.
Everything is better with sprinkles!
Instead of sprinkles, you can also use coconut flakes. They are a great combination with the chocolate and the vanilla taste of the cookies.
Some people like to put some cocoa powder into the batter, which makes a chocolate taste and is also very delicious!
If you want to tint them with food colors, that is an option, too.
Spritz Cookie Shaping
I use a pastry bag to pipe the shapes into the baking sheet. If you have a cookie press, you can use that, too. What I like about piping the cookies, is that I can decide on much more and much bigger shapes than with a cookie press. Shapes like circles etc. just look fantastic for Christmas.
Pin Spritz Cookies to Pinterest
Spritz Cookies – Spritzgebäck
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 220 g Butter soft but not liquid
- 80 g Confectioners Sugar or 120 g if no chocolate used later
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste or Extract
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 ct. Egg room temperature
- 1 ct. Egg Yolk room temperature
- 280 g All Purpose Flour
- 15 g Corn Starch or potato starch
Decoration
- 100 g chocolate dark or milk chocolate
- optional: Sprinkles
- optional: Coconut Flakes
- optional: Candy Melts, different colors
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Mix the butter and confectioners sugar until fluffy and almost white in color.
- Add the egg and the one egg yolks and vanilla extract, continue to mix.
- In a different bowl, mix the flour, salt, and starch.
- Add the flour mix to the butter mix and mix it just long enough to have everything incorporated – as short as possible.
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, use some butter or batter to "glue" the paper to the baking sheet so it is completely flat.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F, bottom & top heat.
- Put a tip into a pastry bag and pour a portion of the dough into the bag.
- Create shapes like circles, c's, s-shapes and other shapes with the dough while pressing the dough onto the baking sheet.
- Bake for 6 minutes if the tip was rather small, a little longer for larger or thicker tips. Keep an eye on the cookies while baking to adjust the baking time if needed.
- Let the cookies cool completely.
Decoration
- Melt the chocolate (or candy melts) in a bowl over a pot with hot water.
- Dip the cookies halfway into the chocolate, then add some sprinkle or decoration to your liking.
I plan to make these with my young grandchildren, using a spritz cookie press. Does one chill the dough when using a press?
Hi Susan,
yes, chill them in the fridge anyway since it will let the ingredients of the dough get together even better.
Have fun with ýour grandchildren! :-)
My favorite cookies have always been spritz. I make a similar variant but I use almond meal vs vanilla.
Hello
The recipe says 1 egg yolk yet step two calls to add 2 egg yolks. Could you please clarify the number of egg yolks?
Thanks
Right, I see, sorry for that. It’s 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. I corrected it in the instructional text.
Hi Barbara
The biscuits are really everything you have remarked above. I made them this morning and took them to my daughters, the left overs went home with other happy guests. I used a plant based butter and the 1egg + egg yolk and used melted Lindt hazlenut chocolate to dip them. Will definitely make them again! Hoping you and your family are enjoying the festivities. Thank you
Oh, the hazlenut chocolate, is an amazin idea! I’ll have to try that! :-)
Hello Barbara,
I Love your site!! I’ve shared it with family and friends. My dad was in the American Army and I spent most of my childhood in southern Germany. I love your site because it has so many great recipes and videos. My mom always made our Spritz with ground almonds that she cracked in the evenings and ground into almond meal with her blender. I’m so thankful that I can simply go to my grocery store or Trader Joe’s and buy ground almond meal and hazelnut meal. Bob’s Red Mill sells ground hazelnuts. I plan on trying your Spritzgeback recipe this weekend.
I’ve also got a few websites that you may or may not know about. One is The Taste of Germany and the other is The German Deli. The taste of Germany has baking spices that I’ve always had a hard time finding here. I used to go to a German run deli in the local to me city, but they’ve closed down. I’ve learned how to make my own Neunerli for my peffernusse. I have a batch cooling over night so that I can make and bake them this weekend.
I’m so happy that I found your site!
Hi Holly!
Thank you! I used to order German products at German Deli – when it used to be located in Dallas. But they shut down a few years ago. Apparently, someone else picked it up in California, I had no idea! Thanks for letting me know.
Best,
Barbara
We so enjoy using all your German recipes. Please note some of the measurements you mention in the video are different from the list of ingredients on the blog.
280gr butter in video vs printed 220 gr butter
80gr confectioner sugar on video vs 120gr on printed
Thank you for all the effort you put into your channel
Sarah
Hi Sarah, the 220 g butter are correct, the 120g sugar was an edit from me that went wrong, it’s 80 g confectioners sugar and if you don’t use chocolate coating, it would be better to use 120g. I fixed it in the recipe part, thank you for letting me know.
Thank you. I plan to make these this week. You have also inspired my husband and he can now be found in the kitchen happily creating wonderful food following your recipes.
Happy Christmas