Peppermint Spritz: Easy With a Cookie Press

Peppermint Spritz Cookies are a buttery, crisp Christmas cookie, Spritzgebach, or “spritz” for short.

Then name comes from the German verb spritzen, which means “to squirt” or “to spray.”

Quite literally, you “squirt” cookie dough through a cookie press which has fitted disks on the end to produce formed shapes.

You can press this peppermint-flavored dough through traditional disk shapes such as star, dog, or tree.

But you may want to try this version with the ribbon star, pressed into strips, with one end bent into a crook to form a candy cane.

Prep time: 20-30 minutes

Bake time: 9-10 minutes

Makes about 3-4 dozen candy cane-shaped cookies

1 ½ cups butter or margarine room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 teaspoon peppermint (or mint) extract

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Colored sugar or sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375º F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter. Add and sugar and baking powder until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl continually, about 1-2 minutes. Add egg and mint extract. Mix until combined.
Reduce speed to low. Gradually stir flour iinto creamed mixture a bit at a time until well blended, scraping the bowl constantly.
Prepare cookie press by selecting and inserting the star disk and filling the press with dough. Press strips of cookie dough onto the baking sheets, about 3-4 inches long. To cut dough strips cleanly, flick press handle counterclockwise. Or use a kitchen knife to slice end of cookie dough strip. Curve the tops of strips into a crook to resemble a candy cane.
Decorate cookies with colored sugars and sprinkles.
Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until set. If you bake too long, edges will brown quickly.
Remove baking sheets from the oven. Allow cookies to sit on the baking sheets for a minute. Use a spatula to transfer cookies from the baking sheets to cooling racks.
Allow cookies to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Special Tips for Making Peppermint Spritz

Be sure baking sheets are cool and ungreased so that cookie dough adheres to the surface and releases from the cookie press.

You can use other disks to create Peppermint Spritz into shapes other than candy canes.

More Easy Ways to Make Pressed Cookies

How to use a cookie press ...