Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies are a classic and will bring a smile to everyone’s face – especially if that cookie is flavoured with pumpkin spice and looks this pretty!

I fell in love with my cookie spritz when I found it in my Christmas stocking last year. John.e bought it for me. By the way, I should point out that sometimes, a cookie press is called a spritz or a biscuit machine.  Now, I have wanted a cookie press for quite some time. But, I never got around to purchasing one for myself, so I was quite excited to find one in my stocking! By the time I got to packing away the presents from under the tree, I didn’t have time to make a holiday recipe with my new cookie press.

I don’t own many kitchen gadgets. They’re certainly not something that I promote here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen. But, I’m going to make an excuse for the cookie press.  The reason for this is simple. I think most bakers already have one. If you don’t, I encourage you to purchase one, because it makes baking cookies so easy and so pretty!

I’ve often thought that it would be something I’d use once and never use it again.  I also thought the images of pressed cookies looked too perfect. In my mind, there was no way a cookie press could get cookies to look that precise and uniform.  I was wrong.  The brand that I have – Marcato – works brilliantly and I couldn’t wait to break it in!

WHY SAVE IT FOR CHRISTMAS ONLY?

Yearning to put it to use, I made Valentine Spritz Cookies back in February and I was hooked! The feeling of holding the cookie press in your hand and forcing out the perfectly shaped cookie is like a drug! I used to think that a cookie spritz was best saved for Christmastime, but like anything in life, why do we have to save things that we love for special occasions? I say use it now and use it often!

Besides, the cookie press that John.e gave me last Christmas has only one Christmas-themed insert if memory serves me correctly. That means that the cookie press is meant to be used at other times too, not just for the holidays.

But, rest assured Dear Reader, there will be more spritz cookies published here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen at Christmastime too. After all, not every cookie press dough is the same, and they most certainly do not taste the same!

WHY ARE THEY CALL SPRITZ COOKIES?

Sprizgeback are the German name for spritz cookies. Like the popular spritz cookie, the cookies are crisp, fragile, somewhat dry, and buttery.

The German verb spritzen means to squirt in English. These cookies are made by squirting (or pushing) the dough through a press that has been fitted with patterned holes. These holes create a resemblance to an object when baked.

In North America, the name Spritzgeback is shortened to spritz. In Germany, the cookie is prepared when parents bake with their children. Traditionally, the recipes that are used are passed down to the children.

USE THE SHAPE YOU LOVE THE MOST

You can choose whichever insert you would like for your cookies, but I liked this round shape. It reminded me of a wreath and as you know, as soon as September and October rolls around, fall wreaths are everywhere you look. I thought it was fitting!

In the photographs, you will note there are different colours of cookies.  I divided the dough into three equal portions and added a little bit of brown food colouring to one bowl, and a little bit of peach food colouring to another bowl.  The third bowl of dough was left without colouring.  I beat the colours into the dough until well incorporated.

I pressed the dough with my cookie press, starting with the brown dough first.  The canister of the spritzer was not cleaned out after each colour on purpose.  That is why some of the cookies are a solid colour and others are blended.  

This is just an option.  You don’t have to use food colouring at all.  You can also clean the cookie press after you use up each colour to keep the colours from mixing. In the end, the taste is what matters most!

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Softened Butter – I have used both salted and unsalted butter. To be perfectly honest, there isn’t much difference in the taste!
• Confectioner’s Sugar – Sometimes, this is called icing sugar or powdered sugar.
• Egg – It’s best to make sure your egg is at room temperature. You can set the egg into a cup of warm water to speed up the process.
• Pumpkin Spice Extract – You can buy it here, but if you don’t have it or if you don’t want to spend the extra money, you can use vanilla extract instead.
• All Purpose Flour
• Pumpkin Spice – Just like the extract, you can buy it in almost any store, or you can make your own. Here’s the recipe that I use religiously.
• Baking Powder
• Food Colouring – This is optional, but it certainly does make for a more visually appealing cookie. See my notes above.

MAKING THE BEST SPRITZ COOKIES

There are a couple of tips that I want to share with you to ensure you have the best Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies experience. First and foremost, please be absolutely sure that your butter, egg, and even the extract is at room temperature. This will make the dough soft and pliable so that you can squeeze it out of the spritz easily and perfectly.

Secondly, the cookie dough will need something to stick to – let me explain. When you spritz out the cookie dough, the spritzer is flush against the baking sheet. In order for the dough to come off of the spritzer and stick to pan, the right lining is needed.

You have two choices. First, you can do it right onto the pan. But, I have found that if I do not line my baking sheet first, then the cookies become too dark on the bottom. A sheet of parchment paper makes the job very frustrating. First, it moves around too easily. And, secondly, the dough doesn’t stick to it very well, meaning that when you lift the spritzer up, the dough usually comes with it.

The best results are achieved when using a silicone baking mat. Even when they are super clean, the still have a gel-like, almost sticky/gluey feel to them. It’s the perfect surface to stick the dough to, and they provide a great layer of heat protection between the baking sheet and the bottom of the cookie itself. Perfection every time!

MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies are very delicate and dainty. They have just enough pumpkin spice flavour to detect, but it’s not overpowering. They’re pretty to look at, and are a perfect cookie for packaging up as a gift for family or friends!

If you plan to freeze these Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies, you certainly can! Once they are completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight fitting lid too. (I use these quite often when freezing baked goods.) I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that cookie freshness locked in! You can freeze these cookies for up to three months.

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