Spritz Sandwich Cookies

Everyone loves a spritz cookie, especially at Christmas! But, why should they only make an appearance once a year? In this version, I’ve coloured the cookie dough red and blue and sandwiched them with white frosting. These are most certainly bright and festive – perfect for your 4th of July celebrations!

Spritz cookies have to be the most recognizable and the most loved holiday cookie. I know many people experience some difficulty with getting them just right, so I’ll address those issues in this post. You need the right recipe and the right technique. These Spritz Sandwich Cookies are perfect for your 4th of July party!

The great thing about spritz cookies is that you can flavour them easily enough by changing up the extract. You can colour them too, just like I did, by adding a bit of food colouring to the dough. Topping a spritz cookie is probably one of the most fun things to do. But, what about sandwiching two of them together with a delicious frosting? It’s a celebration after all, so the extra calories should not be a concern!

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, such as flowers, hearts, stars, and trees!

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.

DON’T HAVE A COOKIE PRESS?

I’m afraid the only answer that I would feel 100% comfortable giving you would be the following: 1. You might want to consider a different cookie recipe. 2. Buy one!

Those responses might seem rather abrasive, which was not my intent, but I’d prefer to be completely honest rather than provide you with some DIY cookie spritzer that does not work and as a result is a waste of your time and your ingredients.

The ONLY option is to roll out the cookies with a rolling pin and to use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want. The cookies will look nothing like the Spritz Sandwich Cookies you see in the photographs, but they will taste the same.

RECOMMENDATION, NOT AN ENDORSEMENT

Kitchen gadgets are not something that I own much of, and 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 of us bakers already have one readily available, and if you don’t, I encourage you to purchase one, because it makes baking cookies so easy and so pretty!

As badly as I’ve wanted one, I’ve often thought that it would be something I’d use once and never use it again.  I’ve also thought that the images of pressed cookies looked top damn perfect, and was of the mind that there was no way a cookie press could get cookies to look that precise and uniform.  I was wrong.  I can’t speak for all cookie presses, but the brand that I have – Marcato – works brilliantly and I couldn’t wait to break it in!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE THESE COOKIES

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

For the Cookies:

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! You can use unsalted butter, but these cookies most certainly taste better with salted butter.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often.  When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
• Egg – One large egg is all you need. Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies.
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
• Food Colouring 

For the Frosting:

• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often. 
• Vegetable Shortening – Make sure your shortening is at room temperature!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies. 
• Milk – When a baking recipe requires milk, I always use whole milk, unless otherwise stated. 

FOOD COLOURING

Before I get too far into this, I am just going to get this one thing out of the way. Yes, I did use food colouring to dye the cookie dough. Using food colouring is not ideal for some people, but I don’t personally have an issue with it. I know there are many “natural” ways of coloring food, so if you already employ those in other recipes, feel free to do so here too.

I have used only red and blue. The white part of the cookie is made up of the frosting. Together, they will give you that red, white, and blue collaboration. Using the gel type of food colouring is best in this case. The gel will allow you to tint the cookie dough without changing the viscosity of the dough. You may have to use too much of the liquid colouring to get the dough tinted enough. Adding more than 8-10 drops of liquid colouring will change the firmness of the dough and may result in a flatter cookie once baked.

If you’ve been reading Lord Byron’s Kitchen for any length of time, you will know that I’m a fan of gel food colouring. In fact, 99% of the time, I use Wilton brand gel in all of my recipes. I’m not sponsored at all by Wilton, but that particular brand is always reliable.

MAKING THE BEST SPRITZ COOKIES

There are a couple of tips that I want to share with you to ensure you have the best Spritz Sandwich Cookies experience. First and foremost, please be absolutely sure that your butter, egg, and even the vanilla 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!

HOW TO MAKE SPRITZ SANDWICH COOKIES

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a silicone baking mat and set it aside. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until well combined – about 2 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. At this time, add in the red food colouring. You want this mixture to be really red, because once you add the flour the redness will lighten a bit. Beat into the butter and sugar mixture until completely incorporated.

Next, sift together the flour, and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Load the cookie dough into a cookie press which has been fitted with the disc of your choosing. Press the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch of space between each cookie. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

You will want to repeat this using blue food colouring next. Once all of the cookies – both red and blue – are baked. Allow them to fully cool before applying the frosting.

HOW TO MAKE THE FROSTING

Beat the vegetable shortening in a large mixing bowl. Add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Next, beat in the vanilla extract and milk. Note that my frosting is really bright white. If you use butter, your frosting will have a yellow tint to it. Actually, different brands of butter can be more yellow in colour than others. Your frosting might have more than a yellow tint; it might actually turn out yellow!

There is a secret used by bakers to get perfectly white. Instead of using butter, they use the substitute it with vegetable shortening. Another secret is to use white vanilla extract rather than the regular amber or brown coloured stuff. It can also tint the frosting. To get the whitest frosting possible, I used vegetable shortening rather than butter in this particular case.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Spritz Sandwich 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 freshness locked in!  You can freeze these cookies for up to three months.