Valentine Spritz Cookies are bright, cheerful, and will bring a smile to anyone’s face. These are so easy to make and so delicious too! Break out your sprinkles and have some fun!!
It’s beginning to look a lot like – wait! Sorry about that, Dear Reader. It seems that I’m still in Christmas mode. But, in my defense, it’s not my fault. It seems as though the older I get, the faster time goes and that means that holidays begin to melt into each other.
The truth of the matter is that I’m not that old. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the life of a food blogger is always on fast-forward. The Valentine Spritz Cookies that you see in the photos before you, were baked and photographed on Sunday, January 13th. You see, I have to do that in order to publish the post and get the recipe into your hands in time for Valentine’s Day.
Now, I really didn’t need to use that as an excuse, because I’m always cooking and baking and planning posts for Lord Byron’s Kitchen. And, I love to be ahead of the game. I’m one of those people that likes to plan way ahead; being late or not on time, is not an option for me.
In addition to my self-diagnosed obsessive compulsive tendencies, there is another reason I was so excited to start baking valentine cookies in mid January. Let me explain… For Christmas this past year, John.e bought me a cookie press – sometimes referred to as a biscuit machine. I’ve wanted a cookie press for quite some time, but never go around to purchasing one for myself, so I was quite excited to find one in my stocking!
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 to 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!
Here’s a thought! If you don’t already own a cookie press, why not ask your valentine to buy you one for Valentine’s Day!? Listen, Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be all about chocolates, flowers, and fancy dinners with expensive wine. You can make you’re own rules. For example, we have one Valentine’s Day rule – no presents! In our home, we say I love you to each other every single day – without fail! And that’s not just me and John.e, that’s McKenna too!
So, we don’t need a special day to express how we feel. I don’t think we need to reserve sweet words or gifts for one particular day each year. We often will be ‘just-because’ presents for each other; there’s no need for a special day. If we see something we think the other person will like, we get it. Sometimes it’s big – like a $400 Le Creuset 3.5L Bonbon Braiser – and sometimes, it’s something small – like a Star Wars candy dispenser! That’s just how we roll!
Gift-giving doesn’t need to include going to the store and spending a tonne of money on material things. You could buy yourself a gift – like a cookie press – and make a batch of Valentine Spritz Cookies for your loved ones. You can toss a few in a nice bag, tie a ribbon around it, and you’re done! So easy! This particular batch makes about 80 cookies, so you’ll have enough to put together a least 8 bags of 10 cookies!
Valentine’s Day is all about the pink; isn’t it? That’s why, Dear Reader, when I was thinking about how to properly display these cookies, all I could think about was pink. Even the cookies were pink! And, here’s how I did it!
Once the cookie dough was all mixed, I divided the dough into three equal portions. The first portion, I added a dab of Wilton’s Rose gel food colouring, and to the second portion, I added a dab of Wilton’s Pink colouring. The third portion I left as is – that’s the whitish cookie you see in the photographs.
Using my handheld mixer, I blended the gel colouring through very well until no white cookie dough was left visible. Then, being careful to keep the colours separate, I loaded up my cookie press and got to the fun part – spritzing cookies and adding sprinkles! (In case you haven’t noticed, I love sprinkles!)
Sometimes, it takes a little practice to get the cookie dough to come out of the press just right, but don’t fret. You can re-load the cookie dough right back into the press and have another go at it. If you’re adding sprinkles, be sure to do so quickly. I find that spritz cookie dough dries quickly. If you wait too long, the sprinkles won’t stick. If you want more sprinkles, you can gently brush the tops of the cookies with an egg wash, but keep in mind that this will change the brightness after baking, but you will be able to get more sprinkles to stick to the cookie. I did not use any egg wash in the cookies you see here.
There you have it – bright and cheerful Valentine Spritz Cookies – an easy and affordable way to spread the love this Valentine’s Day. And, lastly, Dear Reader, Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours from me and Lord Byron’s Kitchen!
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Valentine Spritz Cookies
Valentine Spritz Cookies are bright, cheerful, and will bring a smile to anyone's face. These are so easy to make and so delicious too! Break out your sprinkles and have some fun!!
Servings 80 cookies
Calories 64kcal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pink food colouring, see notes
- 1 rose food colouring, see notes
- 1 candy sprinkles, your choice of colour/texture
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until well combined and light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Next, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the mixture to the butter and sugar mixture in thirds, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
- Now, portion the cookie dough into three equal amounts. Set one portion aside.
- Add a drop of rose food colouring to a second portion, and pink food colouring to a third portion. Beat until no white cookie dough remains.
- Start with one of the three cookie dough portions - white, rose, or pink. With the heart attachment in your cookie press, fill the press cylinder and press the cookies onto the baking sheet.
- Top the cookies with sprinkles or coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition
Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 31mg | Potassium: 14mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.3mg
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