Germany

Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Butter Cookies)

Name: Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Butter Cookies)
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Germany cuisine
Ingredients: Butter, softened 1 cup; Confectioners' sugar 0.7 cup; Egg 1; Egg yolk 1; Almond, vanilla, or lemon extract 1 tsp; Unbleached all-purpose flour 2.3 cups; Salt 0.3 tsp; Baking powder 0.5 tsp

Classic German butter cookies made by pressing a chilled, delicately flavored dough through a cookie press and baking until set.

55 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

German Christmas baking traditionally happens on the last weekend of Advent, when the whole household stands around one large tray. Butter and sugar are creamed until the mixture holds its shape, flour goes in only as far as needed to keep the piped form standing, and a cookie gun with a star nozzle does the rest. A correct Spritzgebäck releases cleanly from the nozzle; if it tears or smears, the dough is too warm or too soft.

Ingredients

Butter, softened1 cup
Confectioners' sugar0.7 cup
Egg1
Egg yolk1
Almond, vanilla, or lemon extract1 tsp
Unbleached all-purpose flour2.3 cups
Salt0.3 tsp
Baking powder0.5 tsp

Directions

1
Beat the softened butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy.
2
Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and your chosen extract until smooth.
3
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together, then gradually mix the dry ingredients into the butter and egg mixture to form an even dough.
4
Cover and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
5
Fill a cookie press with one-quarter of the chilled dough.
6
Keep the remaining dough refrigerated while shaping each batch.
7
Press the cookies onto a greased baking sheet, leaving space between them.
8
Bake at 400°F (about 205°C) for 7–10 minutes, until the cookies are set and the edges just begin to color.
9
Cool completely on wire racks, then store in airtight tins.

Source: Wikibooks Cookbook (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0; English normalized and Chinese translation added by WorldBite.