Christmas time is the perfect time to break out those family treasured recipes. For me its Almond Spritz cookies. My Mom made loads of the “green cookies” with her trusty cookie press. I have continued the tradition making these delicious cookies to give to my brothers, family and friends.
Spritz cookies originate from Scandinavian countries, where they are a traditional Christmas cookies. The name comes from the German word “spritzen”, which means “to squirt.” This is because the dough is pushed and squirted through a cookie press. Some recipes have lots of butter, some use vegetable shortening. The butter cookies are more fragile. Mom’s were made with vegetable shortening. Maybe she grew up with the depression making everyone frugal. She has never forgotten that and made the most out of even a few ingredients.
The tradition was to pass down to young children who will inherit the special recipes from their parents. It is also common to decorate with toppings like icing, desiccated coconut, or dipping in melted chocolate.
Mom had a metal version made by Mirro that you operated by twisting the handle on top. After making hundreds of these cookies she knew exactly how much to twist to get the perfect cookie. 
Wilton Cookie Press
Today you find a cylinder and a screw-driven piston made by Wilton or Kuhn Rikon, that you squeeze the handle for the perfect cookie. Even my 4 year old grandson can do it!
They are perfect for gift giving! My brothers and I would always look forward to tins of her Spritz cookies and Shortbread. As she is no longer able to make these cookies its up to me to keep up the tradition. 
They are super easy to make. Just mix in your mixer, put in the cookie press and press out a ton of cookies. You can tint them any color. Flavor in any flavor…rum, lemon, peanut butter, coffee, anise, vanilla, orange, chocolate, the sky’s the limit. They keep perfectly for weeks in a tin or sealed container.
Once you make these cookies, you will never get out of making them. Everyone will ask “where’s the Spritz cookies”?
Traditions are exactly that…traditions. You may drop them at some point of your life but you will always remember them and always go back to them.
I have made them many times, but it was “Mom’s” cookies that everyone wanted.
These cookies are so tender that you pop them in your mouth and barely have to chew them.
They are super easy to make!
So easy, my four year old grandson helped me make these! He pressed the cookies on the cookie sheets. Oh and did I mention he loved eating the raw batter as well? Talk about traditions!
You just cream the shortening and sugar together.
Add the egg and beat.
Add dry ingredients and almond extract.
Tint with food coloring.
Place in a cookie press and press cookies onto cookie sheets.
Be very careful and watch these. Everyone’s ovens vary and it is crucial that they are not over baked. In my oven, without the convection on they take about 9 minutes even though the original recipe says more. I like these baked to the point right before browning. Its hard to gauge but once you know how long they take in your oven, you will be good to go!
For all the relatives that keep asking for the recipe, here it is. I would recommend using a stand mixer if you have one. The batter gets quite stiff and the stand mixer will make mixing easier.
These cookies definitely remind me of Mom. Nothing will be the same without her, but I will try and keep the Spritz cookie tradition alive as best as I can.
Spritz Cookies
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 100 1x
Description
These are a Christmas tradition in our family. A Christmas without “green” cookies is no Christmas at all!
Ingredients
1 c. shortening
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
2-1/4 c. sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Dash salt
2-3 tsp almond extract
Green or Red food coloring
Non perils for decoration
Instructions
Cream shortening, add sugar gradually.
Add egg and beat well.
Add dry ingredients and extract.
Put batter in cookie press and press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Decorate with non peril sprinkles.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.
The bottoms should be slightly browned, but be careful and watch them while baking as they can get too brown really quick.
Notes
There are various shapes you can press with the cookie press. All of them take the same amount of time to bake.
Make sure you put enough food coloring in! The cookies after baking lighten considerably, so make darker when mixing so they retain their color.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: Cookies
Keywords: spritz cookies, cookie press, almond cookies, christmas cookies,
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