Mom's Old-Fashioned Spritz Butter Cookies (video)

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 325F/163C and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats. Prepare your cookie press, or pastry bags; whichever one you prefer.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar for a few minutes, until the butter is extra light and fluffy.

Step 3

Next, add in the vanilla extract, egg, and mayonnaise. Beat again for a minute, until the egg is well beaten.

Step 4

Stir the baking powder into the flour, then add the flour to the batter. Mix until a smooth cookie batter forms.

Step 5

If you want to make colorful green or red cookies, add concentrated gel food coloring into the cookie batter and mix well.

Step 6

For Cookie Press: chose your cookie design, insert the cookie disc into the press, then add your batter. Press the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart. If you want to make different designs, don’t add all the batter into the press at once. Add a little at time, then switch out the discs as needed.

Step 7

For Pastry Bags: if you don’t have a cookie press, a pastry bag tipped with a star tip will work great, too! I used two different tips – French star tip #4 and Ateco tip #Divide the cookie batter between your pastry bags, then pipe various designs and shapes on the baking sheet.

Step 8

If desired, sprinkle some decorative sprinkles or diced nuts over the cookies before baking.

Step 9

Bake the spritz butter cookies at 325F/163C, just until they’re slightly golden around the edges; 14 minutes for smaller cookies, up to 18 minutes for larger cookies.

Step 10

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then gently transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Step 11

Once the cookies are cooled, you can garnish them with chocolate, if desired. Melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave until smooth, then dip in the cookies and tap off any excess. If desired, sprinkle some diced nuts over the chocolate before it sets.

Step 12

Store the spritz cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 1 week. These are best enjoyed fresh, but you can freeze them for later, too.