Day 4: Butter Press Cookies

Happy Hump Day! Wow this week flew by quickly, probably because it's been an extremely fun week of baking (well at least for me). Today we made a cookie that has been in our family for generations: butter press cookies, commonly known as spritz cookies. My great-grandmother made them for my grandma, who made them for my daddy. Of all of the Christmas cookies my grandma baked, he proudly declares these to be his favorite. Therefore, each and every year we bake these classic cookies to satisfy the palate of my goofy, super awesome daddy.

Here's the recipe adapted from my grandma's recipe:

3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Add egg and sugar. Add dry ingredients. Chill thoroughly. Bake for 10 minutes.

We press them in a Christmas tree shaped cookie press but you can use any shape of your choosing. To make them look extra festive and special for the holiday, we sprinkle the cookies with red and green sanding sugar before we put them in the oven. This allows for the sprinkles to stick to the cookies. If you sprinkle the cookies after baking, the sugar will not stick and it will just make a huge mess.

Here is what they look like!

And more!

Closeup picture!

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for reading!