Cream cheese spritz cookies were a family favorite when I was growing up. I made them with my gram every year, and they were one of the few Christmas cookies my mom made, too. Do you remember the ones with a metal press and a screw handle?
Neither of their presses made it to me, so I had to buy my own when I wanted to start making these again. I did a lot of research first, because I know so many people whose presses broke when they made their first batch.
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Why Spritz Dough Breaks Modern Presses
We chilled our family recipe overnight, and the dough came out rock hard from the fridge. Gram’s metal press could handle it. Most modern presses are plastic, and forcing cold dough through one can snap the handle right off even if you don’t chill it all night.
That’s why this version chills for 20 minutes instead. The short rest firms up the butter enough for the cookies to keep their crisp edges in the oven, and the dough still moves through the press. The old Mirro booklets didn’t chill their dough at all, but many of those recipes used shortening, which doesn’t firm up in the fridge the way butter does.
This is the press I bought after all that research, and it handles this dough without any trouble. We use the tree and wreath discs the most, but it has all the old favorites I remember.
This press has a clear barrel so you can see how much dough is left, and one pump of the lever makes one cookie. The 12 stainless steel discs won’t bend or crack like plastic ones, and everything stores together in the case.
Why Cream Cheese Makes Better Spritz Cookies
My childhood recipe used cream cheese, and it gives these cookies a rich, tender bite that butter-only spritz cookies don’t have. You get a slight tang and a softer texture, and the dough still holds its shape.
Use full-fat block cream cheese, not the whipped kind in a tub. Tubs have too much water and air, so the cookies melt into flat puddles on the pan. This is one place I don’t save calories with Neufchâtel, either.
How to Soften Butter and Cream Cheese Fast
Both the butter and the cream cheese need to be at room temperature. Cold cream cheese will end up lumpy no matter what you do, and you’ll see little flecks throughout the dough.
When I forget to set them out, I use a warm glass jar. Fill the jar with hot water, let it sit for about 30 seconds, then dump the water and dry the jar. Stand the stick of butter on its end and turn the jar upside down over it for a few minutes.
The same trick works on cream cheese. Unwrap it, stand the piece upright on a small plate, and cover it with the warm jar for five to 10 minutes, and it softens evenly without the melted spots you get from the microwave. You’ll find more ways in my article on how to soften butter.
How to Color Spritz Cookies
Use gel food coloring, not the liquid drops from the baking aisle. Liquid coloring adds water to the dough, and that extra moisture makes the cookies spread flat.
Add the gel to the butter mixture before you add the flour. The color spreads throughout the dough, and you don’t overwork the flour, which makes the cookies tough. How much you use is your call.
We usually make a double batch and color each half differently. Green trees and wreaths with yellow stars make a pretty Christmas tray. To split a single batch instead, mix in the flour first, divide the dough, and stir the color into each portion with a spatula. Use only a spatula here, because the mixer would overwork the dough.
Spritz cookies aren’t only for Christmas, either. Switch to the heart disc and make red hearts for Valentine’s Day. Our red comes out more in the pink family, which works for us, and pink hearts look just as sweet.
We love the vibrant colors these gels make, and they are far less messy than the liquid kind we grew up with.
Use a Bare, Cool Baking Sheet
Never grease the baking sheet, and don’t line it with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Skip nonstick pans, too. The dough has to stick to bare metal so it pulls away cleanly from the press.
On a slick pan, the dough clumps up around the bottom of the press, and you can’t form the shapes. The pan has to be completely cool, too. If you press dough onto a pan that’s still warm from the oven, the butter starts to melt, the dough won’t stick, and your shapes turn into greasy puddles before they even bake.
These stainless steel half sheet pans come with cooling racks that fit right inside. The rim keeps cookies and everything else from sliding off, and they clean up easily.
I rotate among three uncoated half sheet pans so one always has time to cool fully. That lets me have one in the oven, one with cookies cooling, and the third fully cooled, ready to add dough to start the next round.
I also learned to wash each pan after I use it before I try to put another set of cookies on it from the press. I figured out that even a little grease from the baked cookies makes it harder for them to stick to the pan, and washing it is the easiest solution.
How to Make Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer now, but we always used a hand mixer growing up, and both work.
Mix in the egg yolk, vanilla, almond extract, and salt, then the gel coloring if you’re using it. Remember, it will be darker and more concentrated before you add the flour.
Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it with the flat edge of a knife, or weigh out 300 grams. Scooping straight from the bag packs the flour down, and too much flour makes the dough so stiff and crumbly that it won’t press.
Add the flour with the mixer on low speed so it doesn’t fly all over the counter. Stop as soon as no white streaks remain.
Chill the bowl for 20 minutes. Then pack the dough into the press and stamp the shapes about one inch apart on your bare pan.
If you want sprinkles or sanding sugar, add them before baking. We don’t always use them, but they’re particularly fun on the trees.
Bake for eight to 10 minutes, until the edges just barely start to turn golden. Let the cookies rest on the pan for two minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
Why Is My Spritz Dough Too Soft to Press?
The dough warms up as you work, especially in a warm kitchen. Scrape the dough from the press, refrigerate it for 20 minutes, and try again.
Can You Make Spritz Cookies Without Almond Extract?
Yes. Replace the almond extract with an equal amount of vanilla, for 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla in all, and the cookies are nut-free. I’ve made them this way plenty of times.
My Classic Thumbprint Cookies work with the same swap. For another treat your nut-free friends can eat, try my Nut-Free English Toffee.
How Long Do Spritz Cookies Last?
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature once they’ve cooled completely. They stay crisp for five to seven days before they start to go stale. Put wax paper or parchment paper between the layers so the cookies don’t stick together or snap.
Can You Freeze Spritz Cookies?
Yes, once they’re baked. Let them cool completely on a wire rack, then stack them in a freezer bag or container with parchment paper between the layers.
They keep for up to three months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, thaw them on a plate on the counter, not in the container.
I don’t recommend freezing the raw dough. A modern press needs the dough at just the right chilled texture, and getting frozen dough back to that point is frustrating and usually ends with a broken press.
Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature (2 sticks)
- 3 ounces full-fat block cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon gel food coloring optional
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled (300 grams)
- Sprinkles or sanding sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 3 ounces full-fat block cream cheese, 1 cup granulated sugar
- Mix in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. If you’re using gel food coloring, add it now and mix until the color is even.1 large egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1/2 teaspoon table salt, 1/4 teaspoon gel food coloring
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix just until no white streaks remain.2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Refrigerate the bowl of dough for 20 minutes, no longer, so it firms up without getting too hard to press.
- Pack the dough into your cookie press. Press the shapes about one inch apart onto a completely cool, ungreased, uncoated metal baking sheet. Add sprinkles or sanding sugar now if you like.Sprinkles or sanding sugar
- Bake for eight to 10 minutes, until the edges just barely start to turn golden. Let the cookies rest on the pan for two minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool.
- Let the baking sheet cool completely before you press the next batch.
Notes
- Use full-fat block cream cheese. Whipped tub cream cheese and Neufchâtel add too much moisture, and the cookies spread.
- Never grease the pan or line it with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and skip nonstick pans. The dough has to grip bare metal to release from the press.
- If the dough gets too soft while you’re pressing, scrape it from the press, refrigerate it for 20 minutes, and try again.
- For nut-free cookies, replace the almond extract with an equal amount of vanilla, for 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla total.
- To make two colors from one batch, mix in the flour first, divide the dough, and stir the gel coloring into each portion with a spatula only.
- Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for five to seven days, with wax paper or parchment paper between the layers.
- Freeze the baked cookies for up to three months. Thaw them on a plate on the counter, not in the container. Don’t freeze the raw dough.
- The yield runs six to seven dozen, depending on the discs you use.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
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