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Hi Bold Bakers!
Spritzgebåck cookies, or German Spritz Cookies, are the perfect addition to your Christmas cookie tray! They balance out all of your more rich, decadent desserts by being slightly sweet, buttery, and crispy!
The best part about spritz cookies, in my opinion, is how fragile they are. No matter what shape you choose to make them (I like spiral!), they practically melt in your mouth.
[ Try my Classic Austrian Linzer Cookies too! ]
You can make these homemade spritz cookies with very basic tools, too! You can certainly use a cookie press or a piping bag, but a Ziploc bag filled with your dough, cut in one corner, works just as well.
What Are Spritz Cookies (Spritzgebäck)?
Spritzgebåck cookies are a simple cookie made of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. They’re somewhat dry but incredibly buttery and delicious. They’re very common in Germany, and it’s a tradition for a lot of families to gather around and bake them during the Christmas season.
They get their name from the German word “spritzen,” which means “to squirt.” Fitting of the name, the cookies are shaped by squirting the dough through a cookie press or pastry bag.
What You Need To Make Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Cookies)
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Electric mixer
- 2 baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Pastry bag, cookie press, or Ziploc bag
How To Make Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Cookies)
Making these traditional German cookies is so simple — and they taste better than anything you could find in a tin at the store! Here is how you make them (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, on the page down below):
- Using an electric mixer, blend the butter, sugar, and salt for a few minutes until it becomes pale and fluffy.
- Once fluffy, beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Turn the mixer speed to low and gently mix in the flour until just combined.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop your dough into the pastry bag or cookie press. Pipe the cookies onto the prepped baking sheets into your desired shape. (I did swirls.)
- Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes until they are lightly golden on the edges.
- Gently transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cooled.
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Cookies)
- You can take these cookies to the next level by sprinkling them with colorful sanding sugar before baking OR dipping them in chocolate after baking.
- You can make these spritz colorful by adding a few drops of food coloring into your dough at the same time as when you are adding the egg, cream, and vanilla.
- No cookie press or piping bag? You can still make these cookies! Let the dough chill for easier handling, then scoop heaping tablespoon balls onto a prepared cookie sheet and flatten slightly. OR Scoop the dough into a Ziploc bag, snip the corner off, and use that as an improvised piping bag.
- You can prepare the dough in advance, wrapped and stored in the refrigerator. Allow the dough to warm up a bit at room temperature before piping; otherwise, it will be too stiff.
- For an extra boost of vanilla flavor, add a scraped vanilla bean into your dough at the same time as when you add the butter and sugar!
How Do I Store Spritzgebäck (German Spritz Cookies)?
You can store any leftover spritz cookies in an airtight container for up 3 days.
Make More Cookies At Home!
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Try These Recipes!
German Spritz Cookies (Spritzgebåck) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8oz/225g) butter softened
- 2/3 cup (5oz/142g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (10oz/284g) all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- With an electric mixer, blend the butter, sugar, and salt for a few minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, cream, and vanilla extract.
- With the mixer speed on low, gently mix in the flour until just combined.
- Scoop the dough into your pastry bag or cookie press and pipe cookies onto the prepared baking sheets into your desired shape. I did swirls.
- Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden on the edges. Gently transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled.
- Store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
The texture is so light and delicate it’s easy to forget that you’re just eating butter and sugar. I had a hard time piping these which has nothing to do with the dough and everything to do with me not knowing how to pipe. I tried out various shapes and sizes. When they cooled, I made little sandwiches with berry jam(Gemmas recipe). Then I dipped them in melted chocolate. Love the combination of flavors. I uploaded photos or at least tried to. They didn’t come out very pretty but they are so delicious and so addicting!
Hi Gemma
Can I make it without heavy cream, because that’s very difficult to find in my country. If i can use milk how much would you recommend. Btw I’m from Suriname
If you use SALTED butter, cut back on the additional SALT!
STOP and read this! If you are weighing your ingredients, 2 cups of flour is 240g, NOT 284g!! I hope I didn’t ruin my cookies!
Thank you for the recipe. i only had one with measurements in pounds. This is just right.
Super delish and melt in your mouth.
Hi Gemma,
Just wondering what the difference is between Spritz cookie and the Linzer Cookie?They both seem to be of a butter cookie texture. Is the difference in the country of origin I wonder. I also noticed that one of them is a plain butter cookie and the other, the Linzer is prettier, uses a almond flour and looks kind of like a biscuit sandwich. As I just love butter cookies I am keen to try these out.
mine came out super deflated. I’ll try chilling the dough after I pipe it next time.
HiHo: I wrote this question before, but I don’t know where it went so I figured just do it again! Sorry if you get it twice!! Anyway: My Mom used to make what she called “Swedish Spritz” a every Christmas! My problem is when I pipe the cookie onto the sheet, it won’t release from the cookie press onto the sheet. It just kind of sticks to the shape-disc. Maybe I should chill the dough first? Please advise! Thank you so much!!
Hello Gemma, thanks for the recipe! We made these every week and they don’t last more than 3 days in my house! Yesterday I used milk instead of heavy cream and I find that the dough couldn’t stick to the parchment paper well when I used cookie press. Before this when I used heavy cream the dough pressed out well with cookie press. How can I adjust this?