German Spritz With Variations Recipes

GERMAN SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Make sure to place butter out of the fridge ahead of time so it will be soft and smooth.Allow the eggs to come to room temperature outside of the fridge.
• Whisk soft butter until soft and creamy.
• Sift powdered sugar and add with vanilla powder or extract to the bowl. Cream together untilwell combined.
• Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites lightly.
• Add the egg whites and a pinch of salt to the bowl and mix well.
• Sift the flour and add, one spoonful at a time, to the bowl. Mix until everything is wellcombined.
• Fill into a piping bag with a large star tip or every other tip you prefer.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Pipe rosettes, the character "S" or other shapes of your liking.
• Bake in pre-heated oven on 340°F for about 12-15 min.
• Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
• You can enjoy the cookies as is or decorate them with melted chocolate, sprinkles or fillthem with jam.

GERMAN SPRITZ COOKIES (SPRITZGEBäCK)

Steps:

• Add the very soft (but not melted) butter, sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Using your hand or stand mixer with the normal beaters, mix everything for around 4 minutes until creamy.
• Add the egg and egg yolk to the bowl and keep beating for 2-3 minutes until they are mixed in.
• In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Give everything a quick stir.
• Switch your mixer attachment to the spiral dough hooks. Then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in small increments while beating. Keep mixing until the flour is fully mixed in.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. If you are using a piping bag (the same kind of bag also used for cake/cupcake decorating) or a cookie press, let the dough rest at room temperature. If you're using a meat grinder for this recipe, place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes so it can chill.
• Once the time is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
• Now, prepare your piping bag, cookie press, or meat grinder - we usually use a piping bag. You'll want to use a large star tip with your piping bag or cookie press. The larger the opening, the easier the dough will be to push through. Also, the softer the dough, the easier it'll come out of the piping bag.
• Now shape the spritz cookies. You can make whichever shapes you want. Circles with an open hole in the middle, S-shapes, or straight lines are classic choices for Spritz cookie shapes. Some people also like to write their names with the cookie dough. Just make sure to create the letters large enough (and leave enough space in between) since the cookies will rise/expand a bit in the oven.
• Place the cookies on the parchment paper and bake them one baking sheet at a time in the oven for 12-16 minutes until the ends are slightly brown. It takes exactly 13 minutes in our oven but since every oven cooks differently, your baking time might vary slightly. When taking the cookies out of the oven they might still feel a tiny bit soft - that's fine (as long as the bottom is lightly browned). They'll harden once cooled.
• Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack.
• OPTIONAL: Once the cookies have cooled, you can prepare the chocolate glaze by melting chocolate chips either in the microwave, in a pot on the stove, or in a hot water bath. You can use any type of chocolate chips (depending on how sweet you want it to taste). We like using semi-sweet chocolate chips. Once the chocolate chips are fully melted, carefully dip parts of the cookies into the melted chocolate and then place them back onto the cooling rack (place some of the parchment paper underneath for easier clean-up). Let the chocolate glaze fully harden before consuming or storing them. Enjoy!

SPRITZ COOKIES WITH FOUR VARIATIONS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°.
• Combine all ingredients except flour in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour. Beat until well mixed. If dough is too soft, cover and refrigerate, 30 to 45 minutes.).
• Place dough into cookie press fitted with template. Form desired shapes 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Chocolate Chip Spritz: Add 1/4 cup coarsely grated semi-sweet chocolate to ingredients and proceed as directed above.
• Eggnog-Glazed Spritz: Add 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg to ingredients and proceed as directed above. Glaze: Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup softened butter, 2 tablespoons water and 1/4 teaspoon rum extract in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over warm cookies.
• Spice Spritz: Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves to ingredients and proceed as directed above. Glaze: Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over warm cookies.
• Mint Kisses: Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract to ingredients and proceed as directed above. Immediately after removing cookies from oven, place 1 chocolate candy kiss on each cookie.

GERMAN SPRITZ WITH VARIATIONS

Steps:

• Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar in large bowl. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add vanilla and salt. Beat.
• Add flour. Work into batter. Fill cookie press and press your choice of design onto ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate. Bake in 400 f. oven for 10 to 12 minutes until set and edges are showing a hint of brown. Makes 6 to 7 dozen.
• CHOCOLATE SPRITZ: Exchange 6 tablespoons of flour with 6 tablespoons cocoa.
• ORANGE SPRITZ: Add 2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind and 1/2 teaspoons orange flavoring.
• CHOCOLATE ORANGE SPRITZ: Exchange 6 Tablespoons flour with an equal amount of cocoa. Add 2 teaspoons orange flavoring.
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