Spritz Cookie help please

[hirokei]

hello everyone! this is the very first post for me at this forum! this place seems so great, lots of good info, and everyone is SO experienced. i totally suck and really need to become better at baking! esp w/ christmas and a lot of my friend's birthdays coming up lol. anyways. i bought a pampered chef cookie press and follow betty crocker's spritz cookie recipe from http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeId=36660

and oh my gosh they sucked. they're seriously the worst cookie i've ever tasted. it tasted really "flour-y", really plain, and it was really hard too. they looked pretty.. but tasted so bad i threw them all away does anyone know whY?! should there be some.. baking powder or something? or.. anyone would like to share a good spritz cookie recipe w/ me?! (but is it even necessary to use spritz cookie recipes? can't i just use normal cookie recipes as long as theres no chocolate chip or oatmeal or anything hard)

thank you so much in advance everyone. much much appreciate ur help


The Ultimate Spritz

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla
Food color, if desired
Currants, raisins, candies, colored sugar, finely chopped nuts, candied fruit or fruit peel, if desired

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, salt, egg, almond extract and a few drops of food color.
2. Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with currants.
3. Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. To decorate cookies after baking, use a drop of corn syrup to attach decorations to cookies.

 

[pdswife]

Welcome to the group!
I've never made Spritz cookies but someone will come along
and give ya some advice.

smiles, T

 

[Corinne]

This is my favorite TNT Spritz cookie recipe - an old one from my Aunt Arlene. These cookies are my all time favorite cookie.

Spritz Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter (no substitutions)
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions: Mix all ingredients together. As you add the last of the flour it will "spritz" all over the kitchen!

Cookie press must be used.

Bake at 350* on ungreased cookie sheet.

Will burn quickly. Should not even be tan on edges. When they look dry, remove from oven. Keep a constant eye on the oven.

 

[SierraCook]

Here is the recipe that I have always used.

Butter Spritz Cookies

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour, sifted
Colored sprinkles for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With a mixer cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix to incorporate. Sift together the baking powder and flour. Add to the sugar mixture. Mix until combined. Using a cookie press, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Top with sprinkles of your choice. Food coloring can also be added to cookie dough, but be careful to not over mix. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until firm, but not browned. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

 

[hirokei]

Thank you SO much SierraCook & Corinne! i shd hv went to u guys first, instead of trusting bettycrocker i'll definitely try again soon!

if i want to make my cookies into chocolate spritz, or cinnamon spritz, how can i do that? simply adding cocoa powder and ground cinnamon?! please help! thanks so much!

 

[cara]

hiho hirokei!

I´m not sure, but sounds logical to me...

You have to take care about the baking times, if they are in the oven for just a bit too long they get hard...
I´ve heard from some people that their Spritzcookies (btw a funny word.. half german, half english ) become softer if they leave them in a can for a few days..
It may also depend on the ingridients, if they are not the very best it may have influence on the cookies..

375 g butter and Margarine
250 g. sugar
2 tblsp vanillin sugar
Salt
250 g flour
250 g Mondamin (you know mondamin? cornstarch?)
125 g ground almonds (they taste better if roasted before grounded)
2 tblsp Rum

stirr the fat until foamy
slowly add sugar, vanillin sugar, rum & salt
Mix the flour with Mondamin and give that mixture to the wet with a tablespoon.
At the end knead under the almonds and leftover flour.
put in the fridge for at least 1/2h
Form with the cookie press as you like.+
bake for 15-20min at 180°C /ca. 355°F, that depends on the oven, don`t let the cookies get too brown...

decorate with chocolate or whatever

that translation must be awful... or at least it sounds as if.....

 

[hirokei]

how come sometimes u would hv to refrigerate the dough, sometimes u dont?! when would u, when wouldnt u?

thanks!

 

[cara]

I don't know....
probably to stop some enzymatic processes?

 

[Constance]

Lemon Cheese Spritz Cookies

This is my mother's recipe. She didn't like cooking much, but she loved to do holiday baking. These little morsels melt in your mouth!

Lemon Cheese Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp lemon zest
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add egg yolk and flavoring. Beat until light. Add flour and salt. Chill dough. Force through a spritz gun or cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake at 325 for about 15 minutes. Cookies should be set, but not brown.

*note* An insulated baking sheet would be great for these, as the bottoms burn easily.

 

[hirokei]

thanks Constance! i'll try later! =D

 

[cara]

did you try any of the recipes and did it work?

 

[hirokei]

nope not yet, kinda busy lately. i will next week! definitely!

 

[hirokei]

i finally had the time to make them!!!! i used the recipe sierracook gave me, and i need to give you the biggest THANK YOU!!!!!!! these cookies were sooooooooooooo gooooooood and soft and oh my gosh SO GOOD!! everyone loved them so much and i was so happy!! they were so buttery n they were already smelling really good before i even baked them. my house smells so goood. omg thank you SO much! i dont think i'll ever use another recipe for spritz hahah. well maybe some different flavor, not just plain butter.

but i wonder... how can i make the cookie look less "pale"? maybe brush a little bit of egg on the top before i bake them? thanks!

 

[SierraCook]

but i wonder... how can i make the cookie look less "pale"? maybe brush a little bit of egg on the top before i bake them? thanks!

hirokei, I stir in a few drops of food coloring during the mixing process. Or I sprinkle them with colored sugar before baking. Glad that to see that they turned out well for you.

SC

 

[mackeeg]

They look good

 

[htc]

Hirokei, they look so pretty! How creative to put M & Ms in the middle. I would have never thought of that!!!

 

[KIMMYM73]

My grandmother and I just had this same conversation and she pulled out this sheet of old paper that had different tips and such; it said that when making spritz cookies, use your butter right out of the fridge. Do not soften it first. It made a heck of a difference for me! Good luck.

 

[KIMMYM73]

Also something else my grandmother swears by is that the cookie sheets must be chilled when making spritz cookies.