You can often find spritz cookies, or spritzgebäck, at European bakeries (In German, the word spritzen actually means “to squirt,” which is essentially what you are doing with these cookies. You squirt the dough out of the cookie press and onto the cookie sheet). I love to eat spritz cookies, but I’m not entirely sold on making them. I always love the way they taste and I love the way they look, when they turn out. If everything goes according to plan, you can have pretty, nicely decorated cookies in a very short amount of time. If you have an obnoxious cookie press that refuses to cooperate, then you might find yourself cursing it before tossing it across the room (not that I would know from experience). I haven’t found a cookie press that I love, but Nordic Ware makes a manual press that isn’t half bad (and it is quite inexpensive). Making gluten-free spritz cookies can be a bit challenging because the dough is a little bit stickier than traditional dough. If you are patient, you can get it to work.

Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 ¼ cups gluten-free multi-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• food coloring (optional)

Sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter, sugar, egg and almond extract.
2. In a separate bowl sift the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Mix in a small amount of food coloring until you get to the desired color.
5. Roll into log shapes about the size of your cookie press.
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Load dough into the cookie press and press out in desired shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet*
8. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
9. Bake for 6-8 minutes.
10. Allow to cool completely before serving.

*If you don’t have a cookie press, you can roll the dough into teaspoon sized balls and either leave them plain or decorate with sprinkles, candy or chocolate chips (I used red hots and green sanding sugar). Bake for 6-8 minutes.