Gluten-Free Butter Spritz Cookies
These gluten-free butter spritz cookies are one of my go-to holiday cookies. It’s a tender, buttery cookie that is somewhere between a sugar cookie and a shortbread. They are simple, classic, easy to make and lend themselves to endless variations. You can change up the flavors of the extracts, the colors and the decorations…let your imagination run wild.
The other great thing about this recipe is that it makes about 75 cookies, depending on how you pipe them, so it’s a quick way to get a nice variety of cookies out of one dough.
Press or Pipe!
You can choose to either use a traditional cookie press with this gluten-free spritz cookie dough, or you can put it in a pastry bag with different tips and pipe them into any size and shape you like.
Cookie presses can be tricky, unless the dough is at just the right temperature. If the dough is too warm, they may not hold their shape. If it is too cold, they will be hard to press through the design plate.
Follow the manufacturer’s directions on your cookie press, and practice a few turns. If they spread too much or seem to soft to hold shape, chill your dough. If it is too hard to pass through the press or pipe, let it sit out to warm up.
Sprinkle, Fill, Decorate
Before baking, these cookies can be colored and decorated with sprinkles and sugars. Make an indent in the middle, and fill with jam or half of a candied cherry…so many options to choose from. After baking, they can be dipped in chocolate and then sprinkled with nuts, crushed candy cane, sprinkles etc. They can also be sandwiched together with chocolate, jam or frosting, drizzled with chocolate -the possibilities are endless. Have Fun!
Dairy free & Vegan Options
To make these dairy free, sub plant butter and plant-based milk in this recipe, keeping in mind that they may spread a little more. Test a few, and if they are spreading too much add a little more flour and/or pipe onto chilled cookie sheets. Then chill the piped cookies for a few minutes before baking. To make them vegan, sub the eggs with aquafaba or egg replacer – cookies are pretty forgiving.
Ingredients
- 336 grams unsalted butter, room temperature (can sub plant butter)
- 250 grams granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspooons vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 435 grams 1:1 gluten-free flour blend
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 54 grams whole milk (or plant milk)
- Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
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Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats. You can use parchment paper with these cookies, but if you are using a cookie press it can be difficult, because the paper will want to lift up as you are pressing out the cookies. You can take a tiny bit of dough, and use it like glue to tack the corners of your parchment paper to your cookie sheet if needed. Set cookie sheets aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, almond extract, vanilla and salt on medium-high speed, stopping often to scrape down the sides, until the mixture is light and fluffy, about five minutes total. Add the egg, and beat again, stopping often to scrape down the sides and beater, until light and fluffy, about five minutes more,
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Stop the mixer, and add the flour and baking powder all at once. Mix on the lowest speed, just until the flour starts to incorporate with the butter mixture.
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Stop the mixer, add the milk, and finish mixing, until everything is well combined.
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If you are going to color your batter, do so now.
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Set the batter aside to rest for 30 minutes.
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
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Using a cookie press (according to manufacturer’s instructions) or a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe your cookies onto your prepared baking sheets.
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Add sprinkles or decorative sugar if desired.
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Bake until set and just starting to barely brown at the edges, approximately seven to 10 minutes, depending on how soft or crisp you like them.
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Let cookies slightly cool for a few minutes on the baking trays, and then use a thin metal palate knife/decorating spatula to remove them to wire racks to finish cooling.
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Dip in chocolate or decorate as desired.
Recipe Notes
Cookie presses can be tricky unless the dough is at just the right temperature. If the dough is too warm, they may not hold their shape. If it is too cold, they will be hard to press through the design plate.
Follow the manufacturer's directions on your cookie press, and practice a few turns.