Peppermint Spritz Cookies
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 45 to 50 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 47.5 servings
- Calories
- 75
- Total Fat
- 4
- Saturated Fat
- 3
- Carbohydrates
- 8
- Dietary Fiber
- 0
- Sugar
- 3
- Protein
- 1
- Cholesterol
- 14
- Sodium
- 12
- Total: 1 hr 30 min (includes cooling time)
- Active: 30 min
Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see Cook's Note)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
10 mini candy canes, finely crushed (about 1/4 cup)
Red gel food coloring, such as bright red, for coloring the dough
Directions
Special equipment:
a cookie press with a wreath disc- Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and egg and mix until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the flour and salt and mix until just combined.
- Remove a third of the dough to a flour-dusted surface and reserve. Add the candy canes to the dough left in the bowl and mix on low until just combined. Remove to a flour-dusted surface and fold with your hands until it comes together.
- Add the reserved dough back to the mixer bowl and add enough red gel food coloring until it is a vibrant red like a fire truck, about 10 drops. Mix on low until the dough is completely red. Remove to a flour-dusted surface and fold with your hands until it comes together.
- Tear off 2 Ping-Pong ball-size pieces of the white dough and add to the barrel of a cookie press; add 1 marble-size piece of the red dough. Repeat this pattern until the barrel is filled (you will not use all of the dough). Place a wreath disc onto the cookie press barrel according to the manufacturer's instructions. Press the cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet and set aside. Repeat 2 more times in the same pattern with the remaining dough.
- Bake 2 of the batches until the cookies are firm but not yet browning on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool the cookies for 1 minute on the baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Bake the third batch and let cool. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Cook’s Note
When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)