Spritzgebäck are tender, buttery German Christmas cookies made from a soft almond-enriched dough pushed through a star nozzle into ridged S shapes, rings and fingers. They bake pale and crumbly, and one end of each is dipped in dark chocolate. Makes 60 cookies in about 1 hr 23 min.
Prep30 min
Cook36 min
Cooling17 min
Total
1 hr 23 min
Yield
60 cookies
Ingredients
Adjust yield
cookies
Scales from a half to a double batch; bake the extra trays in rounds.
Beat the softened unsalted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and salt with a mixer until creamy and lighter in color, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg until smooth.
Whisk the all-purpose flour and ground blanched almonds together and add them on low speed just until a smooth, soft dough forms; do not overmix. Do not chill the dough: at room temperature it presses and pipes easily.
Fill a cookie press fitted with a star disk, a meat-grinder cookie attachment, or a sturdy piping bag with a 1/2-inch (12 mm) open star tip. Press or pipe S shapes, small rings and 2 1/2-inch (6 cm) strips 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake one sheet at a time (about 3 sheets in all) until the edges are pale golden and the tops still look light, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a rack and cool completely, about 15 minutes.
Melt the bittersweet chocolate over barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Dip one end of each cookie, let the excess drip off and lay it on parchment until set, about 30 minutes.
Tips
If the dough is too stiff to pipe, knead it briefly with your hands to warm it; if it is greasy and soft, chill it for 10 minutes.
Keep the shapes on each sheet the same size so they finish at the same time.
The cookies are fragile while warm; let them firm up on the sheet before moving them.
Do not taste the raw dough; it contains raw flour and raw egg.
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How long does it take to make spritzgebäck (german piped butter cookies)?
Plan on 30 minutes of prep and 36 minutes of cooking, plus 17 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 60 cookies.
How should I store spritzgebäck (german piped butter cookies)?
Store in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 3 weeks, layers separated with parchment.
Can I make spritzgebäck (german piped butter cookies) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Can I use a different form of vanilla?
Yes. This recipe uses 1 tsp vanilla extract (5 ml). Each teaspoon of pure vanilla extract can be swapped for 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, the seeds of half a vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder. Paste and seeds add the classic dark specks.
Serve it with coffee with cream.
Variations
Bite-size: pipe 1-inch (2.5 cm) rosettes for about 100 cookies and bake 8 to 10 minutes.
Orange-zest version: beat 2 tsp (4 g) finely grated orange zest into the butter with the sugar; bake time unchanged.
Chocolate Spritzgebäck: replace 30 g (1/4 cup) of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder and bake 9 to 11 minutes.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 60 servings this recipe makes.
63Calories / serving
3.9gFat
6.3gCarbs
0.8gProtein
2.3gSugar
Whole recipe (60 servings):
~3780 cal ·
234g fat ·
378g carbs ·
48g protein ·
138g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
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