Description
Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies are buttery, tender, and light cookies enhanced with cream cheese and a hint of orange zest. These festive cookies are perfect for the holidays and decorated with colored sugars, sprinkles, or gel food coloring for a fun, customizable touch.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 8 ounces unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Decoration
- Colored sugars
- Sprinkles
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat Oven. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the cookies.
- Cream Butter, Cream Cheese, and Sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar at medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to ensure thorough combination.
- Add Flavorings. Add the egg yolk, orange zest, vanilla extract, and kosher salt to the bowl. Mix for another minute, then scrape the sides to fully incorporate all ingredients.
- Incorporate Flour. Add half of the all-purpose flour and mix at a slow speed to prevent flour from flying out. Add the remaining flour and mix until just incorporated, avoiding overmixing.
- Add Color (Optional). If desired, add gel food coloring to the dough directly in the mixing bowl or divide dough into portions to add different colors.
- Shape Cookies. Using a cookie press with your chosen shape, pipe the dough onto a parchment-lined or lightly greased sheet pan, leaving at least an inch between each cookie to allow for spreading. Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles as desired. Alternatively, use a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip if no cookie press is available.
- Bake Cookies. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes until the cookies are set but not browned.
- Cool Cookies. Let the cookies cool on the sheet pans for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- If you don’t have a cookie press, a pastry bag with a large star tip works well for shaping the dough.
- Make sure dough is well chilled before pressing for best shapes and minimal spreading.
- Allow sheet pans to cool completely before piping another batch to prevent spreading.
- You can add gel food coloring to the entire dough or divide into smaller portions for multi-colored cookies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 60 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
