When I was a little girl, about eye level with the table, I remember my mom making spritz cookies for Christmas.

They seemed like so much effort for such a small cookie – filling up the copper colored aluminum tube, turning the nob that screwed the plunger down to push the dough through the tube and shaped discs.  Problem was you never knew how much dough was coming out – were you turning the knob too much or too little?  Too much meant a shapeless blob sitting on the cookie sheet and too little meant you didn’t turn the knob enough to push the dough through so there would either be no cookie on the sheet or just part of one.  My mom didn’t make them very often and I can see why – then.

This season, as a Wilton Brand Ambassador, I had the opportunity to try the Wilton Preferred Spritz Cookie Press.  I was hopeful that by now making spritz cookies had been perfected and I’m happy to say it has been!

The feature I liked the most in this press was the trigger handle.  Each click dispensed the perfect amount of dough for a single cookie. 

To take spritz cookies to the next level, I decided to coat them in Wilton’s Bright White Candy Melts before decorating them.  I also used Wilton’s Candy Melts Candy Melting Pot.  It has 2 temp settings – high and low. The low temp melted the candy melts beautifully.  I added some Candy Melts EZ Thin Dipping Aid flakes to thin the consistency but I try not to add very much because any thinning flakes will change the flavor of the coating if too much is added.

Another tool I used that I found helpful was Wilton’s Candy Melts Dipping Tools.  I placed the uncoated cookie on the dipping fork and spooned the melted candy coating over the cookie.  I felt the cookie was too delicate to submerge in the heavier coating so after spooning the coating over the cookie, I tapped the fork on the side of the melting pot where the excess candy melts dripped back into the pot.

Before the coating set and hardened, I added Wilton’s Jumbo Holly Mix Sprinkles for a little festive decoration on the wreath shapes.  I love these sprinkles!  I played with them last year when I made my Shakeable Snow Globe Cookies.

To add sparkle I added Wilton’s Edible Accents stars in both silver and gold.  These star sprinkles are micro-sized.  So tiny and precious.  I use them throughout the year.

For the tree shapes I also used the stars and topped each tree with Wilton’s Gold Pearlized Stars.  For a shimmer on some of the cookies, I brushed White Pearl Dust.

I loved how they turned out with simple yet elegant decoration. To share them with friends and neighbors stopping by to say hello (and random people coming to the door asking about our laser lights) I packaged three cookies (1 gold star wreath, 1 silver star wreath, 1 gold starred tree) in a cello bag tied it with red and white baker’s string and placed them in a glass jar by the front door.  You could use this idea for a holiday party and have guests take a cookie package as a party favor as they leave on their jolly way. 

I made pennants out of red and white card stock then added sticky letters for JOY.  The pennants were attached to the baker’s string with tape and the string is attached to the glass jar with gold glitter washi tape.

 Big tips for making spritz cookies:

• Fill the tube completely without air gaps.  The Preferred Spritz Cookie Press has a clear cylinder so it’s easy to see.  Shaping the dough into a log to place into the tube is helpful too.
• Do not use parchment paper on the cookie sheet.  The dough needs to grab onto a surface to pull it away from the cookie press.  I used Wilton’s Copper Colored Air Insulated Cookie Sheet and it worked very well.  The cookie sheet is non-stick but the dough was still able to grab onto the surface.  Air insulated is the way to go.  You’ll never have a burned or over-browned bottom of a cookie.  I promise you!  I’ve given a pair of insulated cookie sheets to every niece or nephew who has gotten married or moved into their own place.  I wish I could hand them out to everyone.
• Don’t let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets or they’ll be harder to remove. I removed my cookies as soon as they were out of the oven.
• The Wilton recipes included for spritz cookies are very good. Adding vanilla and almond extract is the reason why…and maybe the 3 sticks of butter has something to do with it.  The recipe is also on their website.

I hopes this gives you some ideas to decorate spritz cookies, an idea or two for presentation and tips for success baking them.

Wishing you a season that is Merry & Bright!  Happy Hanukkah too!

 Wilton Products used in this post:

Preferred Spritz Cookie Press
Candy Melts Melting Pot
Candy Melts Dipping Tools
Bright White Candy Melts
Edible Accents Silver Stars
Edible Accents Gold Stars
Candy Melts EZ Thin Dipping Aid
Jumbo Holly Mix Sprinkles
Gold Pearlized Stars
Copper Colored Air Insulated Cookie Sheet 14×16
White Pearl Dust

 As a Wilton Brand Ambassador and member of the Wilton Sweet Treat Team, I received product and/or compensation for this post by Wilton Cake Decorating. All ideas and opinions are my own and all the products were chosen by me to share with you because I use them and love them and thought you might have fun trying something new and like them too.