Spritz cookies were always at every holiday dessert table growing up. Not sure what made them so popular, but they’re a quintessential Christmas cookie that are European in origin and are short butter cookies pressed into shapes. Spritz is German for squirt because of this pressing method. We’re using vegan butter of course and Just Egg for the egg replacer.
There’s a few things you need to do to make successful vegan spritz cookies.
- Use a good dense vegan butter not one from a tub that contains more water. You also need to beat the butter and sugar and cream it together really well using a stand or hand mixer. We’re talking 5-7 minutes of creaming until it’s really light and fluffy.
- You need a cookie press. It’s essential for making these extruded types of cookies. I borrowed my mom’s from the 80s and it still worked great!
- You cannot use nonstick sheet pans or parchment paper. Use plain aluminum sheet trays. The extruded dough from the gun won’t stick otherwise. Also, keep the cookie sheets cold in the fridge before you press the cookies onto them. It will keep them from spreading too much while baking.
I’m using Just Egg vegan egg in these for a good reason. I’ve found using this product in baking keeps things lighter and drier and sometimes I don’t want that so I often mix it with aquafaba to add more moisture. Here though, that sandy delicate texture is what we want so it works perfectly. You can substitute a flax egg (one tablespoon flax meal to three tablespoons water) but I haven’t tested it and I didn’t want the flecks of flax in the cookies. A powdered egg replacer could work as well.
You can bake these plain or color the dough. Natural food coloring never provides a good red color (it’s always pink) but green works pretty well if you add a lot of it. Just be careful not to over-mix the dough or make it watery. Some avoid artificial colors due to them being animal tested so that’s your decision to make. I also use sprinkles without confectioners glaze which is often derived from insect shells unless specified that it’s from vegetable sources like carnuba wax. Whole Foods Market sells natural food colors and sprinkles that are vegan and you can also buy them online or on Amazon. Link to my Amazon store is at the end of this recipe. Chocolate chips are always a great addition as well!
Although these can be a lot of work, they’re so fun and festive and delicious to boot! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Happy holidays!
Vegan Spritz cookies
60
servings15
minutes6
minutesSpritz cookies are a perfect and festive vegan holiday treat!
Ingredients
1 cup vegan butter, room temperature (see notes)
3/4 cup vegan granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Just Egg vegan egg or equivalent egg replacer
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups plus two tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
optional food coloring or sprinkles
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Using a stand or hand mixer, add the room temperature vegan butter and sugar to a large bowl or the mixing bowl of the stand mixer. Beat well for 5-7 minutes scraping down the sides occasionally until very well creamed and light and airy.
- Add the vegan egg and extracts and beat for an additional 3 minutes until well blended.
- Sift (I use a mesh strainer) 2 1/4 cups of the flour, the cornstarch and salt over the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. If the dough seems too wet, add the additional two tablespoons of flour. You want it about the consistency of a light sugar cookie dough.
- Divide and color your dough as you wish.
- Using plain aluminum ungreased sheet pans (I recommend keeping them in the fridge before using) and following the manufacturer’s instructions for your cookie press, press the cookies onto the sheet pans. Sprinkle with decorations or chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes rotating pans once during baking. You just want a hint of brown. Cooking less results in a prettier cookie but if you get it just right they’ll be crunchy and sandy as well. Don’t over-bake.
- Cool on the sheets for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Store in a covered container. These can be frozen as well.
Notes
- Use a dense vegan butter. A block or sticks would be preferable. Some vegan butters from a tub can contain too much water and your cookies will suffer.
- I used Just vegan Egg but a powdered egg replacer should work as well although I have not tested it.
- I also added 1/4 teaspoon of cake batter flavoring for an extra boost of flavor. Clear vanilla will also give it that commercial bakery taste.
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