Description
Delightfully tender and buttery Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies flavored with a hint of orange zest and vanilla. These cookies are perfect for festive occasions and can be decorated with colorful sugars and sprinkles for a beautiful presentation.
Ingredients
Scale
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
To decorate:
- Colored sugars
- Sprinkles
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit to get it ready for baking the cookies at the right temperature.
- Cream Butter, Cream Cheese, and Sugar: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar together at medium speed until the mixture is smooth and combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to ensure an even blend.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add the egg yolk, orange zest, vanilla extract, and kosher salt to the bowl. Mix everything together for another minute, scraping down the bowl sides to incorporate all ingredients fully.
- Incorporate Flour: Add half of the all-purpose flour to the batter and mix on low speed to prevent flour from flying out. Then add the remaining flour and mix just until the dough comes together. At this point, you can add gel food coloring to color the dough, either mixing all at once or dividing into portions for different colors.
- Shape the Cookies: Using a cookie press fitted with your desired shape, pipe the dough onto sheet pans, spacing the cookies at least one inch apart to allow for any spreading. Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles as desired. If a cookie press is not available, use a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip to pipe the dough.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are set but not browned. If baking multiple batches, allow the pans to cool completely before piping more dough to prevent spreading.
- Cool the Cookies: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes to set, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- Make sure all dairy ingredients are softened to room temperature for smooth mixing.
- If gel food coloring is used, add it gradually to achieve the preferred intensity without affecting dough texture.
- Cookie press or piping bags with star tips work best for shaping; without these, forming small balls and flattening gently can be a substitute.
- Allow cookies to cool completely to firm up and preserve their shape and texture.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week to maintain freshness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 65 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
