A Cozy Creative Life

The family recipe and featured image were reconstructed from our memories of Mother’s cookies, recipe box and kitchen.

At Christmas, Mother made spritz cookies using her small hand mixer and cookie press.

She kept her recipe cards in a little cream-colored tin decorated with a bright Pennsylvania Dutch design. I can still picture its red, yellow, blue and green flowers.

Mother flavored the dough with vanilla. When she wanted red or green cookies, she added only a tiny amount of food coloring with a toothpick.

In our house, the colored sugar went on after the cookies came out of the oven. That is how I remember Mother doing it.

Recently, my sister sent me a spritz-cookie recipe so we could preserve the tradition. We no longer remembered all of the exact measurements, so we began with a published recipe and changed it to reflect the way Mother made her cookies.

It may not be the original card from her little tin, but it brings back the same Christmas memories: the cookie press, the colored dough and the trays of warm cookies waiting for their sprinkling of sugar.

Sometimes a family recipe is more than a list of ingredients. It is also the small details we remember—and the person who made them special.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Red and green food coloring, optional
• Colored sugar, optional

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Have a cool, nonstick baking sheet ready.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
4. On low speed, gradually mix in the flour and salt. Continue beating until completely combined.
5. If desired, divide the dough and add red or green food coloring. Mother added just a tiny amount with a toothpick.
6. Fit the cookie press with a decorative disc and fill it with dough. Hold the press upright against the cool baking sheet and press out the cookies about 2 inches apart.
7. If the dough becomes too soft, refrigerate the shaped cookies for about 10 minutes.
8. Bake for 7–9 minutes, until the edges are very lightly browned.
9. Remove the cookies from the oven and, while they are still warm, sprinkle them lightly with colored sugar, if desired.
10. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction and adjusted to reflect the way our mother made her Christmas spritz cookies.