Rainbow Spritz Cookies

Spritz are traditionally a Christmas cookie made using a Spritz press, which creates cookies in the shape of trees, wreaths and flowers.  I love the buttery almond flavor, tender soft crumb and brilliant colors of Spritz.  I've never actually made them in my house because I don't own a cookie press, but I figured I could try using a large star tip and a piping bag.  Worked like a charm!  

Seeing as Spritz are a Christmas cookie, you could stick with green dough with these little cinnamon candies and maybe the red dough with green sprinkles.  For my part, I think Santa will appreciate these fun little cookies in a spray of color.  And now that I'm on to this idea, I might just be making Spritz all year round!

These rainbow cookies are made using 3 doughs of primary colors, and the secondary colors are made by combining the primary colored doughs.  I didn't test shades, adjust the level of food coloring or do anything special here - I just mixed them up and this is what came out.

I'm kind of lazy so I didn't clean my piping bag between colors of dough.  I like the variegated color of some of the cookies, but you could easily use a fresh bag and wash your tip between shades.

Christmas Spritz
(adapted from Grandma Betty's recipe)

1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325F.

Using an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and extracts and mix well.  Add flour and mix until combined and crumbly.  Stop mixing just before the masses together.

Divide dough into 3 separate bowls, about one cup per bowl.  Color the doughs with a generous amount of red, yellow and blue gel food coloring (about 1/2 teaspoon each).  Scoop a half cup of each color into a ball and divide each ball in half.  Combine blue and yellow dough to make green, red and blue dough to make purple, and red and yellow dough to make orange.

Using a large star tip, pipe cookies onto ungreased baking sheets, about an inch apart.  Decorate with large nonpareil sprinkles.  Bake for 10 minutes or until barely set and not yet browned.

Rest on the pan out of the oven for a minute, then move to wire racks to cool completely.

To create very clean, separate colors, use clean piping bags and tips with each color.  You may choose to leave the bags and tips soiled with the previous color to create some multi-colored cookies.

 Enjoy!