Spritzgeback Cookies

These were a staple at Christmastime, and child labour is a must.  We always just called these “machine cookies”, because they were pushed through a meat grinder with a special attachment and took 3 of us to do it, my Oma, my older sister and myself.

I got the recipe about 10 years ago, but in typical fashion, not everything was correct with the recipe.  It took years to get everything correct.

First you have to beat the butter  for 3 minutes, then add the sugar and beat for another 5 minutes, then add the Vanilla sugar and salt and beat for 5 more minutes.  Add in the flour and corn starch and mix for 3 minutes on medium speed.

Now, you have a meat grinder with the cookie press attachment you are lucky.  I don’t, and I’ve gone through about 10 cookie presses.  This dough needs to be piped out while it’s still soft, I’ve broken too many cookie presses trying to pipe these out once I’ve chilled the dough.

This is where child labour or in my case, adult labour, comes in handy. Using the star disc on your cookie press, have one person press the cookie dough strips into your hand and then lay them side by side on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

These don’t really spread out once they are baked, so it’s okay for them to be close together on the pan, just not touching.

Now you want to chill the cookies on the pans in the fridge for at least an hour.  That way they get really firm.

Once the hour is up, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F, and bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on how brown you want them.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a container for storage.  They are extremely soft and will fall apart when they first come out of the oven, so you really need to let them cool before trying to move them.

*If you don’t have a cookie press, but you do have a piping bag with a star tip, you can just as easily pipe these onto the baking sheet that way.  And then you don’t need any little helpers either*

Spritgeback Cookies

(It makes approx. 6 sheets full of cookies, depending on how long you make the sticks)
375 grams Butter (softened)

250 grams White Sugar

2 pkg. Vanilla sugar

Pinch of salt

250 grams Flour

250 grams Corn Starch

1.  Cream butter on medium speed for 3 minutes.

2.  Add sugar to butter and cream together for 5 minutes.

3.  Add Vanilla sugar and salt to butter mixture and cream for another 5 minutes.

4.  Add flour and corn starch all at once and mix for 3 minutes on medium speed.

5.  Using cookie press with the star plate, press dough and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.  (can be quite close together, just not touching)

6.  Chill the piped out cookie dough in the fridge for 1 hour.

7.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on how brown you like your cookies.  I always like the darker ones, but most people prefer the lighter cookies.

Store in an air tight container.  I would stay they will last a week, but they never actually last that long to find out.