Holiday Spritz Cookies

Spritz cookies are very fun to make and they do not need to be rolled out or iced while still being beautiful, dainty cookies. Of course, in order to make the nice designs you need a cookie press which can be a pain to clean after you are finished, but I believe that the final product is definitely worth it. This recipe makes approximately 84 delicious, buttery cookies. If you don't have a cookie press, you can always just use a tablespoon and drop them directly onto the cookie sheet. Before you start, preheat the oven to 315 degreees.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups of butter (margarine can be substituted)

3 1/2 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (I usually add a bit more because it gives the cookies a truly unique taste)

Put the butter in a large bowl (room temperature) and beat on high for about thirty seconds. Add only 1 CUP of the flour (the rest will be added in later), the sugar, the egg, the baking powder, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until combined. Slowly beat in the remaining flour.

Put the unchilled cookie dough into the cookie press onto an UNGREASED cookie sheet. If it is greased the cookies won't stick and you won't be able to use the cookie press. If you don't have a cookie press, drop dough onto cookie sheet with a tablespoon. Bake in the oven that you preheated to 375 degrees for seven to nine minutes. These cookies are relatively small and do not take long to cook so keep checking to make sure the bottoms do not turn brown.

These cookies go very quickly so be sure to make enough!