Spritz Cookies

**Happy New Year**

Did I fool you with my last post? Did you think that my holiday spirit was over?

Well, not just yet.

A coworker brought Spritz Blossom Cookies to work a few weeks ago. I had never had them before but I decided to try them because I was hungry. (I'm always hungry at work. It's probably due to procrastination.) They were to die for! Think almonds, vanilla, and butter all rolled up into a bite-sized cookie. Heaven.

Now I'm not usually a cookie person. In fact, I haven't made cookies since I've started this blog! But I knew these cookies would have to be made and it would need to happen soon.

I finally got my chance in the form of Boxing Day. In the Bahamas, we celebrate Boxing Day every year on December 26th. It's a holiday that we continue to carry on from our days as a British colony. (We're an independent country now.) This year, my family gathered at our house and I took the opportunity to recreate some magic!


Spritz Cookies
slightly adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
yields ~125 cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1) Beat butter in a mixing bowl for a few minutes, until smooth and creamy.

2) Add the brown sugar and baking powder and beat until combined.

3) Mix in the egg, vanilla and almond extract.

4) Add the flour to the batter in several increments.

5) Roll ~1 tsp of unchilled dough into a ball and gently press it into a circular shape. (If you're fancy and have a cookie press, you can use that too.)

6) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 7 - 9 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown.

7) Transfer the cookies to a plate or wire rack to cool.


Powdered Sugar Icing
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 4 tbsp milk

1) Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. The icing should be thin.

2) Brush or drizzle over the cooled cookies.

3) Sprinkle coarse sugar over the icing before it sets.

Again, these cookies were dynamite. The only problem I have with them is that they're both easy and difficult to make. In comparison to making cupcakes, this recipe is really easy to whip together. However, the whole roll-and-press system to make the little suckers was repetitive and time consuming. If you have any of those cookie press thingies I'm sure it would make this experience much nicer. Since I don't any of those presses to make a pretty blossom shape, I decided not to call my cookies Spritz Blossom cookies. But they still taste the same as Spritz Blossoms do, so I guess it doesn't really matter in the end.

* Interesting note: When I went to purchase brown sugar, I couldn't find any. But I was able to find yellow sugar, which looks suspiciously like light brown sugar. After a few moments of indecision and some discussion with the store staff, it was determined that this was probably, most likely the brown sugar that I was in search of. Who the heck sells yellow sugar?!