These easy Chocolate Spritz Cookies will be your go-to spritz cookie recipe for large family gatherings, office cookie swaps, and sharing with your neighbors this holiday season. This batch makes over 3 dozen cookies and can be scaled up easily!
If you’re wondering what are spritz cookies anyways? Rest assured that spritz cookies are nothing fancy but just delicious butter cookies formed into different shapes using a cookie press and they are typically served around the holidays.
I didn’t know this previously, but the word spritz comes from the German word “spritzen” which means to squirt because the cookies “squirt” out of a cookie press!
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy yet beautiful – these press cookies are super easy to make, requiring just 8 ingredients that you likely already have in your fridge and pantry. And they come out nearly perfect every time because they are formed using a cookie press.
- Buttery with light chocolate flavor – this chocolate spritz cookie press recipe is made with real butter, and the cocoa powder gives it a light chocolate flavor.
- Clean up is a cinch – This recipe pretty much uses one mixing bowl and your cookie press which makes cleaning up a cinch!!
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Butter – this press cookie uses 1 stick of butter. I don’t recommend using salted butter here since there’s so much butter, salted butter will make the cookies way too salty since we only need a pinch of salt in this recipe.
- Flour – I used all-purpose flour because a spritz cookie needs that little bit of toothiness. Cake flour contains cornstarch which gives a melty feeling like this brown butter melting moment cookie which isn’t the mouth feel you want for a spritz cookie.
- Cocoa powder – you can use either dutch-processed or natural cocoa powder in this recipe, but I always love dutch-processed cocoa powder for the darker color and deeper chocolate flavor.
- Baking powder – just a little bit of baking powder is used in this recipe to help the cookies rise a bit. Though it is not absolutely necessary as I’ve made my almond spritz cookies without baking powder and they come out just fine.
- Sugar – regular granulated sugar is all you need for this recipe
- Salt – just a large pinch of kosher salt is used to enhance the flavor and complexity.
- Vanilla extract – this actually enhances the chocolate flavor, so don’t skip it and make sure to use pure extract instead of artificial flavoring. You can also experiment with additional flavorings that pair well with chocolate such as orange and peppermint for interesting variations.
- Egg yolk – one egg yolk is all you need, save the white for another recipe, like this homemade almond paste.
- Sprinkles – these are optional but fun to decorate the cookies for specific holidays if you wish.
Tools you’ll need
- A stand mixer or electric hand mixer will be handy to help you make the cookie dough.
- A cookie press is a must here, they wouldn’t be spritz cookies without a cookie press.
How to make chocolate spritz cookies
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, soften your butter on the counter for a few hours. The time really depends on the weather that day. A warm day will warm the butter quicker so just check. If you can push your finger into the butter and it gives a little it’s ready.
Next cream your butter with sugar in your stand mixer bowl until it’s light and fluffy. Add your egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and then stir in the salt in a small mixing bowl. With the mixer on the lowest speed slowly add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. The resulting dough should be soft and easy to handle.
Fill your cookie press with the cookie dough and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Hold the cookie press perpendicular to the baking sheet and press out the cookies, spacing them 1-2 inches apart
Once you’ve filled your baking sheet, get creative and use sprinkles, colored sugars, or whatever decorations you want to decorate your cookies with. Chill your cookies in the fridge or freezer while your oven preheats to 375°F.
Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
What to bake spritz cookies on
Silicone baking mat
I found the silicone mat to be the best when it comes to getting the cookie dough to stick to it when pressed. The cookie press base is also lined with silicone so when you place it on the silicone baking mat, it doesn’t move. This makes pressing the cookie dough out much easier. Once baked, the cookies release easily and cleaning up is a cinch.
Parchment paper
Parchment paper does a good enough job. But because the paper is so light that once in a while when you lift the cookie press, the parchment paper along with the cookie dough will lift with it. This happens more frequently if the cookie dough is chilled before being pressed. It is best to press out the cookie dough right away. And make sure to hold down the parchment paper when you are about to lift up your cookie press to release the dough.
Buttered baking sheet
This is my least favorite method, the cookie press will slide all over the place when you’re trying to press out the cookie dough and the cookies will still stick to the cookie sheets after baking.
More baker’s tips
- Filling your cookie press – roll the dough into a log, slightly smaller diameter than your cookie press and push it into the tube.
- Don’t refrigerate the dough – spritz cookie dough should be at room temperature so it is soft and can move through the cookie press easily. But once pressed out onto the baking sheet, you can refrigerate before baking to help the cookies keep their shape in the oven.
- Decorate before you bake – sprinkles and sanding sugar need to be added before baking so they stick to the raw cookie dough.
- The mat matters – as I described above, I tested this recipe on a buttered cookie sheet, parchment lined baking sheet, and a silicone mat. The silicone baking mat worked the best by far and I also like that it is reusable. However, parchment paper will work if you don’t have a silicone mat. You just have to make sure to hold down the paper since it will occasionally lift up with the cookie press when you’re trying to release the dough.
- Feel free to double and triple the recipe if you’re preparing a lot of cookies for the holidays.
Storage
These chocolate spritz cookies will last 3-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. No need to refrigerate these but you can freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, make sure to store them in an airtight container or a freezer bag.
FAQs
You can make the dough ahead and keep it refrigerated for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months. However, you will need to bring the dough to room temperature before using it in the cookie press.
Did you chill your dough? Cold dough will not move through the cookie press, you need to make sure your dough is room temperature before you put it in your cookie press.
Did you measure your ingredients correctly? If you added too much or too little flour, you may have difficulty releasing the cookie dough from the press. When measuring flour, I always fluff, scoop and level, never pack flour into your measuring cup.
However, if you have trouble with the cookie press because of dough consistency, you can still salvage the dough by dropping the cookie dough onto the baking sheet using a cookie scoop or roll it into balls.
If you don’t have a cookie press, you can use a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip of your choice and form the cookies that way. Or like I mentioned above, drop the dough with a cookie scoop or form it into balls.
If the dough doesn’t stick to your pan, you’ll have trouble releasing it from the cookie press. If there is grease or butter on the baking pan, the dough won’t stick, so make sure the pan is completely clean.
In my experience, a silicone baking mat gives the best result. The dough always sticks to the mat and the mat has enough weight that it won’t lift up with the dough when you pull the cookie press up to release.
More chocolate cookies
- Chocolate espresso shortbread
- Chocolate mint chip cookies
- Chocolate marshmallow cookies
- Chocolate peanut butter chip cookies
- Brownie cookie
📖 Recipe card
Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Press
Ingredients
- 4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick, 113 g, room temperature)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (66 g)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder (12 g)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- A large pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cream softened butter and sugar in a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a small mixing bowl. Add the salt and whisk together to distribute evenly. With the mixer on the lowest speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be soft and easy to handle.
- Fill the cookie press with the cookie dough and line three baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Hold the cookie press perpendicular to the prepared baking sheet and press out the cookies, spacing about 1 – 2 inches apart.
- Add sprinkles, colored sugars or any decorative touches desired to your cookies. Chill in the fridge or freezer while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to completely cool.
Notes
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, a regular mixing bowl and an electric hand mixer will work just as well. Or you can cream the butter by hand with a whisk and just use a spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients.
- I recommend silicone baking mats for this recipe but parchment paper will also work if you don’t own any silicone baking mat. Just make sure to hold down the paper when lifting up the cookie press when using parchment paper because you may experience the parchment paper lifting up with the dough.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe to make a lot more when preparing for the holidays.
Nutrition
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This recipe was a disaster. I followed the instructions exactly…the dough was too soft and would not turn out onto the cookie sheet.
Sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, sounds like perhaps you didn’t use enough flour or did you by chance use a whole egg instead of an egg yolk?
So I used the yolk and 1 cup of flour and mine is too soft. Won’t release from the press😩
Oh no, I’m so sorry Mary. Did you try to refrigerate it a bit to firm up?
I love this recipe! I first made it with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder and then made it a second time, doubling the recipe and using regular Hershey’s cocoa powder. While the regular cocoa powder cookies were definitely still delicious and chocolatey, the special dark ones were amazing! So in the future, I’m going to use special dark with this recipe. Everything else I followed exactly.
Even with all my ingredients at room temp, this dough was far too stiff to press. I added a few splashes of my morning coffee and it worked very well. I liked the flavor (using Special Dark cocoa). They weren’t too sweet.
Hi Cindy, how did you measure your flour, extra flour from different ways of measuring could make it stiffer? But I’m glad you like the flavor and adding coffee to it is ingenious, the coffee would enhance the flavor even more.
best ever
Thank you Izzy!
Good, and not too sweet/ I used 3 T of cocoa and added 1/2 t of espresso powder.
Thank you for the feedback! Espresso powder is a wonderful addition.
I have never heard of spritz cookies until now. I need to get me a cookie press so I can make these. Yum