These holiday butter cookies are a staple from our childhood Christmas season. This recipe yields small festive cookies with rich buttery flavor and hint of almond. Specifically written for use with a cookie press, this recipe allows you to experiment with a variety of designs fit for many occasions. We love them for Christmastime.
Holiday Butter Cookie Ingredients
For these cookies, all you will need butter, sugar, one egg, flour, baking powder, salt and almond extract. If you would like to add food coloring for holiday cookies, we like to add green. Sprinkles are also optional for decoration.
You will also need a cookie press to make the designs we have photographed here. Our mom makes these with her cookie press, the Sawa 2000, from the 70s! Love the vintage look and sturdy craftsmanship of this one…. and you can still buy this vintage cookie press on Amazon (for a vintage price!) Or also check out this highly rated cookie press on Amazon.
How to Make the Butter Cookies for a Cookie Press
Making the dough
Ahead of making the cookie dough, set out two full sticks of butter to soften them for about an hour (or use the soften feature on your microwave if you have that). Once your butter is softened, you can then cream it with the sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in an egg and mix well with a spatula. Now, you can add in the almond extract. If you are using food coloring, add a few drops at this point until it is a desired color (we use about 3). Next, in a separate bowl, sift together the other dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt). Now you can gradually add dry ingredients to the butter/ sugar mixture until combined well.
Put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Using the cookie press
The cookie press will come with great instructions and visuals. Basically though, you will first select your design and shape ring and then assemble your press. Next, load the dough into the canister tube.
It will take several pumps of the lever for the dough to come out. If the dough is too warm, it will stick to the shape rings. You may need to refrigerate your dough for a few minutes to avoid the dough sticking. Press the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper.
You can add sprinkles at this point, but depending on your design you may need to press the sprinkles on to prevent them rolling off.
Bake the cookies at 400° F for 8-10 minutes or until bottom edges are slightly brown.
Cookie Press Butter Cookie Tips
- Using the cookie press takes some getting used to, but don’t give up! The designs are so fun to experiment with. The temperature of the dough can really impact the ease, so the dough should be slightly chilled and not warm, for best results.
- Also, you may want to put the dough in the fridge while each batch bakes, to keep dough cold enough.
- Here are some of our other favorite holiday baking recipes: Gingerbread Cookies, Cinnamon Raisin Pinwheel, and Finnish Bread
Holiday Butter Cookies for Cookie Press
- Total Time: 1 hour 39 minutes
- Yield: 5 dozen small cookies 1x
Description
This recipe yields small festive cookies with rich buttery flavor and hint of almond. Specifically written for use with a cookie press, this recipe allows you to experiment with a variety of designs fit for many occasions. We love them for Christmastime.
Ingredients
- 1 C butter (2 full sticks)
- 2/3 C sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 C flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2–3 drops green food coloring (optional)
- Sprinkles of choice (optional)
Instructions
Making the dough
- Ahead of making the cookie dough, set out two full sticks of butter to soften them for about an hour (or use the soften feature on your microwave if you have that).
- Once your butter is softened, you can then cream it with the sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Add in an egg and mix well with a spatula.
- Now, you can add in the almond extract.
- If you are using food coloring, add a few drops at this point until it is a desired color (we use about 3).
- In a separate bowl, sift together the other dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt).
- Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter/ sugar mixture until combined well.
- Put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Using the cookie press
- The cookie press will come with great instructions and visuals. Basically though, you will first select your design and shape ring and then assemble your press.
- Next, load the dough into the canister tube. It will take several pumps of the lever for the dough to come out. Press the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper.
- You can add sprinkles at this point, and depending on the design, you may need to press them into the cookies with your finger to prevent them rolling off of the cookies.
- Bake the cookies at 400° F for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom edges are slightly brown.
Notes
- If the dough is too warm, it will stick to the shape rings. You may need to refrigerate the dough as each batch cooks, to keep it cool enough to avoid sticking.
- Prep Time: 90 min
- Cook Time: 9
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