Spritz Cookies

Spritz are delicious shortbread cookies from the German baking tradition, particularly popular in Germany, Alsace and the Moselle. They belong to the large family of Bredele, those small cakes traditionally made during Advent and the Christmas holidays.

Their name comes from the German verb spritzen, meaning to squirt or to spray — a reference to how they are made: the dough is pushed through a piping bag fitted with a ridged tip, or a cookie press, which gives them their characteristic ridges.

Their exact origin is hard to date, but Spritz belong to a long tradition of Christmas cookies handed down from generation to generation. In many Alsatian and Lorraine families, making them marks the start of the festivities.

Traditionally made with butter, sugar, flour and sometimes eggs or nuts, they are prized for a texture that is at once crumbly, delicately crisp and melting in the mouth. They can take different shapes, be flavored with vanilla, almond or hazelnut, or be partly coated in chocolate.

My history with Spritz

Ah, Spritz… for me they have that very particular flavor of childhood memory.

They are one of those cookies that take me straight back to the time of year I love most: the weeks before Christmas, the preparations, the holidays approaching and all those treats we take pleasure in making and sharing.

Spritz are Christmas quietly moving into the house.

And yet, behind their apparent simplicity, I can assure you this recipe asked a great deal of work.

My aim was to recover exactly what makes a real Spritz charming: a dough that holds perfectly, a delicately sandy texture, a certain lightness, but also that melting, generous sensation in the mouth you find in traditional butter cookies.

All of it, of course, with no animal ingredients and no gluten.

Suffice it to say it took several attempts, some adjustments and a good deal of patience to reach that balance. Because replacing certain ingredients is one thing, but recovering the sensations and taste memories of a traditional recipe is quite another.

I wanted biting into one of my Spritz to bring back the markers of the classic cookie immediately, with no sense of eating a substitute.

And that is exactly what I set out to achieve with this recipe, which I am very happy to share with you today.

For this first version I chose to stay faithful to their classic shape. But what I also love about Spritz is the freedom they give you. You can have fun making different shapes, Christmas trees in particular, and vary the flavors as you like.

I will certainly offer more videos exploring those variations, because I find these cookies lend themselves wonderfully to creativity.

And making Spritz is also a chance to share a lovely moment as a family. Everyone can join in, shape their cookies, invent new forms… And that too is the magic of the holidays: taking the time to do things together and to create new memories.