Of guns and cookies...

This year we made our cookies for Santa the day before Christmas Eve. We had very important business to attend on the Eve - movies and appetizers... all of them! Who has time to bake cookies for Santa? We decided spritz cookies were the way to go this year. We asked Nicholas what he thought Santa might like - he didn't know. One I said these cookies were made with a cookie gun - he was sold. He's an 8 year old boy who is all about guns and knives... and plenty else he shouldn't be drawing at school and does. Oof. These cookies were fun to make and put sprinkles on and the best part, they were so fast to mix together, shoot out and bake. We got to use food coloring and sprinkles. They checked off many boxes! Nicholas set out the cookies and milk and the cookies were gone in one bite - because Bernard was extra interested in them. Ugh... so we replated and held them in the kitchen until Bernard was sent to bed. Santa must have loved them because only a few crumbs and sprinkles remained! Now that I've searched for Spritz cookies I've found so many new dies to make different shapes - not just Christmas! I just may get some to play - who knows!

Spritz Cookie Recipe
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
gel food coloring, optional

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place two large light-colored baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill as you make the cookie dough.
In a large mixing bowl add butter and sugar. Use a hand mixer to cream together until creamy (about 5 minutes).
Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix in until well combined.
Add the flour and salt. Mix the dough until just combined. (Do not overmix.)
If using food coloring, gently fold a few drops of the food coloring into the dough.
Add the dough to the cookie press with your desired shape, filling it with as much dough as it will hold. To start the press, double-press the first cookie so that there is some dough still sticking out of the press. Then, continue to press out the cookies onto the chilled baking sheets.
If you don’t have a press, you can pipe the spritz cookies. Add a decorating tip of choice to a heavy-duty pastry bag and fill the bag with the dough. Before piping, make sure to remove any pockets of air in the dough. Pipe dough onto the baking sheets.
If using decorations like sprinkles or decorating sugar, add as desired.
Bake 5-6 minutes, or until the edges are set, but not browned.
Let the cookies cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before removing them from the pan to continue cooling on a wire rack or parchment paper.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.