Chocolate Spritz Cookies are classic cookies that shouldn't be missed in any cookie exchange.
These melt in the mouth short crust piped or pressed cookies are easy to make if you follow the instructions with the proper tools further below.
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Learn how to make chocolate Spritz cookies with the how-to step-by-step instructions, useful tips and recipe further below.
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What are Spritz Cookies?
Spritz cookies, or chocolate spritz cookies, must have originated in Central Europe, mostly around the German-speaking corners of Europe.
Chocolate spritz cookies, the chocolate variation of plain Spritz, are some of the most commonly baked cookies during Christmastime.
Spritz cookies are piped or pressed shortcrust cookies and are better known as Spritzgebäck in German.
Spritz are of course popular and common place in the US and Canada as well!
How are they made?
Spritz cookies are prepared to form a wet stirred short crust pastry which includes eggs to keep the cookies firm after having baked them.
To make chocolate Spritz cookies, you need to add cocoa powder to the base mixture.
Spritz cookies are great for cookie baking beginners, as this stirred short crust dough is the easiest pastry out there for cookies.
You just need to pipe or press the cookies into shapes and that's it.
So if you want to get better in piping pastry, then you should make these cookies as it teaches you easily how to hold the piping bag.
You literally get the hang of it quickly!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ⅞ cup Butter soft
- ¾ cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Sugar *see Notes
- 2 Eggs
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder Unsweetened
- Melted chocolate, nuts, other deco optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, first combine the soft Butter, powdered Sugar and Vanilla Sugar to a fluffy mixture.
- Break the eggs into another bowl and just mix them roughly.
- Pour them step by step, and not all at once, into the Buttery mixture and keep on stirring with the whisk or with your hand mixer on a slow number.
- Now continue to add in the flour and Cocoa powder, and mix it to a smooth pastry.
- Heat up your oven to 200 Celsius or 400 Fahrenheit.
- Grab a piping bag, place the nozzle with the right opening into the bag and fill you bag with the pastry. Or use a Cookie Press and fill the dough into it. Keep a Baking Tray with baking paper ready.
- Press out the the dough into different shapes onto the baking tray with the baking paper. Keep 2 cm space between the shapes. You can shape, crescents, rosettes, sticks, circles, drops, s-forms etc., that's up to you! You can even turn your piping bag while piping so the texture turns a bit, which gives a nice effect. If you want to add nuts or candied fruits onto rosettes, then just push a hazelnut or the fruits for example into the center before baking (I didn't do that this time).
- (Sorry I couldn't make a picture of the dark batch, that's why I used the one from the white batch here)
- Once finished and the tray is full, place it into the oven at 200 Celsius or 392 Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes.Keep an eye on your cookies, it's difficult to see if the cookies are getting burned when they are made with cocoa as they are dark in color.
- Let them cool before you decorate them. If you just want to top them with powdered sugar, then roll them still warm in the powdered sugar. Add jam and make a sandwich with 2 cookies,...
- ... or dip the ends into dark molten chocolate, or simply drop some chocolate on top. Just be creative and have fun while turning your cookies into beautiful treats for Christmas.
- To make plain Spritz cookies without chocolate just follow the recipe and don't add the cocoa, that's it!
Notes
- 2 Teaspoons equal 1 sachet Vanilla Sugar. Vanilla Sugar is a must-have ingredient in European Spritz cookies. You can substitute it with a few drops of vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons powdered sugar.
- Leave out the cocoa powder to make regular Spritz cookies.
Nutrition
Tips
Preparation
The stirred shortcrust should never be mixed & stirred for too long, or it won't hold together. That can result in the fats separating from the pastry while baking, and you can recognize this when the fat oozes out during the baking process.
Just mix the pastry for as long as needed, that means until there are no lumps left and it looks smooth. Usually, not longer than 2–3 minutes.
Consistency
The stirred shortcrust pastry consistency should be smooth.
To achieve that, you need to mix the sugar with the butter first, and then only you add the scrambled eggs a batch at a time while mixing with a hand mixer to a smooth pastry.
Sieved Flour is added only at the end, and the pastry is piped on the baking tray without delay!
Baking
The temperature while baking should always be 400 Fahrenheit (200 °C) for small shortcrust pastries such as the piped/pressed cookies.
If the oven is too cool, then the pastry's fat will ooze out and the cookies will lose shape.
On the contrary, if the oven is too hot, then the small bakeries tend to burn rapidly.
In general, they should be baked to a very light to golden shade (always for about 10 minutes).
So as you can see, it's all about timing and simple physics in the kitchen and I don't think so you need to be a pastry professional to make your own batch of chocolate spritz cookies at home.
In fact, chocolate spritz cookies are perfect when you are planning to bake with your kids this Christmas.
Variations
Chocolate Spritz cookies can be shaped into different forms, and you can decorate the cookies to your liking with powdered sugar, nuts, and jam.
We usually tend to dip the
Another thing that you can do is to spread some jam on one cookie floor side and press another cookie on the jam to make a sandwich chocolate spritz cookie.
Or if you want plain Spritz cookies, then you are, of course, free to skip the cocoa powder in the recipe further below!
Cookie Press or Piping Bag
You have the option between a comfortable Cookie Press or a piping bag to shape beautiful cookies.
You either pick the cookie press or the piping bag with the nozzle tips.
Whichever you use is a preference story and depends on your budget and how much you are ready to spend on your kitchen equipment.
I, personally, prefer the piping bag with nozzles because I learned to make Spritz cookies at school with this method.
More cookie recipes
- Classic Lebkuchen
- Linzer cookies
- Cinnamon Stars
This post has been updated and was first published on the 26th November 2012.
Yumm!! These cookies look amazing! They are my favourite from those danish cookie boxes, so excited to make them!
What a perfect addition to my holiday cookie tray!
What beautiful looking cookies! I might just have to bake a batch with my kids today 🙂
I will be spending my weekend in the kitchen tackling all the Christmas baking. I have never used a cookie spritz, but these do look fantastic.
Spritz cookies are so good! Yours looks delicious. I love making festive cookies like this. I will definitely try your recipe.
They look and sound like a perfect Christmas cookie! I can almost taste them!
So pretty! I just love seeing these in Christmas markets this time of year, and the addition of chocolate is just perfect. 🙂
These look great. Thanks for all the detailed instructions. With your help anyone should be able to make these cookies!
My friend makes these every Christmas! 🙂 They are delicious!
Spritz cookies are such a festive addition to a holiday platter. I've never tried chocolate ones though. They look great!
Those tips were indeed useful. Would love to try this out Helene!!!
Such a classic cookie! Love the chocolate dip!
I have a cookie press, but for some reason, I've never used it. I think I need to dig it out and make these, because they look delicious!
These are so much better than the average spritz cookie! I need to get my cookie press out!
This brings back memories of making these with my grandmother. Such a fun project and happy time.
These cookies look delicious and I love the double chocolate. Perfect for some Christmas baking.
These are such lovely delicate looking cookies!
Those are lovely delicate little cookies!
I love trying cookies from other countries. These look delicious!
I love your step by step tutorial photos. I need to try this recipe.
These look so delicious - I could see these being very popular in my house!
They would be called spritz cookies. Can I use this dough in a cookie press, or is the dough to thick and needs to be piped from a bag?
Hi Michelle, you should be able to use the dough in a cookie press. The consistency is like a buttery thick paste. Hope that helps.
So pretty!
My mom loves these cookies and I can't wait to bake them for her. They look almost like butterfingers? Is that how some call it? Oh well, I am bad with cookie names ;). Have a great week ahead. xoxo
Whatever you call them, they look so temptingly delicious, Helene.
These are awesome!! You are so talented 🙂 Love all the different shapes and chocolate coated ones . Yum!
I love these cookies, some of my favourites. I like the jam filled spritzers. I also like the fact that you pipe them, I dislike rolling out cookie dough...
^.^ well those or going to be your rescue this season if you don't like to roll out cookies. =D
I hope he grants you the time.. because these ones are so pretty looking! They must be lovely on a plate for Christmas entertaining! xx
I do not know the name of this biscuits but they look familiar!! I like the simple version dipped in melting chocolate. PS yesterday arrived the Xmas package from Denmark: marzipan; my mum's package: parmesan.....
Ahhh I want my xmas package as well!! =PP I need Parmesan too. My mum said that she added marzipan as well in my package. =D I think so I ll have to make a picture when it comes. lol we get so excited with these simple food things here in goa. My friend got hazelnuts from her mum the other day.
What would I call these cookies? DELICIOUS! I actually purchase cookies like this from World Market because I love them, but had no idea how to make them - until now. That for the recipes and fabulous instructions! They are going on my Christmas cookie list right now!
So what do they call them in the world market? I am really desperately looking for an English name.
Mmmm, they look lovely. I bet they are delicious. Another one to bookmark! Thanks.
What beautifully decorated Christmas cookies 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Really nice recipe. I've never had these, and they look wonderful. I'll definitely be directing my wife to this post - she's the cookie maven in our family. Good stuff - thanks.
These look delicious!!
they look to darn cute! Perfect in the shortcrust/shortbread texture. I would love to make these