Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipe

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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.

Learn how to make chocolate Spritz cookies with the how to step by step instructions, useful tips and recipe further below.

What are Spritz Cookies?

Spritz cookies, or  chocolate  spritz cookies, must have originated in central Europe, mostly around the German speaking corners or Europe.

Chocolate spritz cookies, the chocolate variation of plain Spritz, are some of the most commonly baked cookies during Christmas time.

Spritz cookies are piped or pressed shortcrust cookies and are better known as Spritzgebäck in German.

Nowadays Spritz cookies can be commonly found not only in Austria and Germany but also in neighboring regions and countries such as Alsace (France), where they are known as Spritzer cookies, and also Switzerland and the former Austrian empire countries including South Tyrol (Italy), Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Spritz are of course popular and common place in the US and Canada as well!

How to make Chocolate Spritz Cookies?

Spritz cookies are prepared 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 for it quickly!

Essential tips for perfect Chocolate Spritz cookies

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 around 200 Celsius or 400 Fahrenheit 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 very quickly.

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.

Chocolate Spritz Cookies 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 Sprtz cookies into molten chocolate or at least the ends.

That makes the cookies all the more special.

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!

Gadgets to make Chocolate Spritz Cookies

To make Chocolate Spritz Cookies from scratch and to decorate the cookies you will need some common kitchen tools to help you succeed.

The kitchen tools will come handy the whole year round and not just for one batch of cookies during Christmas.

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 selected one quality product option for each tool type so that you can confidently pick your future gadget.

• Piping Bag and Nozzle tips
• Handheld Mixer
• Baking Spatula

More original cookie recipes 🍪

• Classic Lebkuchen
• Linzer cookies
• Cinnamon Stars

Dear Reader, did you have chocolate spritz cookies when you were small or how did you get to know about these cookies?

This post has been updated and was first published on the 26th November 2012.

Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipe

Chocolate Spritz cookies are easy to prepare from scratch and taste amazing! Make sure to get a cookie Press or a Piping bag with a nozzle to make these classic cookies.

5 from 15 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Austrian, German

Keyword: chocolate spritz cookies, how to make spritz cookies

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 40 cookies

Calories: 79

Author: Helene D’Souza

Ingredients

• 7/8 cup Butter soft
• 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Sugar *see Notes
• 2 Eggs
• 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
• molten chocolate, nuts, other deco optional

US Customary – Metric

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

1. 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.
2. Leave out the cocoa powder to make regular Spritz cookies.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipe

Amount Per Serving (27 g)

Calories 79 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Cholesterol 18mg6%

Sodium 39mg2%

Potassium 28mg1%

Carbohydrates 9g3%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 135IU3%

Calcium 5mg1%

Iron 0.6mg3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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