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.
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.