Spritz Cookie Recipe

This festive spritz cookie recipe is a light, delicate butter cookie flavored with vanilla and lemon zest. These traditional holiday cookies are super easy to make and customize!

Santa texted, he wants these spritz cookies, and so does everyone else you know! This super-easy vanilla lemon sugar cookie has a light texture and a delicate buttery crumb. They are soft and just melt in your mouth! Spritz cookies are a perfect addition to your holiday cookie plate or gifted cookie tins!

Looking for more Christmas cookie ideas? You have come to the right place! I have curated 20 traditional Christmas cookies that are sure to impress this year—including, but not limited to, these holiday thumbprint cookies, almond crescent cookies, and my favorite: these Linzer cookies.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar, also known as confectioners’ sugar, is used to add sweetness to cookies while keeping them light and tender. I would not substitute granulated sugar; it will cause these cookies to spread when baked. 
• Lemon: Only zest the bright yellow part of the lemon; we don’t want any of the bitter pith. 
• Pastry Flour: Pastry flour has a lower protein content, making it perfect for creating tender cookies. You can use all-purpose flour if that is what you have on hand. 
• Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to the cookies helps make them soft, tender, and light, and keeps the cookies from spreading just like with the base of these amazing lemon bars!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations for Spritz Cookies

• Flavor with extracts or other citrus. You could easily flavor the batter with any extract or zest you desire. A peppermint extract would be delightful, like I use with these chocolate peppermint sugar cookies, or almond extract is always a fan favorite! You could do something unexpected with licorice or mandarin orange, or add orange zest to the dough!
• Add some jam. You can also add a small dollop of raspberry jam or mixed berry jam to the center to complement the flavor of the cookie, like I do with these thumbprint cookies.
• Spice the dough. Add some warm spices to the dough! My speculoos spice mix recipe would be excellent here, or add some chai spice from these chai sugar cookies.  
• Add different sprinkles or candies. These cookies can be decorated with colored sugar crystals, holiday sprinkles, jimmies or mini chocolate chips. I’ve been a fan of the red-hot cinnamon candies pressed into the center of flower shapes or on the wreath. Mini M&M’s or some crushed candy canes are also a good addition!

Professional Tips

• Pipe the dough while at room temperature. It is best to pipe or press this dough right after making it. If you leave the dough to chill overnight, it will become too hard to pipe or press. These cookies store really well, so it is best to start and finish them the same day. 
• Bake cookies of similar size on the same cookie sheet. Piping different designs can create cookies of varying sizes. Keep cookies of the same size on the same baking tray so they all bake at the same time. We don’t want an overbaked cookie in one corner and an underbaked one in the other. 
• If adding food coloring, be careful not to overmix the dough. Adding food coloring helps make some very festive cookies, but we don’t want any tough cookies. Add the coloring before the flour is fully incorporated, or you can add it with the eggs, like I do with my red velvet cookies.

How to Make this Spritz Cookie Recipe

Use these instructions to make these easy and tender spritz cookies! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2: Cream butter, sugar, zest. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest until light and fluffy (photo 1).

This recipe can also be made by hand or with an electric mixer.

Step 3: Add eggs and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add to the butter mixture with the mixer on medium-high, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition (photos 2 & 3).

Step 4: Whisk dry ingredients. Whisk the flour and cornstarch together in a bowl. 

If the cornstarch is particularly lumpy, sift the dry ingredients before adding them to the cookie dough. 

Step 5: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir on low just to combine (photo 4). 

Add your desired food coloring at this point. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Step 6: Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with the desired tip. I used an Ateco #824 star tip for the green, an Ateco #801 round tip for the white, and an Ateco #800 round tip for the red.

Step 7: Pipe the desired shapes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then chill the dough for 10 minutes (photos 5-7).

Step 8: Bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until the edges and bottoms just begin to brown and the cookies are completely matte. Transfer to cool on a wire rack (photo 8).

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this piped holiday cookie recipe. Check out our other Christmas cookie recipes like this apricot kolacky cookie recipe or these peanut butter blossoms!