The Best Lemon Spritz Cookies

These are another holiday favorite; however, they can be enjoyed throughout the year! The dough is simple to make, and you have beautiful decorative cookies in minutes. You can even top these off with sprinkles or dye the dough to make it fit your occasion.

Why I like this recipe

• The dough is made in the mixer, using only one bowl
• You do not have to grease the baking sheet. 
• This batch provides a lot of cookies, making it great for parties and big crowds.
• If you don't have or like lemons, simply take out that ingredient, and you'll have excellent traditional spritz cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream or milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup of butter, softened 
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups of flour

Preheat the oven 375 degrees. Begin by whisking together the egg, cream, vanilla, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside and cream the butter, sugar, and zest on medium speed together until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the egg mixture and combine thoroughly for 30 seconds. Turn the speed down to low, and slowly add the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Remove the dough and put as much in your cookie press as you can. (Alternatively you can free form or use a piping bag to form the cookies.) Press the cookies out to an ungreased pan and cook for 10-12 minutes. Careful as the different shapes of the cookies can cook at different times and these burn quickly.