Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks, well beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Assorted food coloring, candies, and/or sprinkles (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, egg yolks and flavoring with your electric mixer or mix by hand. Gradually add flour to mixture, mixing well after each addition.

Pack the dough into a Cookie Press fitted with desired template/disks of your choice. Hold the press upright in relation to the cookie sheet with the “legs” resting flat, and force out the dough until it appears at the edge of the mold, then lift the press away. Keep your cookies about 1-inch apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes in your preheated oven, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time, or until light brown.

Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet until just warm. Using a thin, wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire cooling racks, and cool to room temperature.

Flavor Variations:
Almond Spritz – Replace the vanilla extract with pure almond extract.

Butterscotch or Caramel Spritz – Substitute brown sugar for white (only change).

Chocolate Spritz – Substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of the flour and add along with the sugar to the beaten butter in the mixing bowl.

Coffee Spritz – Add 1 tbsp instant coffee and 1/4 cup pecans with the sugar.

Lemon Spritz – Replace the vanilla extract with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest (rind).

Mint Kisses – Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract. Immediately after removing cookies from oven place a chocolate candy kiss on each cookie.

Orange Spritz – Add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest with dry ingredients.

Orange Pecan Spritz – Add 2 tablespoons orange peel and 1/2 cup pecans when you add the flour.

Peanut Butter Spritz – Reduce butter to 2/3 cup. Add 1/2 cup peanut butter.

Peppermint Spritz – Substitute 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract for the vanilla extract.

Create a marble effect – Fill the press tube with a portion of regular spritz dough along one length of the press cylinder, and a portion of Chocolate spritz dough along the remaining length of the cylinder. Press out dough through a decorative disc onto baking sheets for an interesting marble design.