Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

At a glance

What stands out: Straightforward to mix and fun to eat, cream cheese spritz cookies are a Christmas classic that will be a decorative and rich addition to your cookie platter.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to make the dough, 15 minutes per batch to bake
Equipment you’ll need: electric mixer, cookie press, baking sheet
Servings: makes about 5 dozen cookies (or more, depending on which pattern you use)

The Christmas Cookies we Make Every Year

Every year, these spritz cookies make their way into our freezer (and our cookie tins!), and honestly, we can’t imagine Christmas without them. They’re buttery, lightly sweet, and just a little bit tangy thanks to cream cheese in the dough.

What makes them special:

• “Secret” ingredients. We add cream cheese to the dough to make these spritz cookies extra tender and a little bit tangy. A dash of nutmeg is another ingredient that sets these cookies apart from grocery store cookies. We always add it to our sugar cookie cut-outs, too.
• Unpretentious. A cookie press does all the fancy work here. These cream cheese spritz cookies are actually simple cookies with basic baking ingredients found in almost everyone’s kitchen. Enjoy them while you’re sipping on your own from-scratch egg nog!
• A recipe that kids love to make. Now that our kids are a little older, they love to make these cookies. The texture of the dough is a little like Play-Doh. Our kids love picking out which discs to use. And yes, we have to try every single one.

Cookie Press

You’ll need a cookie press for this recipe. It’s fun to try all the different shapes! This is the one we have!.

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Andrea Said:

Phenomenal! Just made these today. Came out evenly!! We had never made them with cream cheese and we love them too. We used our mom’s vintage cookie press from the 60s or 70s. She was looking down smiling on us for sure!

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What goes in

• Butter: You’ll need 1 cup of butter, which is 2 sticks. We always use unsalted (sweet) butter for baking. It’s important to soften the butter before making the cookie dough.
• Cream cheese: Choose the right type of cream cheese. The recipe calls for four ounces of regular cream cheese.
• Sugar: You’ll need a cup of white granulated sugar. These cookies are not overly sweet.
• All-Purpose Flour: Use regular flour that you normally bake with. Avoid adding too much flour which will make your cookie dough too dry. Measure the flour carefully by scooping it out of the canister or bag into a measuring cup. Level the flour off with a straight edge (don’t shake it down to level it) to avoid compacting the flour.
• Egg: Separate the egg white from the egg yolk because you only need to use the egg yolk for this recipe.
• Vanilla extract: Buy a quality extract, not imitation vanilla.
• Nutmeg: You can purchase nutmeg that’s already ground or you can buy whole nutmegs which have a fresher flavor. Use a microplane to grate the nutmeg.
• Colored sugar: We like to sprinkle colored decorator’s sugar on the cookies before baking them to add festive touch. It’s a fast and straightforward way to decorate cookies.

Helpful Tips & Important Notes

the kitchen note: We have made these cookies successfully many times (every year!). However, after hearing from our readers that the recipe was not turning out well for them, we retested them using less cream cheese than the recipe originally called for, 4 ounces instead of 8 ounces. We decided to keep this change because the cookies were a little more crisp and perhaps a little less problematic, although, quite honestly, we’ve never had a problem with them.

Below are some additional notes that will help you have success with this recipe!

Choose the correct cream cheese. As we mentioned above, full-fat regular cream cheese is a standby choice for this recipe. Other types of cream cheese such as reduced fat, Neufchatel, cream cheese spread, or whipped cream cheese are too soft, resulting in a soft dough that won’t hold its shape.

Soften the butter and cream cheese. If either item is still chilled and hard, it will be difficult to blend it smoothly with the sugar. Take both out of the refrigerator at least an hour ahead of time, more if your kitchen is cool. We find that butter takes longer to soften than cream cheese. If you are short on time, chop them into small pieces and spread the pieces apart slightly. The smaller chunks will soften more quickly than a solid block. However, you don’t want them sitting out for hours on end, they shouldn’t be mushy.

Only use the egg yolk. If you use the yolk and white, the dough will be too soft to press properly.

Don’t chill the dough. This recipe works better if the dough is not chilled. If the dough is too firm, you won’t be able to push it through the cookie press.

Avoid slippery cookie sheets. You may be used to lining your baking pans with parchment paper when you make cookies. That’s a no-no with spritz cookies. When you squeeze the dough out of the press, the shaped dough has to be able to cling to the cookie sheet in order to release from the press. Both nonstick baking sheets parchment paper are just too slippery to work well. For the same reason, don’t grease the cookie sheets either.

Valerie Said:

“This recipe is a standby we've ever used to make spritz cookies and we've been baking a long time. We even made just half of the recipe and the dough slipped out of the press effortlessly.”

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Fun Recipe Variations

• Add different flavors. Instead of vanilla extract, try a different extract. We like to vary it up with almond extract or lemon extract. If you choose peppermint extract, use less. A quarter teaspoon will likely be enough because peppermint can be overpowering.
• Think beyond Christmas. These cookies don’t have to be reserved for Christmas! Most cookie press kits come with a variety of designs (ours has a fun pumpkin shape and a flower shape). You can use different colored sugars to decorate them to match a holiday or leave them plain. We enjoy them any time of the year; they go well with a cup of tea or coffee.
• Color the dough. Stir food coloring into the dough to make these cookies festive colors. We prefer gel or paste food coloring because the liquid food coloring may make the dough too wet.
• Add chocolate. Dip the tops of the cookies into melted chocolate or drizzle chocolate on top of the cookies for extra decadence. You can add sprinkles or colored sugar to the chocolate immediately after dipping the cookies.

Make Ahead

You can bake spritz cookies well in advance of the holidays and freeze the cookies until you need them. We also like to keep a log of slice and bake cookie dough in the freezer, too, like these crispy sand tart cookies, for straightforward last minute baking.

• Yield: 60
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened ( 2 sticks)
• 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened (see note 1)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk (yolk ONLY)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• decorator’s sugar, optional

Method

1. Be sure to allow time to soften the butter and cream cheese. Remove them from the refrigerator at least an hour before making the dough. Both should still be firm and hold their shape when you lightly press down (hold an indentation) but not be squishy, melted, or greasy looking.
2. When you're ready to get started, preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light in color and fluffy.
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract to the butter mixture; beat until combined.
4. Add flour, nutmeg, and salt; stir until all ingredients are combined. Dough will be quite soft but should hold its shape. Do not chill the dough or it will be too hard to press through the cookie press.
5. Using a cookie press, press the cookies out onto unlined baking sheets (see note 2) about an inch apart from each other. If desired, sprinkle with colored decorator's sugar before baking.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until firm. The cookies should be light in color (not browned). Cool briefly on the baking sheet, then remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before storing (see note 4).

Notes

Cream cheese: Be sure to buy the correct type of cream cheese. You’ll need 4 ounces of regular full-fat cream cheese. Reduced-fat, Neufchâtel, cream cheese spread, or whipped cream cheese will NOT work for this recipe because they will make the cookie dough too soft. The dough won’t work well in the press and the cookies will spread too much when they bake.

Baking tip: Don’t grease the cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper for this recipe. Nonstick pans don’t work as well either. If the surface is too slippery, the dough won’t stick to it but instead stay stuck on the cookie press. You’ll end up with a messier shape. We found that some of the designs are easier to press than others that are more intricate.

Yield: The yield may vary, depending on which cookie press patterns you use. We usually end up with 60 to 70 cookies. Nutrition information is somewhat hard to calculate because the cookies can vary in size, so it may not be completely accurate.

Storage: Cool cookies completely before storing in an airtight container. Cream cheese spritz cookies will keep well for up to 2 weeks on the counter or in a cool place. They can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for at least a month.