Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Classic buttery Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies! These traditional holiday cookies are vegan, dairy-free, and allergy-free. A beautiful intricate butter cookie made with a cookie press and uniquely decorated with fun add-ins and toppings! Keep them plain or make them colorful, spritz cookies are fun and easy to make, and perfect for cookie exchanges, Christmas, & holiday gatherings!

Creative and unique, everyone loves a spritz cookie during the holidays! With the help of a cookie press, you can make beautiful and intricately shaped cookies, decorated just how you want! Get the entire family involved with these fun cookies now that everyone can enjoy them with this gluten-free, vegan, and allergy-free recipe! Everyone can make a unique cookie all their own and they're perfect for holidays beyond just Christmas! Decorate them to reflect the season, keep them plain, or just make them celebratory with sprinkles!

What Is A Spritz Cookie?

Spritz Cookies, also known as, Spritzgebäck, are German cookies made during the Christmas season. They're delicate and fragile little cookies that a crisp and buttery. The cookie dough for spritz cookies is made out of flour, butter, egg, sugar, and almond or vanilla extract. The word "spritz" comes from the German verb “spritzen”, which means “to squirt." The cookies are made via a cookie press where the plunder literally squirts out the cookie dough.

What's The Difference Between Butter Cookies & Spritz Cookies?

Spritz cookies differ from butter cookies or shortbread because they include eggs (a binder). They're both buttery, slightly sweet, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, but the egg in spritz cookies allows them to be more stable and keep their intricate shape. You don't have to chill spritz cookie dough either (unless it's too hot in the room you're making them in). This is why they also differ from sugar cookies and for the fact that spritz cookies do not contain extra baking powder or baking soda so the cookies are dense and hold their intricate shape better.

What You'll Love About This Gluten-Free Recipe

Everything you love about spritz cookies without the gluten, dairy, or eggs! Whether you're missing this nostalgic childhood cookie yourself or you want to pass on the tradition to your food allergy kids, now you can! These cookies are:

• Gluten-Free
• Vegan
• Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
• Low in Sugar or Sugar-Free
• Kid-Friendly
• Quick, Easy, Make-Ahead Recipe
• A Fun Dessert for Christmas, Holidays, Potlucks

5 Simple Ingredients

• Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: Use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose or baking flour blend for these cookies.
• Granulated Sweetener: To make these cookies sugar-free, use a granulated sweetener like Swerve or you can choose to you any granulated sugar you like to consume.
• Vegan Butter: These German Christmas cookies are a treat for a reason and require 2 full sticks of vegan butter. Do not swap this with oil. You must use butter for this recipe.
• Vanilla Extract: You have the option to flavor these cookies however you'd like! Vanilla is a great overall option, but if you do not have a nut allergy, almond extract is a classic addition. You can also try peppermint, lemon, etc.
• Vegan Egg Replacement: I used flax eggs as the vegan egg replacement for these cookies. You can also use a commercial egg replacement like Bob's Red Mill.

Spritz Cookie Add-Ins, Decorations, & Toppings

There are endless ways to color, flavor, and decorate your spritz cookies! Beyond just choosing a beautiful design for your cookie press, you get to make these cookies unique and creative! Below are just some suggestions, but have no fear! Even if you're strapped on time, you can enjoy these delicious cookies plain too!

• Coloring: A classic way to jazz up spritz cookies is with food coloring! Natural gel, powdered, or liquid color dyes are great to mix in. Just add a few drops to a portion of the dough you make. You can do multiple colors, just clean out your cookie press in-between.
• Flavorings: As mentioned above, you can add different flavoring extracts (vanilla, almond, lemon, peppermint, anise, maple, etc.) or you can add in spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg!
• Cocoa Powder: You can add cocoa powder to your cookie dough and make chocolate spritz cookies. Reduce the flour by 1 teaspoon for every tablespoon of cocoa you add.
• Sprinkles: From glitter to confetti and nonpareils, any type of allergy-free sprinkle will work on your cookies! Just add the sprinkles to the unbaked dough before baking. You can add extra sprinkles after the cookies have baked if you think the sprinkles will bleed into the cookies. Just brush the baked cookies with a sticky syrup (maple, honey, corn, or rice).
• Chocolate: You can dip your baked cookies into melted dairy-free chocolate! Choose dark, semi-sweet, even vegan white chocolate. Dip half the cookie in or drizzle chocolate on.
• Fancy Toppings: You can add chopped nuts, seeds, coconut shavings, dried or candied fruits, etc. to the melted chocolate dip or to the tops of the unbaked cookies. If you finely chop these larger additions, you can even add them to the unbaked cookie batter. They must be finely chopped to get through the cookie press, but it is an option!
• Powdered Sugar: Confectioner-style sweetener is a simple but delicious addition to sift over these buttery cookies!

How To Make The Gluten-Free Spritz Cookies

1. Cream together the cold vegan butter and sugar until a thick and smooth paste forms.
2. Add the flavored extract and prepared vegan egg replacer and beat until combined, scraping down the side of your bowl.
3. Slowly add in the flour and a pinch of salt and mix until the batter is completely combined and smooth.
4. Follow the directions on your cookie press and add the dough to the press, spacing out cookies on a lined baking sheet.
5. Add decorations and bake the cookies in the oven.
6. Let the cookies cool and add any additional decorations to cooled cookies that you'd like!

Tips For Using A Cookie Press

• First, make sure you have a quality cookie press. I suggest the OXO Good Grips Cookie Press. This is the exact model I used and a top-rated brand.
• Add a portion of your dough to the cookie press and give it a few clicks to push the dough down the barrel and into place.
• Make a test cookie to make sure everything is set and ready to go.
• On a lined baking sheet (a Silpat or parchment paper will work), press out the cookies about an inch apart. If using parchment paper, it helps to hold the paper down.
• Sometimes you'll need to use a flat knife to tease the cookie dough off the metal disk.
• While the dough is still wet, you can add decorations. You can lightly brush or mist the tops of the pressed-out cookies with water if you have trouble getting your pre-baking decorations to stick.
• Clean out your cookie press if you are using colored dough and want to change colors with the next portion of dough. Otherwise, you can change out the metal disk for a new shape and just add another portion of dough without cleaning out the press.

Baking Tips & Troubleshooting

• These cookies are small and delicate. Bake them until they are just beginning to get golden brown. Let them cool for a minute or two on the baking sheet before transferring them to a white rack to cool completely before you add extra decorations like melted chocolate, etc.
• If you go to bake your cookies after mixing the dough and the dough seems to warm, you can chill it in the fridge for 10-20 minutes until it becomes cold again. Note that vegan butter alternatives melt much quicker than dairy-based butter. Vegan cookies, even vegan spritz cookies, may need to be chilled even if the recipe doesn't call for it.
• If your dough begins to stick too much in your cookie press, add 1-3 teaspoons of water to the dough. This helps the gluten-free free cookie dough become soft again. This also varies with the brand and blend of gluten-free flour you use. Additional gums like guar gum or xantham gum are to blame.

Can I Make These Without A Cookie Press?

If you don't have a cookie press, no worries! I also tested a few spritz cookies out using a simple pastry bag. You can do this with a Ziplock bag and cut the tip to squeeze out the dough into shapes or use an actual pastry bag with different tips to pipe out the dough.

Make-Ahead, Storage, & Freezing

• You can make the cookie dough ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for 3-4 days before baking. Cookie dough can be frozen for 3-4 months, just defrost in the fridge overnight.
• Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 7-10 days.
• Freeze baked cookies flat on a lined sheet and then add them to a tightly pressed and sealed plastic bag or freezer storage container. Use the cookies within 3-4 months, thaw overnight in the fridge, and bring to room temperature before enjoying.

More Delicious Christmas Cookie Recipes:

• Vegan White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
• Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies
• Italian Wedding Snowball Cookies
• Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
• Classic Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
• Gluten-Free Iced Thumbprint Cookies

Print

With these fun cookies, you can get as crazy and creative as you want! From the fun baking process to the delicious results, you can't go wrong with classic gluten-free spritz cookies!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made fancy spritz cookies? Not until this year with the new cookie press!

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