Spritz

Spritz are part of the German and Scandinavian Christmas traditions that are now part of the holiday on this continent too. The dough is pressed through a cookie press into fanciful shapes that can be decorated before baking.

Yield: 8 dozen

Active time: 25 minutes

Start to finish: 2 hours, including 1 hour to chill dough

1 tablespoon egg replacement powder, such as Ener-G

1 cup (16 tablespoons) soy margarine, softened

²/₃ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¹/₄ teaspoon salt

2¹/₂ cups all-purpose flour

Colored coarse sugar crystals

Small candies

Candied cherries

1. Mix egg replacement powder with ¹/₄ cup cold water, and set aside. Combine margarine and sugar in a mixing bowl, and beat at low speed with an electric mixer to blend. Increase the speed to high, and beat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg replacement mixture, vanilla, and salt, and beat for 1 minute. Slowly add flour to margarine mixture, and beat until soft dough forms.

2. Divide dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Press dough into a pancake. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour, or until firm, or up to 2 days.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

4. Press dough through a cookie press onto the baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Decorate cookies with sugar crystals, candies, and candied cherries as desired.

5. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are brown. Cool cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, and then transfer them with a spatula to cooling racks to cool completely.

Note: Keep cookies in an airtight container, layered between sheets of waxed paper or parchment, at room temperature for up to 5 days. Cookies can also be frozen for up to 2 months.

Variations:

Substitute almond extract for the vanilla extract, and substitute ¹/₂ cup almond meal for ¹/₂ cup of the flour.

Substitute ¹/₂ teaspoon orange oil for the vanilla, and add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest to the dough.

Substitute ¹/₂ teaspoon lemon oil for the vanilla, and add 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest to the dough.

If you don’t have a cookie press, you can still make pretty cookies in interesting shapes. Pipe the dough through a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, or pipe the dough through plain tip into circles like a wreath. Then decorate and bake them.