Vegan Spritz Cookies

This recipe holds a lot of meaning for us. We've made spritz cookies almost every single year for decades – it's by far our biggest holiday tradition when it comes to cooking and baking.

There's something SO satisfying about the process – making the dough, adding fun colors, using the cookie press, decorating – and we still have great grandma's recipe written down on a notecard in our kitchen. We also use grandma's cookie press and it still works perfectly!

Grandma's recipe is, of course, not vegan, so we had to make a few tweaks to our traditional family recipe. Lucky for you, the vegan version turned out perfectly! Let's make 'em.

Why We Love This Recipe

• Fun and festive: You simply can't deny that these vegan spritz cookies are some of the cutest holiday cookies out there. They're small, colorful, and you can decorate them any way you'd like!
• Surprisingly easy: Once you get the hang of using a cookie press, these vegan spritz cookies are just as easy as any drop and bake recipe. The dough comes together with just 8 ingredients in a few simple steps.
• Perfect for a cookie exchange: They're small and you can make a big batch easily, so they're great for sharing with lots of friends and family.
• You'll never know they're vegan. Truly! Our family recipe contains regular butter and eggs. We replaced the butter with a vegan alternative, but with a few more tweaks, we realized we didn't need any swaps for egg, which makes this recipe much easier to make. And they taste just as delicious as the original recipe!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these vegan spritz cookies:

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: The most important ingredient! We use Bob's Red Mill Unbleached White All Purpose Flour. We keep it on hand at all times for sweet and savory recipes alike. If you're gluten free, we absolutely swear by their Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. We've used it in so many recipes over the year (in muffins, waffles, cookies, tarts and more) and it never fails.
  • Where to find Bob's Red Mill products: Lucky for you, you can find their hundreds of products in thousands of stores across the country. They have everything from granola, to every flour and baking mix imaginable. They're truly one of our all-time favorite and most beloved brands, and we're honored to bring you this recipe in partnership with them!
• Butter: Just about any vegan butter should work well in these cookies. We haven't tried subbing with an alternative like coconut oil, and we would not suggest doing so. Be sure to let the butter soften to room temperature before using in this recipe.
• Almond extract: This is technically optional, but we think it takes these vegan spritz cookies up a notch. Our family has always added almond extract to this recipe, so the smell alone is pure nostalgia! If you don't like it, feel free to leave it out or sub with more vanilla extract.
• Cornstarch: We've tried this recipe with and without cornstarch, and for whatever reason, it just works better with it. We've found that when we don't use it, the dough has a bit more trouble coming through the cookie press. We use Bob's Red Mill cornstarch (and baking powder!).

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C.

Use a spoon to scoop flour into a measuring cup and level with a knife. Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl.

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extract until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes.

Slowly add in the flour mixture, mixing until well incorporated.

If you want to make different colors, divide the dough into two or three batches. Add a few drops of green or red food coloring and beat until the color is thoroughly mixed in.

Add the dough to your cookie press. Twist to release the dough onto a baking sheet. The first few cookies may not come out quite as clean, but once you get into a rhythm they should come out cleanly. The cookies can be close together as they do not spread much in the oven.

Optional: top with sprinkles before baking.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to cookie sheet to cool completely. 

Tips and FAQs

• It's important to correctly measure the flour, otherwise the dough could end up too dry and may not go through the cookie press very easily. The best way to ensure correct measurement (without using a scale) is to scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon, then level off with a knife.
• Freeze the baking sheets for 10-15 minutes before adding cookie dough. A cold cookie sheet makes it easier for the dough to release from the cookie press. This isn't essential, but we've found it makes the process a bit easier.
• You don't need to use parchment paper for these cookies. They come right off the baking sheet, and parchment actually makes it harder to get the dough from the press to the baking sheet since it slides around a lot.
• Use gel food coloring for the most vibrant colors. A few drops will be plenty!
• Decorating: We like to decorate our vegan spritz cookies with sprinkles and/or edible shimmer dust for a simple, elevated look. Add before baking. You can also dip or drizzle the cookies in chocolate after baking if preferred. These would also work well as sandwich cookies, with ganache, buttercream, jam, caramel, etc as a filling.
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze these cookies for up to several months. Let defrost to room temperature before enjoying.

More Cookie Recipes to Enjoy

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