Christmas Spritz Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ¾ cup of butter 1 ½ sticks softened
• ¾ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• ¼ tsp of almond extract
• Food color and sprinkles optional
• Icing either homemade or store-bought (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Using a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar, until smooth
3. Add in the egg, almond extract and vanilla extract
4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk flour and salt together. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. **Note this step is optional** If using food coloring to color the dough before baking, separate the dough equally into small bowls. Add in a few drops of food coloring (colors of your choice) and then stir into the dough until incorporated.
6. Next, place the dough into the cookie press with the desired disk in place, hold the cookie press perpendicular to the baking sheet (don’t line it with parchment paper, you want the cookie to stick to the pan a little), press the release trigger to push the dough through the disk. Leave about one-inch space between cookies (these cookies don’t spread very much). Add sprinkles to the cookies before baking if desired.
7. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack.
8. **Note this step is optional** If using icing and sprinkles to decorate after baking, you can do so once the cookies have cooled completely.