Spritz

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

½ cup sugar

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

Heat oven to 400°. Mix margarine and sugar. Stir in remaining ingredients. Fill cookie press with dough; form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set but not brown, 6 to 9 minutes. About 5 dozen cookies.

Butter-Rum Spritz: Substitute rum flavoring for the almond extract. Tint parts of dough with different food colors. After baking, glaze cooled cookies with Butter-Rum Glaze: Heat ¼ cup margarine or butter over low heat until melted; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon rum flavoring. Beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water until of desired consistency.

Chocolate Spritz: Stir 2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cool) into margarine mixture.

Christmas Decorated Spritz: Before baking, top cookies with currants, raisins, candies, nuts, slices of candied fruits or candied fruit peels arranged in colorful and attractive patterns. Or, after baking, decorate with colored sugar, nonpareils, red cinnamon candies or finely chopped nuts; use a drop of corn syrup to hold decorations on cookies.

Holly Wreaths: Using star plate, hold press in semi-horizontal position and form wreaths by moving press in a circular motion. Gently push ends of dough together to form wreaths. Use bits of red and green candied cherries to form holly berries and leaves.

 

It is a quote. Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook 1982