Lemony Spritz Cookies

The whole process of making Lemony Spritz Cookies started with a vague memory and a craving. A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my mother's cookie press, which she dug out of her basement in 2001 when I was still in high school. She had never used it, and I only used it once. But I remembered those cookies for their crumbly, buttery deliciousness, and I couldn't resist making them again when I found the cookie press box nestled between recipe books in my mother's pantry.

The box looks like it was sold in the '80s and has both English and French on it. Inside, the illustrated instructions are written in English, but there's also a list of recipes written in German. I suppose this is because spritz cookies are German in origin and are popular in Scandinavian countries at Christmas time ("spritz" is German for "squirt" or "spray").

I followed the recipe that came on the typed supplement sheet, and the cookies turned out splendidly. They were just as I remembered them: soft, cakey, and floury, with the same sort of dense, crumbly texture that you find when biting into a pecan sandie (a texture that comes, I think, from using only one egg--or in the case of sandies, no eggs--and using pressure to make the thick dough hold together).

I used butter instead of margarine, but I would recommend sticking with margarine or even shortening if you have it. Once the kitchen got hot, the dough seemed to have a harder time keeping its shape and sticking to the parchment paper-covered baking sheets; an artificial source of fat might not have this problem. I also countered the softening dough by chilling it in the fridge between press refills and making sure the pans were completely cooled before I re-spritzed them. Be careful not to over-bake these. Take them out at the slightest hint of brown at the edges or else they'll taste dry and burnt.

I used lemon flavored gelatin for these, which made the cookies slightly tangy but not too lemony (I'm not sure I would have recognized the taste as lemon if I hadn't made these myself!). I suspect that strawberry gelatin would also make for mild, fragrant, and delicious baby pink cookies.

Also, you should note that this recipe makes a lot of cookies with a standard cookie press. This doesn't mean that these take a long time (the cooking time is short and you can fit a lot of cookies on a single sheet), but it does mean you'll have a lot of deliciousness to go around. Since spritzes are traditionally Christmas cookies, perhaps you're meant to make them in big batches and give them away as gifts!
---------------

Gelatin Spritz Cookies
From Kitchenmate

3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups margarine
1 cup sugar
1 small box gelatin (any flavor)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream margarine, sugar, and gelatin. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Gradually add flour and baking powder and blend until smooth. Fill Kitchenmate Cookie Press with dough. Using cookie discs, press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Enjoy!