These small, almond flour spritz cookies are buttery, lightly sweetened with honey, and have a delicious almond flavor. A cookie press is used to get beautiful, intricate cookie designs that are perfect for any holiday or season! The easy pressed cookie recipe is SCD (specific carbohydrate diet), gluten free, grain free, refined sugar free, and low lactose.
These little almond flour spritz cookies, which are sometimes called pressed or butter cookies, are soft and oh so buttery! We enjoy these cookies throughout the year but definitely make them more during Christmas and the holiday season!
What are spritz cookies?
Spritz (short for spritzgeback) cookies are a German cookie made of flour, butter, egg, and sugar. The cookies have intricate shapes which are made by using a cookie press.
While this recipe is certainly inspired by traditional spritz cookies, the ingredients have been changed to make a delicious SCD treat!
Ingredients:
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I do not recommend using coconut oil in place of butter in this recipe. It significantly alters both the flavor and texture of the cookies. Try using ghee instead if your system can't handle butter.
Blanched finely ground almond flour will produce the best texture for these cookies.
The egg in this recipe helps the intricate details of the cookies really stand out. However, the use of an egg is completely optional, the flavor and texture of the cookies are not altered by its omission.
These little butter cookies are not very sweet at all, if you prefer a sweeter treat, I recommend increasing the honey by only ½ tablespoon. Anymore than that and the dough will be too wet.
What if I don't have a cookie press?
A cookie press is certainly the easiest way to make cookies! It's such a fun little gadget that comes with disks that have a variety of designs on them...things like hearts, flowers, pumpkins, trees, wreaths, etc.
I purchased mine from Williams-Sonoma and although they no longer sell it, there's one by Kuhn Rikon 
that's similar.
If you don't have a cookie press and don't feel like buying one, here's a little cheat for you! Place the dough in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe out small circles or stars onto the baking sheet.
When using this technique, it's important to keep the cookies the same size so they bake evenly.
What if I want cookies that are crispier?
As mentioned above, these spritz cookies are on the soft side. In general, baking with almond flour does not produce crisp cookies, especially if you can't add something like arrowroot powder. However, I've found a solution!
Dehydrate them! After your cookies have finished baking, allow the oven to cool before setting the temperature at 170F and place the cookies back in the oven for 3 hours. Your end result is almond flour cookies that will keep their crispiness for days!
Note: I personally do not own a dehydrator, but if you do, feel free to use it instead of your oven. I don't know what the conversion would be though so you'll have to figure that out on your own.
Tips for making the best spritz cookies!
- Once all of the ingredients have been mixed together, allow the dough to rest for 3 to 5 minutes. This allows the almond flour to fully absorb the wet ingredients.
- The dough will still be a bit wet and slightly sticky. If you find it's too difficult to work with, place it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before filling the cookie press.
- Chilling the pressed cookies on the cookie sheet before placing in the oven is crucial to ensuring the cookies hold their shape.
- The cookies have enough butter in them that there's no need to grease your baking sheet, especially if you have a non-stick pan.
- Since these cookies are small and made with almond flour, they tend to burn easily. So keep an eye on them while baking!
How should I decorate almond flour spritz cookies?
I feel like the beautiful little designs on the cookies are decoration enough and the cookies don't really need anything added. However, if you're all about the decor, here are some of my favorite options:
- crushed freeze dried strawberries or raspberries to use as sprinkles
- salted caramel sauce drizzle
- unsweetened shredded coconut
as sprinkles - a drizzle of nut butter or coconut butter
as sprinkles
Make sure to try these other yummy dessert recipes!
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Almond Flour Spritz Cookies
Equipment
- cookie press
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched finely ground almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten and at room temperature (optional, see notes below)
- 10 ½ Tablespoons butter, melted (make sure it's cooled to room temperature)
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ teaspoons almond extract
- (optional) Crushed freeze dried strawberries or raspberries for sprinkles.
Instructions
Soft Cookies
- In a large bowl use a rubber spatula to mix and press together all of the ingredients until a soft dough has formed. Allow the dough to rest for 3 to 5 minutes, this allows the flour to absorb some of the moisture.
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Assemble and fill your cookie press with dough according to the manufacturers instructions. (I find rolling the dough into balls before placing into the tube of the press works best.) If you find the dough is too wet to work with, place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before filling the cookies press.
- Press the cookies about 1 inch apart onto the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet with the pressed cookies into the freezer to chill for 5 minutes. this step is crucial as it will help the cookies keep their intricate designs.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 7 to 10 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown on the bottom and just slightly golden on top.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Crispier Cookies
- Follow all of the above steps for the soft cookies.
- Once your cookies have finished baking, allow your oven to cool completely, Then set the temperature to 170F.
- Place the baking sheet with the cookies back into the oven and allow to dehydrate for up to 3 hours.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Notes
- The egg in this recipe helps the intricate details of the cookies stand out, however, its use is completely optional. You can still see the spritz cookie details without the egg and the texture and flavor has no noticeable difference.
- The cookies are not very sweet at all. If you prefer a sweeter cookie then increase the honey to 4 Tablespoons.
- Ghee can be used in place of butter, I do not suggest using coconut oil. The flavor and texture will be "off".
- If you don't have a cookie press, place the dough in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe out small circles or stars.
- If you want, decorate the cookies with crushed, freeze dried fruit, unsweetened shredded coconut, or drizzle with caramel sauce, coconut butter, or nut butter.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days on the counter or 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
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Vicky
I'm trying new recipes for Christmas cookies. My boss is diabetic and want him to enjoy the cookies I bring in without his sugar spiking. I didn't freeze the cookies before baking, as my freezer is too narrow for my sheets. Instead, I put the dough on the press and refrigerated for about 9 minutes. I baked them for 13 minutes and let them cool for another 10 minutes on the sheet before removing. The result was a lightly sweet and slightly crisp melt-in-mouth cookie. It was a little grainy from the almond flour, but still good.
Jennifer Brown
Glad you liked them Vicky! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!