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Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipe – simple to make, impressive, melt in your mouth cookies, perfect for any occasion.

These buttery, elegant cookies are a Christmas staple. Quick and easy to make, inexpensive, with various ways to decorate. Put them in a metal box, lined with parchment paper and present at your holiday table or give as presents to your loved ones.

Oxo press chocolate spritz cookies on a plate

How to make chocolate spritz cookies

Buttery chocolate cookie dough, used in a Spritz cookie press to pipe out cookie designs. Baked to perfection. Full of chocolate flavor, dipped in chocolate and covered with holiday sprinkles. Festive, tiny homemade Christmas cookies.

Make the dough. This chocolate Spritz cookie dough recipe is slightly adapted from the one OXO recommends in their booklet. I suggest that you use the recipe and don’t change it too much, because the cookies might be ruined. The recipe has been tested many times with great results.
They suggest to chill the dough, but I almost never do it. I use it right away and my cookies never spread.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C or 165 C with a fan).
For best results use a clean cookie sheet, not lined with anything (no parchment paper or foil). The cookies come off easily. If you decide to use parchment, they may lift and move from it once piped (because the dough is too buttery). Silicone baking mats also work.
Set the cookie disk you are using and fill the press with dough.
Pipe the cookies. (Add sprinkles to the unbaked cookies – optional).
Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the edges are set and starting to dry.
Cool each pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the cookies and cool on a wire rack.
Use clean and dry pan for each batch.

What cocoa to use? Use unsweetened cocoa powder, either Dutch processed or regular.

Tips to make the best Chocolate Spritz Cookies

Soft dough, room temperature
Baking time is 5- 8 minutes, depending on the thickness/moisture of the dough, type of pan and oven used.
Use clean and dry pan for each batch of cookies. This way they don’t slide, burn or stick.
Dip cookies in melted chocolate – dark, white or colorful candy melts. Then, if you’d like to, add some sprinkles of your choice (Christmas colors, gold, white, silver or even star shapes).
Decorate – see the step above. These cookies taste pretty good without any decoration. But definitely take this extra step, if you have the time and desire. Dip in chocolate or add sprinkles.
Baking mat – parchment paper or Silpat? Honestly, for best results, I pipe these beauties directly onto my Nordic Ware cookie sheets. No parchment or Silicone baking mat. Parchment tends to move and slide and it is not a good option. If you’d like to use a mat, use a silicone one. The cookies stick pretty good to it and bake nicely.

What really is a cookie press?

A cookie press is kitchen gadget that consists of a cylinder with a plunger on one end.

The cylinder is filled with cookie dough and decorative discs are attached to the front of the press.

When the cookie dough is extruded, it will come out in a unique and attractive design.

There are several different brands that offer spritz cookie presses, that look pretty similar at first sight.

I’ll stay away from giving you advice on what press is best, since I’ve only used the OXO one and my grandma’s old European Spritz Cookie Press.

They both work pretty good. I’ve seen a lot of not so good reviews on the OXO Cookie press, the ones from Nordic Ware, Norpro and Wilton. The complaints are mostly that the dough doesn’t come out easily to “pipe” the cookies. This is not really a problem of the press, but an issue with the dough.

Dough needs to be soft and at room temperature, pipeable and not too dry. The harder the dough, the greater the possibility to break the press and ruin the experience of making your own spritz cookies.

Be gentle when using your cookie press.

Most presses come with just 10 discs, so if you’d like to make different shapes and patterns, you need to purchase more discs, that will cost you some money.

I love using different discs, when making these cookies, because they are so much fun to make, eat and give away to family and friends.

You can make these cookies without a press. Just fill a piping bag with the dough and use a star tip to pipe the cookies.

A plate with Christmas chocolate spritz cookies

These Easy Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies are so easy to make (using the same OXO cookie press). Have some more free time before the holidays? Try these Stained Glass Cookies, they are super cool and delicious. An easier, foolproof cookie recipe with amazing holiday flavors and minimal work – Slice and Bake Cranberry Orange Chocolate Cookies.

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