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These Easy Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies are soft, buttery, lightly sweet, and incredibly fun to make.
The dough comes together quickly, presses beautifully, and bakes into tender cookies with delicate edges and a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Cream cheese adds richness and structure, making these spritz cookies more forgiving and consistently delicious.
Whether you’re baking for Christmas, a holiday cookie platter, or a festive party, this recipe delivers reliable results with minimal effort.
Simply prepare the dough, load your cookie press, and press directly onto the baking sheet. No chilling, no complicated steps, just classic spritz cookies that look beautiful and taste even better.
For more Spritz Cookie Press ideas, you may also like to check these: Gingerbread Spritz Cookies, Chocolate Spritz Cookies or Butter Spritz Cookies.
Helpful tips for perfect cream cheese spritz cookies
- Do not line the baking sheet. Spritz cookies must stick slightly to the pan in order to release properly from the cookie press.
- Use a cool, clean baking sheet. If the pan is warm, the dough will not adhere well.
- Dough consistency matters. The dough should be soft but not warm or sticky. If it feels too soft, chill it for 10 minutes.
- Press straight down and lift cleanly. Avoid twisting the press for the best shape definition.
- Rotate pans halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
- Avoid overbaking. Spritz cookies should be pale with lightly golden edges, not deeply browned.
What You’ll Need For Cookie Press Cream Cheese Cookies
These cream cheese spritz cookies are made with simple, classic baking ingredients you likely already have on hand. Using full-fat cream cheese and butter is key for the soft texture and rich flavor.
- Butter – softened, unsalted for best control of salt
- Cream cheese – full-fat, softened
- Egg yolk – adds richness and helps bind the dough
- Sugar – granulated white sugar
- All-purpose flour – spooned and leveled
- Salt – balances sweetness
- Vanilla extract – for flavor
Tip: Make sure the butter and cream cheese are fully softened before mixing. This helps the dough press easily through the cookie press and keeps the cookies smooth and uniform.
How to make Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese.
- Add sugar, beat to incorporate. Add egg yolk and beat until light and fluffy. Next add vanilla and beat to combine.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and salt. Add flour gradually to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated
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Place the dough (you’ll need to work in batches) in the cookie press with the desired disk.
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Press dough out onto clean, ungreased cookie sheet. (Do not cover the baking sheet with parchment, wax paper or aluminum foil)!
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Sprinkle cookies with holiday sprinkles (optional).
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Bake for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown on the edges, rotating the sheets once halfway through (be careful not to burn them!).Remove from the oven and let cookies cool for 5-7 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack or a platter.
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You can also color the dough (using gel food coloring preferably), if you’d like to make colorful cookies, like green Christmas trees.
So the most important question – Do you really need a cookie press to make spritz cookies?
And the answer is no.
Many people, also experienced home and professional bakers will tell you to just fill a piping bag and use a tip like “star” to pipe out the cookies.
I’ve tried it and it works.
But using a pastry bag has its cons, too!
Why use a cookie press instead of pastry bag for spritz cookies?
- The shapes you can create with a pastry bag and tip are limited.
- It requires more effort, than just using the cookie press.
- And honestly, I prefer the press.
- I do enough work throughout the day with my hands and any shortcut is welcome.
- The cookies are the same size and shape when using a cookie press.
- If you decide to use a piping bag, your dough needs to be the perfect consistency. Too thick will make the piping more difficult.
What cookie press to use for cream cheese spritz cookies?
There are many brands on the marker and almost all of them look like my grandmother’s old cookie press.
But hers is made out of metal and a lot sturdier.
The one I have is the OXO brand.
I have three sets of disks, but the ones that come with the press and pretty good.
This is what I sued today.
There also is a Nordic Ware and Wilton cookie presses, that look almost similar.
Hope you get to try this Easy Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies Recipe.
FAQs
No. You can pipe the dough using a piping bag fitted with a star tip. However, a cookie press is easier to use, requires less effort, and produces more uniform cookies.
This usually happens if the baking sheet is lined, greasy, or warm. Always press the dough onto a clean, ungreased, cool baking sheet.
Yes. If the dough feels too soft or sticky, chill it for 10–15 minutes. Avoid chilling for too long, or the dough may become difficult to press.
Yes. Gel food coloring works best and will not affect the dough consistency. Mix gently until evenly colored.
Yes. Baked spritz cookies freeze well for up to 2 months when stored in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers.
Easy Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, unsalted, cold, cubed
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- holiday sprinkles, colored sugars, optiona;
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar, beat to incorporate. Add egg yolk and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and salt. Add flour gradually to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated.
- Place the dough (you’ll need to work in batches) in the cookie press with the desired disk. Press dough out onto clean, ungreased cookie sheet. (Do not cover the baking sheet with parchment, wax paper or aluminum foil)!Sprinkle cookies with holiday sprinkles (optional).
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown on the edges, rotating the sheets once halfway through (be careful not to burn them!).
- Remove from the oven and let cookies cool for 5-7 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack or a platter.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The recipe worked perfect with my Pamper Cheft cookie press and the family loved them!!! Plan on using this recipe next year for my Holiday cookies.
How many does this recipe make?
between 36 and 48 depending on the shape
The cookie recipe is delicious but I’m having a bit of trouble getting the cookies pressed nicely. What is happening is that the dough doesn’t release from the press. I have tried it with my old WearEver cookie press and my Pampered Chef press. I’ve tried refrigerating the dough but it doesn’t seem to help. I’m in Florida and wondering if humidity might be a factor?
Can I use marscapone cheese instead of cream cheese?
I have not tried it and I’m not sure if this will work.
These cookies were delicious–even better than my mom’s recipe! I loved how easily the dough worked with my Wear-Ever cookie press.
For those of you having trouble getting the cookies to release onto the cookie sheet..,I put my cookie sheets in the fridge to make them cold then the press works like a dream.
I’ve try this recipe, it’s very easy and I love the cookies. Thank you very much for sharing the recipe
Why can I not use parchment paper ?
When I try to pipe the cookies over parchment, they don’t stick to it, it lifts, moves and ruins the shape. You can try using it and report the results.
These are very easy to make and taste delicious. I wanted to try them even tho I don’t have a press. I used a Wilton pan with Xmas cookie cutter shapes that I sprayed with oil. The didn’t take the shapes as well as I’d hoped with this recipe, but they sure taste yummy, despite all the neat details.
This is the first time that my spritz cookies actually retained their shape! The look great and taste fabulous! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
My son and I made these cookies yesterday. The dough came together easily. It was our first time using a cookie press so once we figured out how to work the press, we made lots of cookies! They tasted great! Thank you for the great recipe. I think we will be making them more often from now on. 😊