Tasty Tuesday: Maple-Filled Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies

I am so excited that it's fall! This is my favorite season for so many reasons, but especially for the flavors: apples, pumpkins, cinnamon, nutmeg. Within the past few weeks we've already made pumpkin bread a few times and zucchini muffins. And cinnamon swirl bread, but we make that year-round. With all the bread baking, we were needing a change. These cookies were the perfect solution.

Not only do they taste yummy with just a hint of pumpkin spice, but look how adorable they are! The kids love whenever we pull out the cookie press. Treats are even more fun when they're in cute little shapes.

I love how the end of one color bled into the beginning of the new one in some of the cookies. I think it would be really pretty to fill the cookie press alternating the different colors. It would make wonderful multicolored leaves--perfect for fall!

While the cookies themselves are not quite as buttery as our typical spritz recipe, they make up for it with the maple filling. To me, they taste just like the maple cookies my grandparents used to buy in the bulk section of the grocery store. Leighton said they taste like a cross between pancakes and waffles. Haha, I guess the maple filling just means that we can eat these for breakfast!

Because you don't need a lot of filling for the cookies, I used the leftover goodness to frost a loaf of that cinnamon swirl bread I was talking about. And, yes, I most definitely ate a piece of that with my coffee for breakfast!


Whether you prefer these cookies by themselves or filled with maple goodness, why not make a batch to celebrate fall.

 

Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies
 Ingredients:
1 cup (16 tablespoons) butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
 food coloring (optional)

Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly mix dry ingredients in with the butter mixture until combined.
4. If using food coloring, separate the dough, and add coloring accordingly.
5. Fill the cookie press with dough and press cookies onto ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake at 350* for 7-8 minutes, until firm and edges are just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.


Maple Filling
Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Blend in maple and vanilla extracts. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until combined.

Sandwich maple filling between 2 cookies.

Recipes adapted from diethood.

Tasty Tuesday: Spritz Cookies

It's week 3 of Christmas baking recipes. Spritz cookies are good for any time of the year. They are very buttery and flavorful.  The kids like them because they're colorful, have sprinkles, and are fun to make. I like them because they're easy and make a ton!

If you have a cookie press, you need to make these.

And if you don't have a cookie press? Buy one! Ok, you can also use the dough just plopped down on the sheet, but they won't be as pretty. They will still taste just as buttery-delicious though.

See? I told you they were buttery.

 In fact, there aren't many other ingredients in there to distract from that buttery taste.

 Add some flour to stiffen it up, and you're set to go.

Since we were making Christmas cookies, we used green food coloring. Lots and lots of green to get a dark, rich color.

 Next is the fun part: using the "gun" to form the cookies.

 And then comes the other fun part: sprinkles!

We popped the trees into the oven and started work on the ornament cookies. Same process, just add red food coloring instead of the green. And of course, change the little disc in the cookie press.

Isn't this pathetic? I randomly snapped a single pic as all the cookies were scattered across the kitchen table before I assembled the tins and plates for friends. I had meant to take some more picture afterwards with the cookies we had left over. That never happened. Isn't that a nice tree trunk though? And how about that snickerdoodle next to it? That's about all that's in focus, and there's no pic of the red ornaments. Oh well, just trust me - they were cute and yummy!

Whether you make trees for Christmas, umbrellas for spring, or just plain ol' circles just because you wanna, go ahead and make these cookies. You won't be disappointed!

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c (3 sticks) butter, softened                     1 tsp vanilla

1 c sugar                                                           3 1/2 c flour

1 egg                                                                 

Directions:

1. In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla; beat well. Add flour 1 cup at a time; mix well. Dough will be soft. Do not refrigerate.

2. Fill cookie press, fitted with disk of choice, with dough. Press dough onto cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Decorate cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired.

3. Bake at 375°F for 10-12 minutes or until firm, but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet; remove and let cool completely on wire racks.