These piped Christmas cookies (‘spritz’ means to squirt or spray in German) hold their definition well as there is no chemical raising agent in the dough mix. If you prefer, leave out the green food colouring.
1/4 tsp bake-safe green food colouring gel, optional
250g
(9oz) plain flour
Silver balls or edible sprinkles, to decorate
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, beat the butter with a handheld electric whisk to make sure it’s soft. Add the sugar, egg and yolk, vanilla and food colouring (if using) and beat until just combined – the mixture will look slightly curdled. Fold in the flour with a large metal spoon.
Step 2
Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm (2/3in) star nozzle. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. Pipe squiggles of dough in the shape of little Christmas trees on to the prepared baking sheets, about 8cm (31/4in) long. Space apart as they may spread. Decorate with silver balls or sprinkles. Chill for 30min.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Bake biscuits for 10min until set. Cool for 5min on sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To store
Keep cooled biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
