Bready or Not: Maple Spritz Cookies
You've probably noticed that I do a lot of drop and bar cookies. The flavors tend to be along my lines of preference, but they are also straightforward to make.
Cut-out cookies and cookie press cookies give me terrible grief here in Arizona. It's dry. A lot of these recipes advise chilling the dough before shaping it. A lot of times, I try to follow such directions on my first try for the recipe. It never, ever works for these particular kinds of cookies. Even wrapped in plastic, the dough dries out like uncapped Play-Doh.
That's what happened with this lovely dough. So, I did what I always do--dropped it back in the mixer and added water until the dough was pliable.
Therefore, I added a note to this recipe. The good news is that most folks probably won't have this problem, but if you do, it's an easy fix. Because trust me, this isn't a dough you want to give up on and toss in the trash.
If you love maple flavor, oh man, the flavor is subtle and fresh here. Spritz cookies are so light and airy, and that works well with that touch of a heavy flavor like maple. This would really be a fabulous cookie all through the Christmas holidays, and I bet it'd be great with sprinkles or glaze.
Maple Spritz Cookies
modified from Basic Spritz Cookies - Maple Variation at Cooks.com
[Cookie volume depends on size and disc used. Using the pumpkin disc, I had to pump 3-4 times for each cookie and the recipe made 40. The original recipe says it can make 6-7 dozen.]
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons maple flavor
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1) Preheat oven at 375-degrees and set a metal cookie sheets (or sheets) to chill in the fridge.
2) Cream together the butter and shortening. Add sugar gradually until the mix is light and fluffy, about three to five minutes.
3) Add the egg and maple flavor. Slowly pour in the flour, baking powder, and salt until it's incorporated.
If the dough is too soft, refrigerate it until firm (and turn off your oven). If the dough's too hard, add water in slow increments until it's pliable. (Note: I live in Arizona where it's extra dry and had to add about 1/4 cup of water for the dough to work in my cookie press.)
4) Assemble the cookie press with your desired disc and fill the container with dough. Press cookies onto the chilled cookie sheet.
5) Bake 7-8 minutes, until the cookies are just barely turning color at the edges.
OM NOM NOM.
Cut-out cookies and cookie press cookies give me terrible grief here in Arizona. It's dry. A lot of these recipes advise chilling the dough before shaping it. A lot of times, I try to follow such directions on my first try for the recipe. It never, ever works for these particular kinds of cookies. Even wrapped in plastic, the dough dries out like uncapped Play-Doh.
That's what happened with this lovely dough. So, I did what I always do--dropped it back in the mixer and added water until the dough was pliable.
Therefore, I added a note to this recipe. The good news is that most folks probably won't have this problem, but if you do, it's an easy fix. Because trust me, this isn't a dough you want to give up on and toss in the trash.
If you love maple flavor, oh man, the flavor is subtle and fresh here. Spritz cookies are so light and airy, and that works well with that touch of a heavy flavor like maple. This would really be a fabulous cookie all through the Christmas holidays, and I bet it'd be great with sprinkles or glaze.
Maple Spritz Cookies
modified from Basic Spritz Cookies - Maple Variation at Cooks.com
[Cookie volume depends on size and disc used. Using the pumpkin disc, I had to pump 3-4 times for each cookie and the recipe made 40. The original recipe says it can make 6-7 dozen.]
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons maple flavor
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1) Preheat oven at 375-degrees and set a metal cookie sheets (or sheets) to chill in the fridge.
2) Cream together the butter and shortening. Add sugar gradually until the mix is light and fluffy, about three to five minutes.
3) Add the egg and maple flavor. Slowly pour in the flour, baking powder, and salt until it's incorporated.
If the dough is too soft, refrigerate it until firm (and turn off your oven). If the dough's too hard, add water in slow increments until it's pliable. (Note: I live in Arizona where it's extra dry and had to add about 1/4 cup of water for the dough to work in my cookie press.)
4) Assemble the cookie press with your desired disc and fill the container with dough. Press cookies onto the chilled cookie sheet.
5) Bake 7-8 minutes, until the cookies are just barely turning color at the edges.
OM NOM NOM.