Christmastime has always been and will always be one of my favorite times of year. As a kid, I always looked forward to the gifts, of course, but I also enjoyed making cookies, like these Spritz cookies, with my mommy and heading to Lancaster for a week or longer to stay with my grandparents and uncle. My mom's sisters and their families come over for dinner, and we eat as many cookies and as much delicious ham dinner as we possibly can before we are so stuffed full of goodies! After we all clean up, we head downstairs (grandkids in order by age!) to open family presents and play crazy board games while we pass around the singing hat, eat more cookies and drink cranberry ginger ale and egg nog. Honestly, there isn't a better time of the year than when we are together as a family for Christmas.
One of my favorites memories during Thanksgiving is taking our annual trip to Lititz, PA for a chocolate shopping spree at Wilbur! My Grandpa would always put together a few giant trays of assorted chocolate for Christmas...malted milk balls, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate peanut butter truffles...the list goes on. Although my Grandpa was a dentist, he had the biggest sweet tooth there was! As he put the candy on the trays, half of it went in his mouth!
I also remember a hilarious memory of Grandpa from a few Christmases ago. He had previously given everyone in the family a little glass cross. He said to keep the cross in your pocket everyday, and God will be there with you. As we finished opening presents, Grandpa said, "Ok, who has your cross? I have $5 for you if you have it!" We all thought he was kidding until he pulled out a giant stack of $5 bills! He had made my Grandma go to the bank and get some fives for him :)
Even though my Grandpa passed away on September 25th of this year, we will remember all of his wit and humor and will cherish all of the memories we had with him.
One of my favorites memories during Thanksgiving is taking our annual trip to Lititz, PA for a chocolate shopping spree at Wilbur! My Grandpa would always put together a few giant trays of assorted chocolate for Christmas...malted milk balls, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate peanut butter truffles...the list goes on. Although my Grandpa was a dentist, he had the biggest sweet tooth there was! As he put the candy on the trays, half of it went in his mouth!
I also remember a hilarious memory of Grandpa from a few Christmases ago. He had previously given everyone in the family a little glass cross. He said to keep the cross in your pocket everyday, and God will be there with you. As we finished opening presents, Grandpa said, "Ok, who has your cross? I have $5 for you if you have it!" We all thought he was kidding until he pulled out a giant stack of $5 bills! He had made my Grandma go to the bank and get some fives for him :)
Even though my Grandpa passed away on September 25th of this year, we will remember all of his wit and humor and will cherish all of the memories we had with him.
These Spritz Cookies are so much fun to decorate with my sister and mom! We like coming up with new designs, but sometimes we stick to the same ones every year. With the flowers (in the middle) we like to use a red dot in the middle of the flower and holly leaves on each petal. I also like using brown jimmies for the tree stumps and for the reindeer feet! There are so many possibilities with these :)
Comment below and show me a picture of yours!
Comment below and show me a picture of yours!
Total Time: 1 hour
Prep Time: 10 minutes + decorating time
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Yield: approx. 14 dozen cookies
Necessary Tools:
Ingredients:
Directions:
Source: Pat Kleine (neighbors of my Grandma--these are her favorites!!)
Prep Time: 10 minutes + decorating time
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Yield: approx. 14 dozen cookies
Necessary Tools:
- Cookie shooter (like this one)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups butter (4 sticks), softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Sprinkles and colored sugar (optional) for decorating
Directions:
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Add to the butter mixture and beat well.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add to the butter in small amounts and mix until all is combined.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Fill a cookie press with dough and place the disk of your choice on the press. (Each press is slightly different, so make sure you read the directions!) Moving quickly, add the dough to a cold, ungreased cookie sheet.
- Decorate the cookies before you bake! Bake each tray for 11 minutes until very lightly golden on the edges. You don't want to overbake! Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Source: Pat Kleine (neighbors of my Grandma--these are her favorites!!)
