#5 the goose is getting fat: i love these cookies!

Well this is the last post in my Christmas series, the goose is getting fat. It was supposed to be about celebrating with friends and family... but this morning I am in the process of making cookies and they are SO cute and SO yummy I've opted to share about these instead!

They are Classic Spritz Cookies. Here's the catch... you have to have a cookie press to make them. There are a lot of different presses out there, but mine is the one that Pampered Chef makes (it was a gift last Christmas).

To use a cookie press you stuff the "gun" with dough, put a special shapped disc on the end (my set came with lots of flowers, a pumpkin, butterfly, clover, wreath, tree, leaf, etc) and squeeze the trigger while pressing down on the cookie sheet. The press shoots out just the right amount of dough for each cookie in the right shape.

Side note: if you still need a gift for someone and they like to bake, or can't bake well, or like cookies, etc... this is a great gift! I have used mine a lot in the past year.

Here's the recipe:

3 sticks of butter (yummmmm)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

3.5 cups of flour

That's IT!

You mix it up (it's thick... don't burn out the motor on your handheld mixer... mind starts to smell like it's burning sometimes). Then you "shoot" the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes... then check them... bake a little longer... check again... bake a few more seconds... take them out. (this is how all the women in my family make cookies... it's a surefire way to make sure they don't burn!)

I love these cookies because:

1. They look pretty and are festive! I used green food coloring and sprinkles this time to make my trees and wreaths.

2. They are easy!

3. They are not super sweet... this is good and bad... it's easy to eat a lot of them because of this.

4. One recipe makes 77 cookies! Eat two right out of the oven and that leaves you with 75 beautiful cookies (yay... I can subtract!)

So if you have a cookie press, drag it out of the cupboard and fire it up. If you don't, find a friend to borrow one to see how you like it. I've also seen them at yard sales.

I'm telling you... with these things the goose'll get fat real fast!

Happy Christmas!