Classic Spritz Cookies | Gold Medal Flour US (2024)

FAQs

Does my cookie dough have enough flour? ›

Not Enough Flour

If your cookies are flat, brown, crispy, and possibly even a bit lacy around the edges, that means you need to add flour to your dough for the next batch.

If it's too cold, it'll be hard to squeeze out of the pres. If it's too warm, it'll be too soft, and it won't hold its shape when baked. Holding your hand on the tube will warm the dough, so try to use just one hand on the trigger – place your other hand on the cookie sheet to keep it from moving.

Begin with cool, ungreased cookie sheets. You can even skip parchment paper or a silicone mat, which may encourage spreading. Keep it simple.

*If your cookies are not sticking to the cookie sheet well, try refrigerating the pans for 10 to 15 minutes to chill them. Dough sticks better to a cooler sheet.

Too much sugar, not enough flour.

Using too little flour will prevent rising, and too much sugar will result in more spreading since sugar liquefies when heated.

Too much flour can result in cookies that look like scoops of ice cream. Packing the flour — tapping the measuring cup on the counter or pushing the powder down with a spoon — will result in using too much.

Simply adding the flour to the stand mixer and beating it in runs the risk of overdeveloping gluten and giving you a tough or dense cookie (not what you want after all that work with the creaming). Instead, the best method is to add the flour and mix it in by hand, stopping as soon as no dry flour remains.

Mistake 1: The butter is too soft

If this happens, the butter will melt faster in the oven and your cookies will flatten before they can set.

Helpful Hints and Tips for Perfect Spritz Cookies:

Do not chill the dough before using. The dough should be at room temperature so it can be piped through the press. If your cookies start to spread or your kitchen is warm, try chilling the pans in the refrigerator for a few minutes before piping the cookies on the pan.

Improper flour measurement is the #1 cause of your cookie dough being too dry or the cookies tasting like flour.

Why did my spritz cookies spread in the oven? ›

Too much sugar, too much butter, or too little flour can all contribute to cookies that are on the run. (In the case of cookies that spread no matter how careful you are preparing the dough and/or the baking sheets, I'd probably turn to another recipe.)

Sticky dough usually means your dough is too soft. Try chilling it for a few minutes or add 1 teaspoon of sifted flour to your dough until the proper consistency is achieved.

Insulated Cookie Sheets

Pros: Cookie sheets are insulated to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from browning too much or too quickly and are ideal for when you're baking thin or delicate cookies, or treats should be lightly colored, such as spritz cookies and shortbread.

If you decide to use icing make sure the cookies are cooled completely before decorating them and don't add any sprinkles before baking. This spritz cookies recipe bakes quickly so keep an eye on them, you don't want them to brown they should just be starting to turn ever so slightly golden at the edges.

Flour is a stabilizer and thickener and controls how much the cookie rises. It holds the cookie together, providing it with its structure. If you use too little flour your cookie won't keep its shape but if you use too much you'll end up with a thick tasteless cookie.

Not enough liquid

There are a few things you can do if your cookie dough is too dry and crumbly. First, try adding more liquid to the dough. This could be milk, water, or even just additional eggs. If that doesn't work, you could also try melting some butter and adding it to the dough.

When there's too much flour and not enough liquid, the whole rising process is thrown off. The dryness of the dough will prevent the yeast or another rising agent from activating properly, leading to a stunted rise (or it may not rise at all). The resulting loaf will be dense as well as dry.