We enjoy German Christmas cookies during Advent and the Christmas season, and one of our favorite cookies is Spritzgebäck – a crisp shortbread type cookie that’s traditionally topped with melted chocolate on just a portion of the cookie’s top surface.  Honestly, these cookies are wonderful any time of the year, with or without the melted chocolate.  These simple cookies allow the individual flavors of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and chocolate (when used) to express themselves individually, without competing or being overpowered by icing.

This was my first attempt at making a gluten-free Spritzgebäck, so I only made half a recipe as an experiment, and didn’t opt for the melted chocolate.  While my first ever piping technique needs some artistic work and practice, these Spritzgebäck cookies turned out perfectly – with a delicious traditional Spritzgebäck flavor, a nice golden color, and a sharp snap when broken – just what the holidays call for! 🙂

You can easily find photos of Spritzgebäck online, and lots of traditional German recipes to follow – just look for something that suits your fancy – or use ours.  My wife’s recipe used for these cookies is a traditional family recipe from Germany, and while I made only half a recipe this morning, you can easily double it to make a larger batch.

Spritzgebäck Recipe:

– 125 grams butter

– 125 grams sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 package of vanilla sugar (We use a Dr. Oetker .32 oz/9 grams package, or use vanilla extract instead)

– 125 grams ‘Gluten-Free 1 for 1 flour’

– 125 grams oat flour (I pulse my own oat flour from rolled oats in the food processor)

Combine together in order: butter, sugar, egg, vanilla sugar and gluten-free flour.  The dough will be stiff to begin with, but will loosen up a bit when piped.  You can also form the cookies with a cookie mill instead.  I baked these Spritzgebäck for 17 minutes in a 350 degree F oven, and the recipe made 48, 2″ and 3″ cookies.  Enjoy! ☼ 🙂