Our Families Favorite Cookies...Spritz

So where have I been??  Life has been happening here on the home front.  In a previous post, I talked about my mom is now living with us and the future Christmas baking we would be doing together.  Well part of that happened...while making our family favorite Spritz pressed cookies, my mom passed out!

It was not a fun day nor the next few days in the hospital.  My mom is fine after meds were adjusted.  She kept bemoaning the cookies left at home still needing to be made.  I told her we were at the hospital as I wrote my 'to do' schedule for the morning and had taking mom to the ER as top on the list for the day.  This helped to lighten the mood as we waited for the reports.  Even with the light hearted joking, hospitals really are not a fun place to be nor helpful when you are on a tight schedule to make Christmas happen for the family.

The cookies did get made but I decided to have mom sitting while pressing the cookies. :)

Spritz Cookies (Shaped like Christmas Trees!!)

3 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour*
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp green food coloring

Stir together whole wheat pastry flour and baking powder.  In your Bosch mixer with the L'Equip Bowl Scraper beat butter till soft.  Add raw sugar and beat till fluffy.  Add egg, vanilla and almond extract.  Beat well.  Gradually add whole wheat pastry flour.  Beat till mixed well.

Note from Paula: When using your Bosch it really whips...beats your food FAST!!  What does this mean?  You don't have to beat your cookies as long as a recipe says to do.  This will overbeat the doughs and make the cookies tough. 

Also, the L'Equip Bowl Scraper does a fabulous job scraping the dough from the center column and the outside of the bowl and incorporating it back into the whips as it is mixing.  Makes the whipping/beating of the dough faster and well mixed.  You will love it!!

Back to the recipe....
Tint the dough with green food coloring.  Force dough through a cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  Remove and cool.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies

*Whole wheat pastry flour is also known as soft wheat.  This is a grain made for making pastries only and not breads.  I love to use the L'Equip Flour sifter to make the flour even lighter and fluffier.  It is like using a sifted cake flour.