Pretty in Pink Spritz Cookies

As a kiddo, Spritz were one of my favorite cookies.   My mom would make them around Christmas and they had the standard red and green sugar dusted over them.  They were piped into a 1 inch rectangle similar to a cheese straw.  

These airy cookies remind me somewhat of a shortbread as they're simply flour, sugar and butter but unlike shortbread, these have an egg involved in the mix.

PITAYA POWDER (FREEZE DRIED DRAGONFRUIT) LENDS THE PRETTY PINK COLOR HERE

They're so buttery and simply delightful.  Their simplicity lends to many variations on the traditional recipe as here where I add pitaya powder, which is freeze dried dragonfruit powder.  This powder is a dramatic pink color and being that I used just a teaspoon in my cookies, they came out a delicate pink color.  Using more pitaya would yield a much more dramatically colored  cookie.  

I further enhanced the pretty in pink theme with a dusting of pink decorating sugar.  This was my nod to an easy Valentine's treat.  I'm taking a batch to some family and making sure there are plenty on my kitchen counter for Valentine's Day partakers. 

Surprise your Valentine's loves, kids, hubby, friends or whomever with this quick, cute sweet treat.

Pretty in Pink Spritz Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen


1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar (I use cane sugar)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used vanilla powder but regular vanilla or vanilla paste will work)
1 teaspoon pitaya powder (freeze dried dragonfruit powder) optional
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Decorating sugar is optional.  I used a pink sugar to sprinkle over.  This can also be attained by mixing some cane sugar with papaya powder.




Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer.  Beat in egg, vanilla, pitaya powder and a pinch of salt until everything is well mixed together and creamy.

Add in flour and slowly beat until well combined.

Place the dough into a cookie press or piping bag and you can determine if your piping bag is with or without a fancy star tip.

Pipe or press onto a parchment paper lined baking baking sheet and sprinkle with decorating sugar if you're using.  
Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The bottoms should just begin to turn golden, but you definitely don't want the cookies to be golden.