Butter spritz cookies

Spritz dough is shaped by pressing it through a cookie press or piping it through a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. The dough must be soft enough to force through the tip but stiff enough to hold its shape.

Of the two cookie mixing methods, one stage and creaming, spritz uses creaming.

Have every ingredient measured and in front of you, all at room temperature so they incorporate easily and evenly.

Prepare the sheet pans and assemble the piping bag and tip before mixing the batter: the dough gets harder to pipe as it sits and cools.

Grease and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle at medium speed until the mixture is light in colour, has gained volume and has a smooth texture, scraping the bottom of the bowl so all the butter is mixed in evenly.

With the machine at low speed add the eggs and milk slowly until well incorporated, scraping periodically so everything emulsifies. The eggs and butter must emulsify for the right consistency in the finished cookie, and because emulsification is temperature sensitive every ingredient must be at the same temperature.

This step also incorporates air and adds emulsifiers from the egg yolks, giving a creamy mixture that holds the air bubbles.

Fold the sifted dry ingredients into the batter, being careful not to overmix; overmixing develops the gluten and toughens the dough.

Fill the fitted pastry bag half full and pipe the dough onto the prepared sheet pan with constant even pressure.

Leave a little dough under the paper to stop it sliding around.

To finish each cookie, release the pressure first and then lift the tip away; lifting before releasing leaves a tail on top that burns or darkens in the oven.

Bake between 375 and 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, until firm to the touch with a small amount of colour.

Test by wiggling the parchment paper: if the cookies move and are loose from the paper, they are done.

If the bottoms come out much darker than the tops, lower the temperature or double up the sheet pans.