Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Organic as part of an ongoing partnership. As always, the opinions here are all my own!
Well, I'm officially in the Christmas spirit. All it took was a trip to New York, some snowfall and a glance at the giant tree in Rockefeller Plaza, and I was done for.
As soon as I hopped on the plane to head back home, my mind was all abuzz with thoughts of Christmas cookie-baking and the like. Last year I baked about 10 different kinds of cookies to distribute to friends, family and my husband's patients and clients. My kitchen was a cookie factory and my table was a packaging and wrapping station that would have turned Santa's elves green with envy.
I baked up some winners last Christmas, but I like to mix it up and try new recipes, keeping my eyes open for those that are especially easy to make, but still have a little bit of that "wow factor."
As I flipped through the pages of the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens {thanks to my mother-in-law who passed it on so I'd have some in-flight reading material}, a photo of beautiful, old-fashioned spritz cookies caught my eye.
Spritz cookies are usually made up of a very simple dough recipe that is loaded into a cookie press and extruded through discs that come in all different kinds of designs. This particular recipe that grabbed my attention included Greek yogurt in the mix, and since I always have Stonyfield Whole Milk Greek yogurt in my fridge, it intrigued me and made me want to give it a try at home.
My first attempt at the cookies was just fine -- they looked very pretty with the snowflake shape I chose and had a mild sweetness from the vanilla bean paste I added to the mixture. But they seemed kind of "blah", so I did a bit more experimenting and came up with a twist to jazz things up a bit.
I added some fresh orange zest to the dough to give it a bright, citrusy scent, then dipped the finished cookies into rich, dark chocolate to add another layer of flavor and a beautiful finish. MUCH better! The use of yogurt gives these cookies a less crisp texture -- not quite chewy, but a little softer than traditional spritz cookies -- that I enjoyed.
This recipe is easy to adapt using other extracts, zests and spices and can be easily doubled to feed a small army. {In fact, I halved the original recipe, which is why you'll see that this one calls for "half an egg". Just crack the egg into a small dish, beat it and use half of the volume.} I made a version of this same batch with the dough dyed green and sprinkled chopped pistachios over the chocolate for an extra Christmasy look.
One batch of official Christmas cookies down, 3,904 to go.
What kinds of cookies are you baking up this year?
Chocolate-Orange Yogurt Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick {8 tablespoons} butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ an egg -- beat the egg and only use half
- ¼ cup Stonyfield Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 3.5 ounces good quality dark chocolate {I used Lindt 85% cocoa}*
- Special Tools: Cookie Press Non-stick baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. You will need an unlined, un-greased non-stick cookie sheet for the spritz cookies to properly release from the cookie press.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add beaten egg and yogurt; mix until fully combined. Add vanilla extract and orange zest and mix until incorporated. {It may look slightly curdled, and that's ok.}
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixture and mix until a soft dough forms and everything is fully combined.
- Scoop the dough into the cookie press with your chosen disc {I used the wreath design in this cookie press}. Pump the press a few times to get the dough going, then press cookies onto the ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for about 7 minutes or until the edges become a light golden color. Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate until smooth. Line another pan or the counter top with a sheet of parchment paper.
- When the cookies have cooled completely, dip each cookie half way into the chocolate, letting the excess drip off. Place cookies onto parchment paper and allow to set before serving or packaging.{You can speed this up by placing them in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes if desired.}
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