Pistachio Shamrock Spritz Cookies

St. Patrick's Day is getting close! What's not to love about a holiday that most devote to drinking?

It's times like these that I miss living in Chicago. No one does St. Paddy's Day so well. They dye the river green. It's pretty cool.

But anyways, I always love festive treats, and these were extra fun because they gave me an opportunity to use the cookie press I've had sitting around here for a while. 

Spritz cookies were a staple of my childhood. We'd make trees and wreaths for Christmas every year. The weird thing is, for some reason, we just haven't had as much luck with them the last few years. 

The dough wouldn't stick to the pans and they'd get pretty burnt on the bottom. Worst of all, using parchment paper was impossible for some reason and I heavily depend on that stuff for easy clean up. 

After doing some research, I've found some tips that make the whole ordeal significantly more successful. Plus I added some ground pistachio flour to the mix to create a more complex flavor.

P.S. sorry about the weird measurement of egg. This is technically a half batch but I didn't really need to make 80 cookies. 


Pistachio Shamrock Spritz Cookies
(adapted from Wilton)
Yields about 40 cookies



3/4 cup butter, softened.
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons beaten egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pistachio flour*
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Green Food Dye


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (350 if you have dark cookie sheets, closer to 375 if you have light cookie sheets)

Fit parchment paper onto two cookie sheets. Place the cookie sheets with the parchment paper in the freezer.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and mix well.

Slowly beat in the pistachio flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and a few drops of green food dye until combined. DO NOT CHILL.

Fit a cookie press with the desired pattern, shamrocks in this case. Using a spatula, fill the cookie press with dough. Pull the chilled cookie sheets out of the freezer and press dough onto the parchment paper holding the paper down around the press as you pull up. Give the cookies at least an inch and a half of space for room to expand.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a cooling rack. Decorate with icing and sprinkles.


* In theory, pistachio flour could be bought already ground, but I always make my own. 

I buy shelled pistachios, generally from a canister, and rinse the salt off using a strainer. I lay them out on a cookie sheet and let them air dry a few hours, then pop them in a 350 degree oven for five minutes.

Cool completely before grinding in a food processor using short pulses. Sift the ground pistachios and the result is homemade pistachio flour.