Lemon Spritz Wreath Runs

I was so eager to use the cookie press that was handed down from my grandmother  for the first time on these cookies. I whipped up the simple recipe and filled my 1920′s cookie press with the simple to make dough and……..pressed. My cookie press had the case of the runs! It just oozed out lemon zested cookie dough. Not only did it have the runs, what dough that was manged to be pressed out looked like, well a pile of runs.

Despite my husbands special touch, not even he could create the special wreaths.

Despite our multiple attempts with the various cookie shapes, we ended up just pressing all the dough out through the tube into a cylinder shape and cutting them into rounds. They turned out amazing. Thick, lemon flavored cookies. The glaze is equally amazing. Because I really don’t want them in my house, they have been packaged up for distribution.

Lemon Spritz Wreaths

~2 sticks butter, at room temperature
~1 cup superfine sugar (or granulated)
~1 large egg
~1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
~1 tablespoon lemon zest
~1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon of table salt)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Lemon Glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Beat until light and creamy. Add in egg and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the bowl, if necessary. Add in vanilla and lemon zest. And beat until smooth. With mixer on low, add in salt and flour, and mix until completely incorporated, and the dough is uniform.

2. Working in batches, place dough into cookie press (I use Wilton’s model), fit with the wreath motif, and stamp out cookies. Bake for 11 minutes, or until almost beginning to brown. Allow to cool completely. Dip each cookie in glaze and set on a cookie rack to dry and harden.

Lemon Glaze

~1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
~2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
~1 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together ingredients until smooth.