Has Anyone Used A Cookie Press?

[anerissara]

I'm looking for an easier way to make sugar cookies, the dough is soooo sticky and the cookies are either hard to roll out or you add more rice flour and then they end up too crumbly or too hard. I was thinking maybe a cookie press would work, you know...the kind where you put the dough in a tube and squeeze it out in little shapes? Has anyone tried this?

My hubby is addicted to sugar cookies but I have been too sensitive to make any with flour, and trying to make them gluten-free is just too much of a pain. If it would be easier with a press, maybe the whole family could enjoy them again!

[lonewolf]

I got a cookie press this year and made some yummy spritz cookies. The press worked well at first, but then the dough started sticking about half way through and we couldn't get them to come out and stick to the pan. With the second half of the dough we rolled them in little balls and flattened them with a glass dipped in colored sugar. They were delicious and all my gluten loving relatives even liked them. I'm going to experiment at Easter with the press again and see if I can get all the dough to come out right. I might have put too much xanthan gum in or something. I'm glad I bought it though - it did make some cool looking cookies.

Liz

[lpellegr]

Through sheer luck, I think, I got this recipe to work in a cookie press just like the original wheat recipe. I find the easiest way to use a cookie press is to not try to make the individual shapes, but to use the small star-shaped hole (if it came with one) and press out long snakes and then shape pieces of that into circles or "S" shapes or candy canes. If it doesn't have that it usually has a long flat crinkly hole and you can make long strips of that and cut it to bite-size pieces - these hold a lot of decorative sprinkles, too. Try this:

1c (two sticks) butter, softened

2/3 c sugar

3 egg yolks

1t almond or vanilla flavoring or extract

2c brown rice flour + 1/2c sweet (sticky) rice flour

(1/2t salt - I find rice flour blander than wheat - this is optional)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg yolks - don't use whole eggs or you won't get that shortbread texture. Mix in flavoring. Gradually add in flour, adjusting for how the dough feels - less if it's stiff, more if it's too wet. Put through cookie press onto ungreased sheet. Bake 7-10 min at 400.

These held together surprisingly well with no xanthan gum - I think it's the eggs. It works best with butter - if you substitute margarine, make sure it has high fat content (at least 70%) or the dough will be wet.

[gf4life]

I have used a cookie press with gluten-free spritz cookie dough and it worked fine.

Liz, did you change the disk half way through to do a different shape? If the disk is in backward NONE of the cookies will stick to the pan. So you always need to check that the disk is in the right way when the cookies don't stick. Or the pan could have gotten too greasy...

I didn't need to add xanthan gum either. I just used the spritz recipe that came with the press and substituted a gluten-free flour blend (2 parts finely ground rice flour [sometimes I substitute part of this with sweet rice flour], 1 part potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch) and it came out great.

I also do regular rolled/cut out sugar cookies and the recipe I use is great and so easy. It is a bit tricky when you first start working with it, but once you get the hang of how soft the dough is, then it works great. The great part about it is that I have fed these to a couple hundred non-gluten-free people and they all love them. they also hold their shape when baked. Instead of spreading out like a lot of wheat doughs they puff up, so the shape you cut actually is the shape they are when finished. I had one very picky mom from my daughter's class so impressed with them this Christmas. She though I bought them from an upscale bakery because they were so fancy!

If you want the recipe just let me know.

[jenvan]

I love cookie presses. Depending on what yours is like--they can take some muscle to use! I haven't used my post gluten-free, but glad to hear some of you have had success. I have Grandma's--the one we used to make sugar cookies when I was growing up. I used it to make sugar cookies for my cookie exchange last year and they turned out great--they always look so good w/ a small amount of work.

[lonewolf]

Liz, did you change the disk half way through to do a different shape? If the disk is in backward NONE of the cookies will stick to the pan. So you always need to check that the disk is in the right way when the cookies don't stick. Or the pan could have gotten too greasy...

Good question! Maybe that's why our Christmas trees and flower designs came out great and when we changed to another design it stopped working. I'll be more careful next time, along with adding less xanthan gum.

Liz

[mouse]

I have used a cookie press with gluten-free spritz cookie dough and it worked fine.

Liz, did you change the disk half way through to do a different shape? If the disk is in backward NONE of the cookies will stick to the pan. So you always need to check that the disk is in the right way when the cookies don't stick. Or the pan could have gotten too greasy...

I didn't need to add xanthan gum either. I just used the spritz recipe that came with the press and substituted a gluten-free flour blend (2 parts finely ground rice flour [sometimes I substitute part of this with sweet rice flour], 1 part potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch) and it came out great.

I also do regular rolled/cut out sugar cookies and the recipe I use is great and so easy. It is a bit tricky when you first start working with it, but once you get the hang of how soft the dough is, then it works great. The great part about it is that I have fed these to a couple hundred non-gluten-free people and they all love them. they also hold their shape when baked. Instead of spreading out like a lot of wheat doughs they puff up, so the shape you cut actually is the shape they are when finished. I had one very picky mom from my daughter's class so impressed with them this Christmas. She though I bought them from an upscale bakery because they were so fancy!

If you want the recipe just let me know.

Well, I guess I screwed that up. I don't know how to quote and ask something. Sorry about that. I was trying to get GF4Life's sugar cookie receipe and where did you find spritz cookie dough? Thanks. Armetta

[angel-jd1]

I have a pampered chef cookie press. I LOVE it!! I use their recipe for making the spritz cookies. I just sub in gluten free flour. Here it is:

Classic Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened (do not substitute vegetable oil spread)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (14 ounces)

Colored sugar or sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In Classic Batter Bowl, beat butter on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time; mix well. Dough will be soft; do not refrigerate.

2. Fill Cookie Press, fitted with disk of your choice, with dough using Medium Scoop. Press dough onto flat Baking Stone 1 inch apart. Decorate cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired.

3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until firm but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on flat Baking Stone; remove to Stackable Cooling Rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: 6-7 dozen cookies

Nutrients per serving: (2 cookies): Calories 120, Total Fat 7 g, Sodium 70 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variation: Chocolate Spritz Cookies: Decrease flour to 3 cups. Increase sugar to 1 1/4 cups. Add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to flour mixture. Proceed as recipe directs.

The tip that someone gave about the plates being in the press in the right direction is SO true!! I also chill my dough between batches (keep it in the fridge). It seems to make it more firm and the cookies come out easier this way. The good thing about these cookies is that you don't have to make them ONLY at the holidays. There are plates for lots of occasions!! Enjoy!

-Jessica

I'm looking for an easier way to make sugar cookies, the dough is soooo sticky and the cookies are either hard to roll out or you add more rice flour and then they end up too crumbly or too hard. I was thinking maybe a cookie press would work, you know...the kind where you put the dough in a tube and squeeze it out in little shapes? Has anyone tried this?

My hubby is addicted to sugar cookies but I have been too sensitive to make any with flour, and trying to make them gluten-free is just too much of a pain. If it would be easier with a press, maybe the whole family could enjoy them again!

[gf4life]

Jessica's spritz cookie recipe is just like mine, so I won't duplicate that. Here is the sugar cookie recipe:

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup fine ground rice flour*

1/2 cup tapioca flour* #

1/2 cup potato flour* #

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon milk (or substitute)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat margarine/butter and shortening together until creamy. Add rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, xanthan gum, sugar, egg, milk, paking powder, vanilla and salt. Beat together until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours.

Divide the dough in half. Keep the unused portion of the dough chilled until it is needed. Roll out the dough on a lightly rice-floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness. Keep dusting with rice flour if the dough gets sticky. Cut to desired shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. (A metal spatula can really help with the transfering to the cookie sheet as the dough is very thin at this stage)

Bake at 375 degrees for 6-9 minutes depending on the size of the cookie shape, or until the edges are firm and the bottom is slightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Decorate when cooled. Keep extra dough in the refridgerator until ready to use.

The recipe looks like it won't make very many cookies, but since it is rolled pretty thin it actually makes a lot. I usually get between 4 and 8 dozen depending on the size of the cookie cutter shapes. And they puff up to be quite thick!

* You can use 2 cups of your own favorite gluten-free flour blend, but it needs to be close to 1/2 starch to come out fluffy.

# I have substituted straight potato starch when I didn't have tapioca starch and it came out fine. I have also added a tablespoon or two of arrowroot starch if I had that on hand. Just make sure you have a full 1 cup of whatever starch blend you decide to use.

[laurelfla]

Hi, all!

I recently received a wonderful Williams-Sonoma cookie press as a wedding gift. It made me sad when I opened it, because I didn't know if it would work with gluten free dough, but according to this thread it looks like for some things it might do fine. The lady that gave it to me attached her family's favorite cheese straw recipe. Has anyone ever tried it for that? I have made wafers before with no press, but it would be nice to make really pretty ones! Thanks.

[janelyb]

I got this one from www.gfcfrecipes.com

It works great but when I just recently tried to sub the marg for coconut oil it didn't work....

Spritz Cookies

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup margarine

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups rice flour blend

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large mixer bowl beat sugar and margarine. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

In a seperate bowl combine Rice Flour Blend, xanthan, and salt. Add to sugar mixture. Beat on low speed, scraping bowl often until dough well mixed.

Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

[Sweetfudge]

I got a cookie press this year and made some yummy spritz cookies. The press worked well at first, but then the dough started sticking about half way through and we couldn't get them to come out and stick to the pan. With the second half of the dough we rolled them in little balls and flattened them with a glass dipped in colored sugar. They were delicious and all my gluten loving relatives even liked them. I'm going to experiment at Easter with the press again and see if I can get all the dough to come out right. I might have put too much xanthan gum in or something. I'm glad I bought it though - it did make some cool looking cookies.

Liz

I had this problem the last time i tried a cookie press - pre dx days though. think i might have had it in backwards maybe

Hi, all!

I recently received a wonderful Williams-Sonoma cookie press as a wedding gift. It made me sad when I opened it, because I didn't know if it would work with gluten free dough, but according to this thread it looks like for some things it might do fine. The lady that gave it to me attached her family's favorite cheese straw recipe. Has anyone ever tried it for that? I have made wafers before with no press, but it would be nice to make really pretty ones! Thanks.

What are cheese straws? Sound yummy!

[laurelfla]

Cheese straws are awesome! You can't have a wedding in the South without them. Although mine will be lacking... sadly... since the reception is gluten-free.

Perhaps they go by another name in other parts of the country? They are like cheese wafers, made with flour and (generally) cheddar cheese and around here people use cookie presses so that they come out pretty, in sticks that are a couple of inches long with pretty wavy lines. I'd really like to use my cookie press for that, if possible.

[Juliebove]

Cheese straws are awesome! You can't have a wedding in the South without them. Although mine will be lacking... sadly... since the reception is gluten-free.

Perhaps they go by another name in other parts of the country? They are like cheese wafers, made with flour and (generally) cheddar cheese and around here people use cookie presses so that they come out pretty, in sticks that are a couple of inches long with pretty wavy lines. I'd really like to use my cookie press for that, if possible.

I don't think they are common in other parts of the country. I've never seen them served here in WA, and when I made them on Cape Cod, nobody had heard of them.