Holiday – Dorm Bakery

It’s getting close to Christmas time, and that means Christmas Specials on TV. Now, if you’ve ever watched any Christmas Specials I hope you know who Burgermeister Meisterbuger is; if not, no worries, I will tell you. Burgermeister Meisterburger is the mayor of Sombertown in the Christmas Special Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. He is a small, grouchy, German man who takes the role of dictator in this bleak, grey village. He is subsequently the antagonist of this Santa Clause story, fighting in the name of gloom and melancholy, contrasting Kris Kringle’s bright and cheery outlook. He even has his own song about banning toys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_p8Z8Ltng. I bring up the Burgermeister Meisterburger because when I was young I was also a ‘Meister,’ a Spillmeister to be exact. I would miraculously knock over virtually any container of liquid placed in front of me; I was a predictable chain of these inadvertent calamities. The moniker (Spillmeister) was quickly and irrevocably added to my list of nicknames. And to this day–although instances of my ineptitude are rare–at the smallest mishap of a tipped glass the sobriquet is delivered to me from the lips of my lineage without the slightest hesitation. You would think that with my terrible track record I would not be allowed around open containers, let alone be asked to assist in the kitchen, but amazingly my mother trusted me to help despite my innate knack for knocking things over.

The first Christmas cookies I made this season, like the Burgermeister Meisterburger, originate in Germany. Spritz butter cookies are a classic holiday treat made using a cookie press. While I was home for Thanksgiving I had access to a cookie press so I seized the opportunity! It was also very handy to have an electric mixer!

Here’s a basic recipe from allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Sift together the flour and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.

Stir in the egg yolks, almond extract and vanilla extract.
SONY DSC

Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients.
Fill a cookie press with dough and shoot cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If you like, decorate with sugar or sprinkles at this time.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven.

If you want to make shapes such as trees and wreaths add a little green food coloring to part of your dough and mix that in before you put it into the press.