Chocolate spritz cookies: you press dough with 250 g butter and 30 g cocoa

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Cream the butter and sugars

   Beat the softened butter with the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

2. Add the flour and cocoa

   Sift the flour with the cocoa powder and baking powder, stir into the butter mixture, and work into a smooth, soft dough. Do not chill the dough; it passes through the cookie press best at room temperature.

3. Shape with a cookie press

   Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a meat grinder with a cookie attachment (or use a cookie press) and press the dough through in small portions. Cut the emerging strips into pieces about 6 cm long and place them on the baking sheets, either straight or curved into horseshoes.

4. Bake

   40 min

   Bake one sheet at a time for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops look dry. Cocoa dough will not visibly turn golden, so do not bake it longer. Let cool on a wire rack.

5. Dip in chocolate

   30 min

   Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and dip one or both ends of the cooled cookies into it. Place on parchment paper and let the chocolate set.

Tip: If you don't have a cookie press, roll the dough out to 4 mm thick and cut it with cookie cutters; the baking time stays the same. Press only part of the dough at a time, keeping the rest covered so it doesn't dry out.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Kakaové strojčekové pečivo: cesto z 250 g masla a 30 g kakaa pretlačíte cez strojček