- 1 cup margarine or butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix margarine and sugar. Mix in remaining ingredients.
Place dough in cookie press; form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet. You can decorate with colored sugars or nonpareils sprinkles. Bake until set, but not brown. 6 to 9 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet.
Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Pressed Cookie Hints
Follow the directions that come with your cookie press, but keep these tips in minds.
- Use shortening, margarine, or butter at room temperature. Cream with sugar until light and fluffy.
- Test dough for consistency before adding all the flour. To do this, put a small amount in the cookie press and squeeze out. The dough should be soft and pliable, but not crumbly.
- If the dough is too stiff, add 1 egg yolk. If dough is too soft, add 1 to 2 Tablespoons flour.
- Chill dough only when specified in the recipe; otherwise, use at room temperature.
- Be sure your cookie sheet is cool. Hold press so it rests on sheet, unless using star or bar plate.
- Do not raise press from cookie sheet before enough dough has been turned out to form cookie on the sheet. For some cookies, it may be necessary to wait a moment to allow the dough to adhere to the sheet before lifting the press.
- Do not force the press down heavily on the sheet. If the dough is of the right consistency, it won’t be necessary to force press or handle.