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Lemon Spritz Cookies with Cranberry Buttercream

https://arinaphotography.com/lemon-spritz-cookies-with-cranberry-buttercream/
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 24 sandwich cookies
Calories: 193kcal

Ingredients

For the Lemon Spritz Cookies

For the Cranberry Buttercream

Optional Cranberry Puree

Garnish

Equipment

Instructions

Make the Lemon Spritz Cookie Dough

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Set aside.
  • In a hand mixer, beat melted butter, granulated sugar, and cream cheese until fluffy (2–3 minutes).
  • Add egg yolk and vanilla extract, mixing until incorporated.
    Egg yolk and vanilla extract added to a fluffy creamed mixture of butter, sugar, and cream cheese in a glass mixing bowl for lemon spritz cookie dough.
  • Add lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until well blended.
    Creamed butter mixture with added lemon zest and juice in a glass bowl for lemon spritz cookie dough.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until a soft dough forms.
    Sifted dry ingredients including flour, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar piled on top of the lemon cookie batter in a glass mixing bowl, ready to be mixed into dough.
  • Load the dough into a spritz cookie press and press onto an ungreased baking sheet.
    Close-up of soft, fluffy lemon spritz cookie dough after fully mixed and ready to load into the cookie press.
  • Bake at 350°F for 10–12 minutes until edges just begin to brown.
    Freshly pressed lemon spritz cookies arranged on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ready to be baked.

Make the Cranberry Puree

  • Combine 1 cup cranberries, 2 tablespoon sugar, and 2 tablespoon water in a saucepan. Simmer the cranberries over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until they burst and soften.
    Close-up of fresh cranberries in a pot sprinkled with sugar, ready to be cooked down for cranberry puree.
  • Remove from heat and blend using a hand blender until smooth.
    Cooked cranberries breaking down into a thick, chunky mixture in a saucepan, the first stage of making cranberry puree.
  • Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the skins.
    Strained cranberry solids left behind in a fine mesh sieve, showing the separation process for making smooth cranberry puree.
  • Let the puree cool completely before using.
    Close-up of smooth and glossy homemade cranberry puree in a glass bowl, ready to use for baking or frosting.

Make the Cranberry Buttercream

  • Beat butter until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes).
  • Add cranberry puree and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
    Partially mixed cranberry buttercream frosting in a glass mixing bowl, showing swirls of butter and cranberry puree not yet fully blended.
  • Slowly add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
    Glass mixing bowl with cranberry buttercream mixture and a mound of powdered sugar on top, ready to be blended with a whisk attachment.
  • Dice the fresh cranberries finely.
    Close-up of finely diced fresh cranberries in a glass bowl, showing their bright red skins and pale interiors.
  • Fold them gently into the buttercream with a silicone spatula.
    Pink cranberry buttercream being whipped in a glass bowl with chopped cranberries ready to fold in.
  • Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a metal tip.
    Piping bag filled with cranberry buttercream, fitted with a metal star tip, ready for decorating.

Assemble the Sandwich Cookies

  • Flip half of the cookies so the flat bottoms face up—these will be the base for the frosting.
    Baked lemon spritz cookies placed upside down on parchment paper, showing their golden browned bottoms.
  • Pipe or spread frosting on the flat side of each upside-down cookie.
  • Press another cookie on top to make a sandwich.
    Lemon spritz sandwich cookie filled with cranberry buttercream, displayed on parchment paper.
  • Optional: Dust tops with powdered sugar.

Notes

  • If the dough is too soft and sticking to the spritz cookie press, place the loaded cookie press in the fridge for 5–10 minutes before using.
  • Most spritz cookie press instructions recommend skipping parchment paper. But I always use it—I like to protect my baking sheets from permanent cookie marks, and it makes it so much easier to lift the cookies off after baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 26mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 432IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 0.5mg