Aunt Lydia's Sprtiz - World's Best Christmas Cookie

I'm invited to my first of several Christmas cookie exchanges this afternoon.  The first cookie I make every year is my Aunt Lydia's spritz cookies.  These old fashioned butter cookies are the flavor of Christmas for me.  Love them!  Note: If you don't have a cookie press, simply form a small (marble sized) ball of dough in your hand, place on the cookie sheet and press gently with a fork.

Aunt Lydia’s Spritz

1 pound of butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. almond extract
4 ¼ cups unsifted flour
food coloring (optional)

Preheat over to 350°F. find your cookie press.

Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. Using electric mixer on high speed, beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and almond extract. Stir in flour until well mixed.

Divide dough and add food coloring as desired.

Pack the dough into cookie press. Fit with desired plate. Press the dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart.

Bake until lightly golden around the edges, about 7-8 minutes. Gently transfer cookies to wire racks.

Try to find an old Mirro cookie press at a thrift store or rummage sale. The cookie press with a screwing mechanism seems to work better than a press that shoots out the cookies.