Cookie of the Day Off and the Wonderous Mirro Cookie Press

Of all the cookies (all 3 of them so far) Spritz Cookies were the only ones that my mother ever made.  She would try a few new things now and then but these were an every Christmas kind of thing and they are for me too!  One of the interesting things about these is that they are made using the Mirro Cookie Press

This is of course not my own Mirro Cookie Press

Every year my mom and my brother Dan (I suspect the others eventually joined us but I for some reason don't remember them) and I would gather together in the kitchen and make these tasty cookies.  The only problem with them and the wonderful press is, the cookies look nothing like what they are supposed to and they still do not to this day.  A few years ago I misplaced the booklet that came with the cookies and have tried many other spritz cookies, none lived up to the ones we would make in the kitchen in Bayport (if there was any cookie dough left to bake).  Through the wonder of the internet all I needed to do was type in Mirro Cookie Press Spritz Cookie Recipe and viola!  So here it is in all its glory (and total lack of shape).

Not my cookies!

2 1/4 cups sifted all purp flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together.
With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until mixture has very small lumps. It will resemble pie crust but not as coarse.
Measure the egg in measuring cup - add water up to 1/4 total volume. Add egg and vanilla and beat mixture very well.
Fill Mirro press - form cookies on ungreased pan, bake (375degrees) for 10-12 minutes. Remove at once to cooling rack.

Shortening of course means butter to me!