Paleo Spritz Cookies (AIP)
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These paleo spritz cookies are the ultimate beautiful Christmas cookie! They’re gluten-free, grain-free, and AIP compliant.
What are spritz cookies?
Spritz cookies are officially one of my new favorite holiday cookies and win by both taste, and by beauty! They’re very similar to a shortbread cookie but have a more tender and soft texture like a sugar cookie. They’re traditionally made with a cookie press to give them a gorgeous shape and topped with icing and sprinkles!
These spritz cookies are made paleo and AIP, but still, have the look, feel and flavor of traditional spritz cookies. Prepare to impress your friends with these gorgeous treats that they’ll have no idea are paleo. My husband literally sat there with a whole bag of leftovers and just went to town… they’re that good.
How to make paleo spritz cookies
- Preheat the oven and combine the ingredients.
- Using a cookie press, set up according to manufacturer’s instructions and fill with the dough. Use a decorative plate of your choice. Place the cookie press plate side down and press the lever on the cookie press, holding flat onto the baking sheet and allowing the cookie to drop down. If the cookie dough gets stuck and doesn’t drop down use a butter knife or spoon to carefully pull it back. Repeat for all of the dough, changing out the decorative plates as you go.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown and cooked through. Carefully transfer to a baking sheet and allow to cool.
- Make the optional icing and drizzle over the cookies. Add shredded coconut if desired.
Can you make spritz cookies without a cookie press?
Technically, yes! They won’t be as pretty, but it can be done. Simply form the dough into small cookies and bake as you would the pressed cookies.
Can you make this recipe coconut free?
I have not tried to make this recipe without coconut flour and cannot recommend a swap.
What can you use other than palm shortening?
This recipe traditionally uses butter, and palm shortening is a great sub for that. Coconut oil may work, but I have not tried it and cannot guarantee it would yield the same results.
The Ingredients You’ll Need
Arrowroot starch and coconut flour
This is the flour blend for the cookies. I have not tried other flours.
Gelatin
This helps to bind the cookies! Collagen will not work.
Palm shortening
This makes a great butter substitute in a traditional buttery cookie.
Maple syrup
The perfect natural sweetener!
The tools
The secret for beautiful spritz cookies is a cookie press like this! It looks intimidating, but it’s really easy to use and has instructions on how to use it. You also don’t have to worry about having this just be the kind of thing that you only pull out for Christmas. It has tons of different molds so you can make cookies for various occasions outside of the holidays.
You’ll also love…
PrintPaleo Spritz Cookies (AIP)
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These paleo spritz cookies are the ultimate beautiful Christmas cookie! They’re gluten-free, grain-free, and AIP compliant.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup palm shortening
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Optional icing
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp coconut butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp matcha powder (add for green icing)
- 1 tbsp coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven t0 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sift together the arrowroot, coconut flour, gelatin, and baking soda
- Fold in the shortening and maple syrup. Mix until a dough forms.
- Using a cookie press (like this), set up according to manufacturer’s instructions and fill with the dough. Use a decorative plate of your choice (I used Christmas trees, wreaths, and snowflakes). Place the cookie press plate side down onto the baking sheet and press the lever on the cookie press. Hold it flat onto the baking sheet and allow the cookie to drop down. Pull the cookie press back and repeat. If the cookie dough gets stuck and doesn’t drop down use a butter knife or spoon to carefully pull it back. Repeat for all of the dough, changing out the decorative plates as you go.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown and cooked through. Carefully transfer to a baking sheet and allow to cool.
- Make the optional icing by mixing the coconut oil, coconut butter (and matcha for green icing) and drizzle over the cookies. Add shredded coconut if desired.
Notes
You can forgo the cookie press and just make small round cookies if you prefer!
All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 305
- Fat: 18.9g
- Carbohydrates: 31.8g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 3.1g
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
Thank you for this recipe! I’m tearing up because I used to make these with my mom when I was little. I remember the crazy cookie press that made all the fun cookie shapes. Such great memories. I can’t wait to try this!
Is it ok to use coconut oil in place of the palm shortening?
Can food coloring be added to recipe? These are very similar to cookies my mom made every year at Christmas and we would uae food coloring instead of frosting them and would decorate with sprinkles or just leave plain. Can’t wait to try
I haven’t tried but I’m sure you can!!
What is your opinion on a red palm/coconut oil shortening for this recipe..?
I haven’t tried that but it would change the color for sure.
Because I have coconut allergy I use pumpkin flower and I used goose lard, (I had no palm shortening) all ingredients bonded well together and baked evenly, cookies were very crispy !! except they taste a lot like
pumpkin seeds.(:
★★★★★
Is pumpkin flour which contains pumpkin seeds AIP diet friendly?
I am obsessed with these. Best AIP cookie ever! I just did them in balls and flattened with a fork. They came out great!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Erin!! So glad you liked them!!
Hi Michelle! These cookies look amazing… I’m planning to make them. But I was wondering: how do you use the palm shortening. Do you melt it before mixing in with the rest of the ingredients?
No melting needed 🙂 It just goes in solid and has the consistency of softened butter. Enjoy!!
Ah! Thank you for your reply! I think I’ll be making them with regular butter. And make sure that it’ll be softened. I look forward to baking them! Maybe this weekend.. 🙂
Wow.. So good and Really easy to do. Next time will double the recipe
★★★★★
Yay! Thank you so much, Lucy!
These were delicious… Best paleo cookies ever! My children though I bought them from the store hahahaha…
Small question, could I replace arrowroot for tapioca? Here in the Netherlands arrowroot is very expensive (20 eur per kilo)… If so I could make them much more often than with arrowroot…
★★★★★
Ahh yay!! You probably could do that just fine… I haven’t tried myself but let me know if you do 🙂
I used tapioca and they turned out perfectly 🙂
Can you make these with regular butter?
I haven’t tried but let me know if you do!!
This are the best AIP cookies I’ve tried so far and I’ve tried quit a few. The test is delicate and they are crispy.
I used approx 1/4 tsp beet powder for red icing and it worked well.
Thanks for this and all your efforts
MERRY CHRISTMAS
★★★★★
thank you!!
I made these exactly as your recipe describes. Next time, for my oven, I will reduce the bake time to 10 minutes.
They are perfectly delightful…crisp with a delicate flavor. Thank you Unbound Wellness.
So glad you liked it! Thank you!!
These are sincerely the most amazing cookies I’ve ever baked and eaten! And everyone who tried them agreed!! With being on an AIP diet it’s been an adjustment from paleo, these cookies were the perfect treat to replace the ones I had gotten used to.
I couldn’t find my cookie gun, so I just rolled them out and rolled them in pecan pieces, I baked them until they were slightly brown, still following the directions.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Yay!! Thank you so much, Abigail! So glad you liked them!
These are delicious! Wow! Thanks!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed!!
These were so nice! They recreated the classic holiday spritz cookies and made me feel like I was getting a holiday treat, too. I also appreciated how easy they were (I didn’t use a press and just made little round cookies). Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★