Spritz cookies make up the bulk of so many of my holiday memories. When my brother and I were younger, we’d badger my mother relentlessly until she’d give us one that had just come out of the oven. And of course, we’d eat about ten each after that.

This recipe comes from the desire to relive that. It’s far less sweet than the original, but equally adorable. As a bonus, I added “sprinkles” to the top of these by crushing freeze dried cranberries. They added a bit of tartness with barely any caloric or carby impact. This would work well with any freeze-dried berry, and is a nice, festive touch.

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You’ll need a cookie press to make these appropriately adorable.

Ingredients (makes 45 little cookies):

• 1 cup almonds, soaked overnight
• 1 cup brazil nuts or macadamia nuts
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 25 drops of liquid stevia 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375º F.
2. Drain almonds, and peel the skins off (they should slide off easily – this is for aesthetic purposes only, of course!).
3. Grind brazil/macadamia nuts in a blender/food processor until they’re a fine meal and look kind of like wet sand. Set aside in a bowl.
4. Add eggs, cream cheese, stevia, extracts and soaked almonds to the blender/food processor and blend until smooth. Add ground nuts and blend until smooth.
5. Load the dough (it’s more of a batter) into the cookie press and chill in the freezer for about ten minutes.
6. Press out cookies onto a silicon mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Now’s the time for sprinkles, if you choose to add any. Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges and tops are golden brown.
7. Repeat until all the dough is gone, making sure that the dough is thoroughly chilled between batches, so that the cookies maintain their shape.

Nutrition (per 3 cookies):

• Calories: 129
• Carbs: 3g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 4g
• Fat: 12g