Rose Almond Spritz

Directions

1. 1
   Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. 2
   Combine butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. Blend on medium spend for 3 minutes; scrape bowl at least twice. Add red gel food coloring; mix until incorporated. A tiny little dab goes a long way; you can always add more if you need to. Add salt and flour; blend on low until fully combined.
3. 3
   If your dough still has uneven streaks of red food coloring in it, place the dough in a large Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and then squish the mixture for several minutes, or just until no more streaks are visible.
4. 4
   Insert a 1M swirl decorating tip into a large coupler. Fill the large coupler with dough and press the mixture through with your thumb. This will create a long ridged rope, which you can then cut and form into the shape of a small swirled circle on a Silpat lined baking sheet. See photo. I wish I could describe this process a bit better, but you'll figure it out after a few tries. Fill your baking sheet, leaving space between the cookies, then bake for 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
5. 5
   Keep the cooled Rose Almond Spritz cookies in an airtight container.
6. 6
   Adapted from Raspberry Rosette Spritzer Cookies with Almond Cream Cheese Filling by Baking with Blondie.