Cookie presses are a revered baking tool. Many homebakers covet their grandmother’s vintage press that turned out perfect butter cookies and Christmas mints year after year.
I only remember my mom’s cookie press as a space hog in the back of a kitchen cabinet; She bought it at a Pampered Chef party, used it once, and it never saw the light of day again. Had I any foresight that I’d build a career as a baker and food writer, I would have held onto that well-made classic. My own family loves holiday cookie baking and my extended Southern family has taught me the fine art of making cheese straws at any time of year. Needless to say, I’ve spent a fair bit of my adult life looking for the perfect cookie press. I’ve used them in professional kitchens and test kitchens for years and finally set off on a quest to test seven of the highest-rated cookie presses available to find the very best.
The Winners, at a Glance
OXO’s cookie press was the easiest to use and clean up. It has a non-slip grip on the end to make your fingers less likely to shift while pressing cookies and its metal discs yield clean shapes even on the most intricate designs.
If you’re baking more than a few batches of cheese straws or spritz cookies a year and need something super durable, Marcato Design’s stainless steel press is for you. While it had a larger margin of error for the first few cookies and was harder to press, it features design details (like two sizes of dough dosage and 20 discs) that serious home bakers will appreciate.
This press was disappointing for spritz cookies, but it out-pressed every other model for cheese straws. This is the best tool for the job if you’re making large batches of cheese straws or similar baked goods with thick dough and long presses.
The Tests
- Spritz Cookie Test: Using a classic spritz cookie dough, I filled each press and fitted it with a wreath-style disc. Working on an uncoated baking sheet, I used the press to pump out as many cookies as possible, noting how easily each press dispensed and how many perfect cookies I could make without mistakes.
- Disc Swap Test: Partway through each batch of cookies, I removed each press’s coupler and swapped the wreath discs for a more intricate design to evaluate the ease of switching discs.
- Cheese Straws Test: I made a batch of cheese straws to fill and test my favorite presses from the spritz cookie test. Since some of the presses failed immediately, I also retested two outliers (Fante’s Easy Cookie Press and the De Buyer Pastry Press) from the spritz cookie test to find a model that worked best for large batches of cheese straws.
- General Use and Care Test: While assembling and disassembling each press, I made notes on general use: Was the press easy to take apart and put together? Was the trigger easy to release? I also noted how much residual dough was left in each press after it stopped dispensing, and the ease of cleaning.
What We Learned
Lever Dispensers Were Better Than Trigger Dispensers
Cookie presses have three styles of dispensers: a trigger handle, a pressure lever, or a rotating handle. My two favorite presses for cookies, the OXO Good Grips Cookie Press and the Marcato Design Atlas Cookie Press, had lever-style handles that were much easier on my hands and wrists, and they were more accurate when dosing dough. Trigger-style dispensing (found on the Wilton Simple Success Cookie Press and Kuhn Rikon Clear Cookie Press) became tiring quickly. Plus, a faster squeeze dispenses less dough than a slow one, which makes each cookie as different as each baker. A rotating handle, like the one found on Fante’s Easy Cookie Press, is ideal if you want long stretches of dough to dispense things like churros and cheese straws.
Metal Discs Were Best for Intricate Designs
Much of the joy of spritz cookies is in their shape—tree and wreath cookies really kick off a holiday cookie party—so sharp discs are an important part of a good cookie press. There are some pros and cons to alternative materials (plastic or steel) for a press’s body, but they don’t impact the cookie shape as much as disc material does. For example, a clear plastic body, like the OXO Good Grips Cookie Press, makes it easy to see how much dough is left to dispense. But a steel or aluminum body doesn’t hold onto grease during cleanup the same way plastic does. Metal discs made much tidier cookies and cheese straws than plastic ones thanks to their sharper edges. The Wilton Cookie Press and Nordic Ware Deluxe Decorating Set each had some pros during testing, but their plastic discs created looser, less intricate designs.
Wide Openings Were Helpful for Filling With Dough
All of the cookie presses we tested are filled at the disc end of the press, as the dispensing plunger would otherwise be in the way. While none of the presses were particularly challenging to fill, I noticed that the Nordic Ware and Kuhn Rikon presses, which have openings smaller than 2.5 inches, took the longest to fill. Our winning press, the OXO Good Grips Cookie Press, has one of the largest openings at 2.75 inches. I found that using a small cookie scoop to drop dough into the presses sped up the filling processes between batches.
Extra Disc Designs Were More Useful Than Piping Tips
I was excited to test the few cookie presses that included options to swap the design disc for a piping tip (the Kuhn Rikon and Nordic Ware). However, the resulting cookies were tiny and inconsistent as a result of the presses’ dispensing mechanisms. You’re much better off investing in a few piping tips and disposable piping bags for cake decorating or deviled egg filling. Save your cookie press for cookies! That said, a cookie press with lots of discs does give you more options for unique spritz cookies and other baked goods—like a star tip for churros or cheese straws.
The Criteria: What to Look for in a Cookie Press
The best cookie presses have a lever-style dispenser to reduce wrist strain and a wide opening for filling the press and come with at least 12 metal discs for different baked goods. A high-quality cookie press is easy to disassemble from top to bottom, making it simpler to clean. A clear plastic body is great for seeing how much dough you have left, but is not required. Ideally, your cookie press will come with a storage solution for the discs.
Our Favorite Cookie Presses
What we liked: With a non-slip coating on the handle and tip, this lever-style cookie press was easy to use right out of the box. Its smaller body easily fits into the hands of most bakers. It comes with a small case for storing the discs. This is the cookie press for home bakers who make cookies or cheese straws just a few times a year.
What we didn’t like: Weirdly, this cookie press did not come with a star tip for cheese straws and churros. While I was able to use the star disc from another brand’s press to test the OXO press with cheese straws, you may want to hunt for an older model of this press or choose another press if a star disc is essential for you.
Key Specs
- Materials: BPA-free plastic with steel discs
- Type of press: Lever-style
- Number of discs: 12
- Storage included?: Yes, for discs only
What we liked: A worthy splurge, the Marcato Design Atlas Cookie Press is made of sturdy aluminum and has a lever-style dispenser with an adjustable dosage size. It comes with the most design discs (20) of all the presses I tested, including a sunflower, six-point star, and delicate floral wreath. This cookie press is ideal for serious home bakers who make a lot of pressed baked goods, both savory and sweet.
What we didn’t like: The body of the press is not clear, so it’s tough to know when you’re running low on dough.
Key Specs
- Materials: Aluminum
- Type of press: Lever-style
- Number of discs: 20
- Storage included?: No
What we liked: I’ll be frank—this was one of my least favorite cookie presses for cookies. It only has five designs to work with on its “design slider” (there are no discs) and the twist style of dispensing made for very inconsistent cookies. But while many of the other presses struggled with the thick cheese straw dough, Fante handled it beautifully. With some finessing, twist dispensing gave me lots of long, thin straws without any breakage. This is the cookie press for cheese straw enthusiasts.
What we didn’t like: The press’s length of nearly 10 inches (not including the twist handle) and weight (close to two pounds when filled) made it harder to handle. You’ll need to practice keeping the press connected to the baking sheet and working from the back of the sheet to the front in order to reduce hand fatigue and get even, straight cookies or straws.
Key Specs
- Materials: Stainless steel
- Type of press: Rotating handle
- Number of discs: None; this press has a sliding plate of designs
- Storage included: No
The Competition
- Wilton Simple Success Cookie Press: This affordable cookie press did decidedly well with spritz cookie dough and was easy to clean. But it did not include a star tip and could barely dispense cheese straw dough.
- Kuhn Rikon Clear Cookie Press: I very much appreciated the storage case that came with this press. While the metal discs helped it with details on pressed cookies, the trigger-style handle was inconsistent in dispensing.
- Nordic Ware Deluxe Decorating Set: This cookie press looked, felt, and performed poorly. The plastic lever seemed like it might crack under pressure during the spritz test.
- De Buyer Pastry Press: While you might see this kind of press in professional kitchens, it was cumbersome and hard to use when filled. The upright trigger dispenser was difficult to press and guide.
FAQs
How do you use a cookie press?
Most cookie presses are used for dispensing creamy all-butter cookie doughs. You fill the barrel of the cookie press with dough, choose a disc in your preferred design, and set it in place before screwing on a coupler or cap. The dough is then dispensed directly onto a baking sheet using a lever or trigger. The press can be refilled many times in the baking process before being cleaned.
How do you clean a cookie press?
Most cookie presses should only be hand-washed to increase their longevity. Completely disassemble the press and wash with dish soap and water, then air dry before storing. (That said, it is worth noting that my husband accidentally put all of the cookie presses I tested in the dishwasher and none were damaged in the process.)
What can you use if you don’t have a cookie press?
Follow your specific recipe for advice on baking without a cookie press for the best results. Many butter cookie recipes can be piped onto parchment paper with a strong piping bag and tip; For cheese straws, the dough can be rolled out and cut into squares with a small cookie cutter.
Can you use a cookie press for frosting?
In theory, yes! But not all cookie presses come with piping tips and many have a restricted dispensing mechanism that makes piping long swirls of icing nearly impossible.
Why We’re the Experts
- Meghan Splawn is a freelance food writer and recipe developer who has worked in food media since 2006.
- Her work includes 10 years in the test kitchen with Alton Brown.
- She’s been hunting for the perfect cookie press for over 10 years and after testing four batches of spritz cookies (120 cookies!) she’s finally ready to buy herself a new one.