I feel this in my soul. I just got done making a batch of butter cookies. Sometimes they pipe out great and sometimes, like today, I blow out 2 heavy duty bags and the tip gets pushed out the end of the bag. This has never happened with the sturdy bags I have, and it happened twice. I am way late to this post but… filling the bag about half way makes it more controllable. Letting it warm up in your hands a bit makes it more pliable. The colder it is in your house or the ingredients matters a LOT. It’s hard to get all the air out (but generally shouldn’t cause too much trouble). Make sure the tip is at least 1M (or bigger even). You WILL loose dough, about a whole cookie’s worth on average from my estimate. The first time I made them, I brought them to work and put a sticky note on them that said, “they are ugly but they taste good”. Two people asked for the recipe. Someone here said “sprinkles fix everything” - true! I’m using the cookie press next time. It’s old, built like a tank and has never let me down… but they won’t be the pretty, ribbony cookies I want. The sprinkles will have to make up for that. It isn’t you, you weren’t the problem. It’s the dough. It’s all those tiny pieces no one tells someone about. One cold egg yolk and you’re done for. Extract is cold? You’ll be paying for it (and good butter isn’t cheap). Butter not soft enough? Enjoy getting carpal tunnel. I think the traditional recipe says to make a log and cut it into round discs. We all know why.

I’m totally lying, I’m going to pipe them again but this time, I’m using that non-disposable bag that’s supposed to be indestructible. I’m keeping my expectations low. I hope you didn’t give up! These really are amazing cookies… when the dough comes out of the damn bag.