Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

My son was talking about making cookies at 7am this morning. Why, you ask? Because a CareBear was making them on tv. So, we went to the kitchen and added some strawberry powder and some sprinkles to a basic shortbread recipe and came up with these! These cookies have a nice mild strawberry tart flavor with a buttery chewy center and a crisp edge.

For this recipe I had Jack (my toddler sous chef) measure and level the salt, scoop the ingredients onto the scale for weighing and sprinkle the sprinkles on. You can even have them help you push the cookie dough into the pans. This recipe is great because there’s no raw egg, so no need to rush them to the sink after touching the batter.

Black sprinkles pictured here did not get used. Just there because my toddler wanted them there! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Lol it looks weird because his finger is black but it was from the sprinkles he was eating. This is a great way for a toddler to help and learn about measuring.

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from King Arthur Flour the essential cookie cookbook

Makes: 2 dozen shortbread cookies

Baking time: 35-40 min

1cup (8 ounces) of chilled butter cubed plus more for greasing the pans

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar

*1 tablespoon of strawberry powder

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups (10 ounces) AP flour

1- Preheat the oven to 300F. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans (easier if spring form)

2- Cube your butter into about 1 inch cubes and place it in the freezer to give it an extra chill. While the butter chills combine the sugar, salt, strawberry powder and vanilla, in the bowl of a stand mixer.

3- Remove butter from the freezer and add to the bowl with the other ingredients and beat until combined about 2 min.

4- Turn the mixer on low and add the flour until just incorporated. The dough will look crumbly, but there should be minimal flour still showing.

5- Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. I use my kitchen scale because I like to be exact but you can also eyeball it.

6- Sprinkle the crumbly dough evenly on the pans, and press the dough down into each pan until it’s smooth. Prick the top of the cookie dough with a fork, and then add the sprinkles on top.

7- Place both pans on the middle rack of your oven and bake until the edges are golden. About 35-40 min.

8- Use a spatula or knife to carefully loosen from the edges and then let cool for about 5 min in the pan. Carefully remove the cookie from the pan to a cutting board and cut into 6 triangle wedges while still warm.

Let cookies cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

*strawberry powder (from freeze dried strawberries) can be found online. I got mine from www.nuts.com.

I haven’t tried this, but you could probably buy freeze-dried strawberries and grind it into a powder.