In Season

On the heels of a sweet date with my hubby last night, (we ended up at San Manuel Indian Casino!) I decided a batch of cookies was in order!
While flipping through Parents magazine, I came across a yummy looking strawberry cookie recipe. Although I don't normally choose fruit-themed desserts, (I go straight for chocolate!) this one looked too sweet to resist trying! This time of year, strawberries are abundant, making them very inexpensive. I found 1-pound cartons of them at Target for $1 each and stocked up! I sliced some to freeze and saved a few for this recipe.
Here it is, light and airy, tangy and buttery! Enjoy:

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350° and in a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Mix in egg yolk, lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in flour and 1/4 cup berries. With your hands, work the mixture until a smooth dough is formed.
On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to make rings and cut centers with 1-inch round cutter. (I skipped this step and made drop cookies, I just don't have the patience for the rolling and cutting but they were sooo good anyway!) Place rings on cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove and let cool. Puree and sieve remaining berries and stir the puree with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
My son Logan wolfed them and daughter Jovie said "too sour" as she spit them out...you decide.

Chopped berries

Creamed sugar and butter

End result...not too shabby!

If you enjoy trying new recipes as much as I do, you're going to love my weekly dessert recipes courtesy of amazing pastry chef, Ellen (aka, my little sis) She is going to bring us new and exciting recipes to try. I'll attempt them and give you all a review. Welcome to A Sweet Bite, Ellen!

My beautiful sis graduating from Portland Culinary Institute!!