My Entry in the Cookie Challenge

Wow, September flew by so quickly. Happy October! I'll keep this short since I tend to get long-winded and I have a recipe to add also.

As I mentioned before, I am participating in the "National Cookie Network Baking Challenge" that is hosted by the amiable Ms. Tiffany McCauley of "The Cookie Blog". The secret ingredient for September was STRAWBERRIES! Yum. I love strawberries but had never really baked a strawberry cookie before. It was challenging because the recipe had to be original, so no copying anyone's recipe! I tested a few different batches trying to hash out a cookie that looked AND tasted good. The recipe I finally ended up with is something I call "Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Sandwiches" and besides having a wordy name it tastes really good. It's not as fancy or polished-looking as I had hoped for, but still I think it's a decent first effort. Here's the recipe!


The Cookie:

Generous 1/2 cup fresh chopped strawberries
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter (cubed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening
1 - 2 drops red food coloring


Preheat over to 325 degrees.

Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl and stir. Using a pastry blender cut butter into flour and sugar until fine crumbs form. Stir in strawberries until they are all coated with the flour mixture. Stir in white chocolate chips, add vanilla extract and food coloring. Knead until a ball is formed. The mixture will be dry at first. As you knead the heat from your hands will soften the butter and will become dough-like in minutes.


Shape dough into balls and roll half of ball in sugar. Place on a non-greased cookie sheet sugar side up, about 2" apart and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake 10-12 minutes.
Cool completely before filling.


The Filling:

3 or 4 large strawberries pureed in food processor
2 sticks of unsalted butter (almost room temp)
4 cups powdered sugar sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add butter to mixer bowl and beat until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and and beat on low until well incorporated. Add vanilla and 3-4 tablespoons of strawberry puree.
Mix until just combined. If filling is too thick, add an additional tablespoon of strawberry puree.

Fill cookies with desired amount of frosting and enjoy! Yield 12 sandwich cookies.


*tip: don't chop strawberries too fine or they will disappear into the dough when baking.