Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

My niece always has strawberries on the brain. Whether it’s ice cream, cupcakes, cereal, on all on their own, she loves strawberries, and who can blame her? They are the essence of summer, and they go well in just about any dessert. When we decided to bake together this past weekend, I immediately thought of the beautiful strawberry shortcake cookies that Michelle made a few weeks ago. It turns out that Michelle found the recipe on Jen’s blog, and then I saw it a few other places. Once we made the cookies, I found out why they were so popular!

We started with some beautiful fresh strawberries, which I chopped.

Isabella had a few very important jobs, including stirring the strawberries and sugar and helping me integrate the butter and cream into the dry ingredients.

We used our hands. Then it was time to add the strawberries.

We rolled the cookies and flattened them out while Harrison watched.  There may have also been some dancing.

The cookies came out super moist and soft, bursting with sweet strawberries and nice and crumbly like a buttery shortcake.

They were the perfect treat to go along with our outdoor dinner, and spending the afternoon baking with my niece was just what I needed to feel a little better after a few bad weeks.

I spent the whole weekend sick. . . I still have a sore throat and lots of aches, fever, and congestion. But, if I had to be sick, it was nice to be home with my family. I love them!

What is your favorite thing to make/bake with family?

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies Recipe

12 oz strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
coarse sugar, for topping the cookies

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir together the strawberries, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the sugar then set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the lemon zest and remaining 7 tablespoons of sugar.  Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until moist and fragrant.  Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the zest/sugar mixture and whisk to combine.  Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs.  Add the cream to the bowl and stir until the dough starts to come together.  Finally, gently stir in the strawberry mixture.
Use a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets spacing the cookies about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart.  Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.  Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.  Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool.  The cookies are best the day they’re made, but can be kept in an airtight container for 1 day.