wicked easy strawberry shortcake cookies

i had a big handful of strawberries leftover from ralphs' super 98 cent/lb box sale last week. They were still good, nice and firm...but I was tired of just eating them with my yogurt.

i didn't have the ingredients to make a cheesecake, so I kept it simple. I found a recipe online for strawberry shortcake cookies--but ultimately, they ended up being little mini scone type cookies. They weren't super sweet, but had a nice crisp texture, packed with fresh strawberries, and a hint of orange. So anyway....here we go.



::gathering my raw materials::

- 6 oz chopped strawberries

- 1 tbsp granulated sugar

- 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Toss the strawberries with the lemon juice and granulated sugar. Set aside in a bowl.


Continuing on:
- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 cup flour

- 1/2 cup butter (cubed, chilled)

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt (if you're using unsalted butter)

- 1/3 cup heavy cream (but i used half n half, worked just as well)

- crystal sugar for garnish (can substitute with sugar in the raw)



Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter (or two forks, for us newbies, who haven't accumulated all the nifty gadgets yet), cut in the butter until your flour looks like cornmeal.





Once that's nice and incorporated, add your heavy cream (or half n half) and strawberry mixture.





I took this opportunity to add some fresh orange zest, 'cause strawberries pair very nicely with citrus.



Don't be alarmed if the batter turns kinda pink, 'cause of the strawberries



Spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet.

This is an optional step, but it gives the tops of the cookies a nice crunch. Sprinkle your sugar crystals on top of the cookies. Again, I used raw sugar which was a decent substitution. Sprinkle as much or as little as you would like.






Pop your cookies into the oven @ 350 F, for about 20 minutes or until they start to turn lightly brown. If your oven is on the more sensitive side, bake at about 325F and check on them after 15-18 minutes.


Remove from heat and allow to cool for a bit.



I was happy with the results; they were like little biscuits, and can be enjoyed alone, with tea, or even a bit of butter/margarine. Would probably try again with different fruit. Enjoy!