Wednesday, June 10, 2009

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE COOKIES

Apologies for my long absence, but Murphy's Law has been working overtime in my household. We finally fixed our computer problem: Vista is incompatible with The Shield Deluxe Antivirus Program. Just when I thought I could return to blogging, my shoulder flared up. A car accident in 1979 left me with damaged vertebrae and a susceptibility to repetitive stress injury from computer usage. Since I've played hookey from physical therapy since November, I have no one to blame but myself. Now that I'm back in PT twice a week, I have limited time for the computer. I have yet to look into my bulging folder of recipes that need to be posted. I thought, instead, I would let Martha Stewart usher in my comeback with this timely recipe, made today, using strawberries. As is typical of MS's recipes, there is no guidance on how the texture of this cookie is supposed to be. I'm assuming, from the title, the cookie should have the texture of a shortcake. If that is so, then her baking time of 24-25 minutes is way off. But her photo (see top photo) is much prettier than my cookies. If you only bake the cookies till the dough is done, they won't brown on the bottom like the top photo. If you let the cookies brown like the top photo, I fear they will be terribly overdone inside. You can certainly check the original recipe on Martha's website; I've printed my smaller (1/3) recipe below, to which (amazingly) no changes were made except for the baking time and method of incorporating the butter into the dough. (It is just so much easier to grate frozen butter into a dough instead of cutting it in with knives or a pastry cutter.)
What to watch out for: Don't overdo the strawberries. Too many will make the dough soggy. This cookie is not a good keeper, so plan on eating them all the day they're made, or freeze them. Somehow, I don't think this will be problem once you taste them. I ate eleven cookies very easily, without even thinking about it -- they are small and really delicious.
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Adapted 1/3 Recipe from marthastewart.com
Rating: 8 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: Scant 2/3 cup diced strawberries (1/4" dice)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. + 2 Tbsp 1 tsp. sugar, divided use
2/3 cup chilled flour (I used Ultra-Grain, which is 30% whole wheat)
2/3 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. coarse salt (I used Kosher)
2 Tbsp. frozen butter
3-1/2 Tbsp. chilled heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (any coarse sugar crystals will work)

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small dish or bowl, combine strawberries, lemon juice and 2 tsp. sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 2 Tbsp. 1 tsp. sugar. Grate butter through a microplane coarse grater (which is a fine grater, actually) over flour and then mix with your hands until it resembles coarse crumbs. Quickly stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberries and their juices. Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon,drop dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until dough is cooked (about 10 minutes) for a very soft but delicious cookie. Or, you may prefer to bake them till they're golden brown, probably 15-18 minutes, in which case I have no idea what they will be like, but I do hope you will let me know. In any event, good luck! Yield: 13 cookies

20 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

Oh YAY!! You are back.. I so missed you. These cookies look so so so delicious. I will try them. Glad to "see" you Judy!!

Barbara Bakes said...

Strawberry shortcake and a cookie sounds like a great combination to me!

Katrina said...

Ooh, what a good idea and yummy!
Glad you're back, sorry about all the troubles!

Martha said...

strawberries and shortcake in one cookie -- what can be better than that!

Lyndas recipe box said...

Glad you are back, Judy- you have been missed!
These cookies look so delicious...I've not had strawberry cookies before, but these are really calling my name!

♥peachkins♥ said...

wow,this looks good. I bet this will be perfect paired with coffee

Linda said...

Welcome back! Cookies look really yummy.... I,too, often find Martha's recipes lacking... but then I find that also from the food network food mavens too.

Glad you're back... I'm not quite back yet... pulled/strained hip muscle... finally past the mind bending pain... now working through the haze of side effects of the drugs... but getting there..

Debbie said...

Welcome back Judy...I missed you! Glad you are doing better. The cookies look great. I wonder if you could make them with blueberries or some other chopped fruit?

teresa said...

Welcome back! These look so good, I can't wait to try them!

Juliana said...

These cookies look so good...moist as well...I'd love to have them with some vanilla ice cream...Yummie! Great pictures!

Reeni said...

Here you are! I missed you! I'm sorry about your shoulder! The cookies look great - I could see myself polishing off quite a few myself!!

Kerstin said...

Glad you're back, we missed you! I hope your shoulder feels better. I could easily eat more than 11 of your cookies - they look delicious and addicting!

JohnGL said...

Welcome back Judy! We missed you!

Amanda said...

Welcome back Judy :) I was happy to see a post from you. I have these cookies on my list to make this month. They are the featured cookie in Cookie Carnival!

Delectable Dining said...

This is one of my favorite desserts, so I am thrilled to see your cookie form! :) Looks great!

unconfidentialcook said...

I love the idea behind these cookies! We have so many strawberries, and this is a perfect way to use them up.

Hairball T. Hairball said...

I'm glad you are able to blog again!

Marge said...

So glad you are back! Keep up the PT and be well!

Anonymous said...

Glad your back Judy - these look devine!

Hope your shoulder feels better really soon - PT is important! :D

ZONE F DG TEAM said...

These cookies were abit of a mess for my attempt.

Glad to hear you had success!