Effortless Strawberry Shortbread (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
→ Shortbread Dough
01 -
1 teaspoon real vanilla
02 -
0.5 teaspoon kosher salt
03 -
114 grams white sugar
04 -
227 grams unsalted butter, softened
05 -
21 grams freeze-dried strawberries
06 -
320 grams all-purpose flour, unbleached
→ Strawberry Glaze
07 -
45-75 millilitres whole milk
08 -
14 grams freeze-dried strawberries
09 -
120 grams powdered sugar
# Instructions:
01 -
Toss the freeze-dried strawberries and a third of the flour into your food processor and blitz them until powdery. Dump this pink mixture into a bowl with the rest of the flour and stir it all up.
02 -
Throw your butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt in the mixer. Beat them at medium speed until you’ve got a fluffy, smooth mix—about 2 minutes. Stop to scrape the bowl if anything sticks.
03 -
Pour the strawberry-flour stuff into your butter bowl. Turn the mixer low and let everything mix. It'll look like big crumbs at first, but keep going—it’ll turn into real dough soon.
04 -
Place your dough on a floured countertop and flatten it into a rectangle. Sprinkle more flour on top. Roll it out to 1.25 cm thick, then grab your 5 cm cutter and punch out rounds. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Poke each one in the middle with a fork.
05 -
Pop the shaped cookies into the fridge for at least 20 minutes so they don’t spread. If you’re chilling them more than 2 hours, toss some plastic wrap over the top.
06 -
Set your oven to 150°C. Spread cookies on a lined tray, keeping them 5 cm apart. Let them bake for 20 to 23 minutes until the bottoms are barely golden but the tops still look pale. Leave on the tray 5 minutes, move to a wire rack after.
07 -
Put powdered sugar with freeze-dried strawberries in your food processor and blend until everything’s smooth and pink. Pour it into a bowl, stir in 45 millilitres milk, and mix until glossy. If it’s too thick, add more milk a splash at a time until you like it.
08 -
Once the cookies are cool, dip the tops in the pink glaze. Let any extra drip off and set them on a wire rack to dry.
09 -
Keep unglazed cookies in a tight container at room temperature up to 10 days. Cookies with glaze stay fresh 2-3 days on the counter, then stash in the fridge if you want them to last longer.
# Notes:
01 -
Go for the best butter you find—makes a big difference. You can shape the dough, then freeze it for up to 3 months before baking.
02 -
For easy freezing, lay unbaked cookies in one layer until solid, then bag them up. Bake straight from frozen, adding about 5 minutes more in the oven.
03 -
Cold dough helps the cookies stay neat and soft, so don’t skip chilling.