Unless you've been hanging around here for the last decade...you probably don't know that I used to live in South Korea. (And if you've been with me that long -- I LOVE YOU!!!! We're clearly meant to be best friends forever!)
When I lived in South Korea, my son was about 3 years old. And he LOVED strawberries. Like, if he could only eat two foods for the rest of his life...it would have been strawberries and chocolate cereal. Unfortunately though, at the time we lived there, strawberries were REALLY expensive. They were nearly four times the price that we had been used to paying for them.
We were still a young family and honestly...didn't have a lot of extra money. But good healthy food was important to me. So we would buy a basket of strawberries every month. And my fascinatingly responsible 3 year old would ration those strawberries to make them last as long as he could.
You know what happens to strawberries after a few weeks though? (Spoiler alert: my 3 year old did NOT.) They spoil. Month after month, the strawberries in the bottom of the basket would spoil before my son ate them. He was heartbroken every time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
My momma heart couldn't take it anymore. We had a chat about how some things shouldn't be saved. The things that bring us joy -- can JUST BE ENJOYED. Happiness doesn't need to be rationed. "Just eat the strawberries." became our secret code for "It's okay to choose the things that make you happy."
And of course, I figured out a way to be able to buy that precious boy more strawberries.
There are a lot of hard things these days. So if you find things that bring you joy or happiness -- ENJOY THEM.
** Wear the shoes in your closet that you're saving for "just the right occasion."
** Take the long way home just because your favorite song is on the radio.
** Go to the park for no reason at all.
** Drive up the coast. The laundry will wait. (and wait and wait and wait. 🤣🤣)
** Make the cookies.
** Eat the strawberries.
And if you wanted to eat the strawberries AND make the cookies -- I've got you covered there too!
No Spread and No Chill Strawberry Roll Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups slightly softened unsalted butter (340g)
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (250g)
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar (85g)
- 2 eggs (100g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (15g)
- 1 teaspoon salt (6g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
- 2 ounces freeze dried strawberries, powdered in a food processor (about 1/2 cup of powder) (56g)
- 4 - 4 1/2 cups flour (560g - 630g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F or 190° C. Line baking sheets with silicone baking sheets or parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugars together.
- Add eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt and mix well.
- Stir in the powdered strawberry until well blended.
- Add flour and mix until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough holds together in a ball. IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE COOKIES RIGHT AWAY, ADD 4 1/2 cups (630 grams) flour. If you are going to "chill" the dough overnight, or just wait for another day to make your cookies, STOP AT 4 cups (560 grams). I
- Roll out on lightly floured surface. Bake at 375° F/190° C for 7-10 minutes. (I roll my cookies 1/4" thick and bake 3 inch cookies for 7 minutes.)
Strawberry Sugar Cookie FAQs
MY DOUGH IS TOO SOFT! WHAT SHOULD I DO? -- If your dough is too soft, try adding a little more flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. ALSO... If it's very hot where you live and/or your butter was room temperature instead of just slightly softened - you might actually need to cool everything down in the fridge for 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.
MY DOUGH IS TOO DRY! WHAT SHOULD I DO? -- The two most common reasons for this dough turning out dry is:
1) Not using large eggs. It's SURPRISING what a difference that makes.
2) Using too much flour. I'm not saying you used more than the recipe calls for - but if you are measuring by volume instead of weight, you might be adding more flour depending on elevation and humidity. Next time you make this recipe, try starting with 1 cup less flour and adding flour until it's just right. But you can still save this batch too!
Luckily, the solution to both of them is the same -- Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk together. Mix a little at a time into the dry dough until the dough comes together again.
SHOULD I USE SALTED OR UNSALTED BUTTER? -- If we're talking purely about science - it doesn't matter in this recipe. It's purely a personal preference. Use the butter you normally reach for. If you know you love things with just a little more salt - use salted butter. If you are someone who generally reduces salt in recipes - use unsalted butter.
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE DONE? -- Watch the surface of the cookie. As the dough begins to bake, the butter starts melting - creating a shiny or "wet" look on the surface of the cookie. As it continues to bake, the outside edge of the cookie will look dry and the wet spot in the middle shrinks. When that shiny "wet" spot in the middle disappears and the entire surface of the cookie is dry -- your cookies are done!
MY COOKIES TASTE DRY AFTER THEY ARE BAKED - WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM?
1) You might be slightly over baking them. I watch the surface of the cookies while they are baking and when the shiny spot in the center looks dry instead of shiny... I know they are done.
2) You might be using a little too much flour. If your butter was too warm to begin with, the dough will seem soft, and if you add more flour to make it not sticky...it will turn out dry. OR you might be adding too much flour for the amount of time that the dough sits. - This is why the recipe has two different amounts of flour. As the dough sits, the flour continues to absorb more moisture...making the dough more dry.
THE RECIPE SAYS NON-SPREADING...BUT MY COOKIES ARE STILL SPREADING A LITTLE BIT -- WHAT DID I DO WRONG? -- The most common reason for this is that your butter is too warm. Most cookie recipes call for room temperature butter. This recipe uses cool butter. It should be "dentable" -- you should be able to make a dent in the side of the butter...but not much more than that. Check out this post for more tips to stop cookies from spreading.
HOW LONG ARE THESE COOKIES GOOD FOR? -- It depends on how they are stored, but generally you can expect these cookies to taste fresh for about 7-10 days at room temperature.
WHAT FLAVOR ICING SHOULD I USE WITH THESE COOKIES? -- My favorite is a mix of half vanilla and half coconut. (I currently use Happy Homes Coconut Extract.) I also recommend straight vanilla or almond flavored icing. You can replace the vanilla from your regular recipe straight across with any other type of flavoring.
WHY ARE SOME OF YOUR METRIC CONVERSIONS DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES I GOOGLED? -- Because I'm a weirdo. Apparently I don't measure "to standard". 🤣🤣 I figured it was more important that you have the best possible metric weights than that I match a standard. I hope you don't mind.
NEED MORE??
Make sure all your cookies are the same thickness with the Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin. (Or any other rolling pin with rings.)
