Shortbread cookies remind us how amazing a simple recipe really can be. These Strawberry Flecked Shortbread cookies are a fruity twist on the buttery cookies we know and love. Flecked with little chewy morsels of Strawberry bits throughout, they are a match made in heaven for your favorite cup of tea.
It's hard to resist the melt-in-your-mouth texture of shortbread. Made with butter, sugar, and flour, the flaky cookie is a blank canvas. Strawberries, with their delicate flavor, seemed like a great pairing for the rich and buttery cookie. The freeze-dried pieces of strawberry undergo a transformation from their dry texture to a delightful surprise. Between bites of the buttery shortbread, you get chewy, sweet bursts of strawberry, with a flavor reminiscent of strawberry marmalade.
Speaking of great pairings, these would be the cutest cookies to take a long to your next Galentine gathering or to butter up your Valentine. Even if you are your own Valentine this year, no judgement, more for you to enjoy! 😉
Ingredients
These Strawberry Flecked shortbread cookies come together with just a few simple ingredients: butter, confectioner's sugar, flour, and strawberry bits. The result is a tender, buttery cookie with a delicate fruity twist.
- Butter
- Flour
- Confectioner's Sugar
- Freeze Dried Strawberries
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
A couple of helpful notes for when you make these Strawberry Shortbread Cookies.
When making the Shortbread dough, we do everything pretty basic as far as the recipe for shortbread. It is not until later in the recipe where we fold in the crushed freeze dried strawberry bits into the dough.
I suggest breaking up the strawberry bits into medium-sized bits. If they are too big I noticed it made it difficult to cut the cookies out as the bigger bits would get caught on the cutter and make a giant hole in the cookie. I used the back of a wooden spoon (so Italian..I know 😂) to break the strawberry pieces up inside of a bowl. I then filtered out the pieces using a sieve to catch the pieces and filter out the powder left behind.
Place the medium-sized pieces of strawberry on a plate and inside the fridge while you prepare the dough. This way the fruit pieces are cold when you are folding them inside the dough later on.
Don't throw out the strawberry powder, I repeat, do not throw out the strawberry powder. One, its delicious, and two, it can be reused as a rim on this delicious Paloma Mocktail. Now you have a reason to make yourself a drink when you finish baking these amazing cookies!
Once you fold your strawberry pieces into the cookies, let the dough cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. My suggestion is to roll and cut your cookies out, but pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes prior to baking them.
Oh, and ill save you some elbow grease...don't even attempt to try and roll out the dough right from the fridge. Give the dough a couple minutes to come to room temperature. Your biceps 💪 will thank me.
Storage
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week to maintain freshness. Keep them in a cool, dry place away from heat and moisture.
For extended freshness, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Flecked Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature
- ¾ cup Confectioner's Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Freeze Dried Strawberries, crushed
Instructions
- Crush the Freeze Dried Strawberries into medium-sized pieces. I used the back of a wooden spoon to break the Strawberries up. Filter out the powder from the pieces of the strawberry. See notes above for more details on this.
- Lay the Strawberry pieces on a plate and put in the fridge to chill while preparing the Shortbread dough.
- Using either a Stand or Hand Mixer, Cream the Butter. Add Vanilla and mix.
- In another bowl Sift the Corn Starch, Flour, Salt, and Confectioner's Sugar together.
- Slowly add the Dry mixture to the Butter. I took about a ¼ cup at a time and mixed a little bit before adding more. Do this until all of the flour has been mixed with the butter and the dough starts to form. If the dough is too crumbly, use your hands to finish bringing it together. Don't over mix.
- Fold the chilled Strawberry pieces evenly into the shortbread dough. Chill the dough for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
- Once the dough is chilled and while the oven is pre-heating, take the dough out of the fridge. Give it a couple minutes to warm slightly so it is easier to roll the dough out approximately ¼" thin. Using a cookie cutter, cut out your desired shape and put each piece on parchment or a cutting board into the freezer for about 5 minutes. I did this in groups of 8-12 cookies and baking one sheet at a time.
- Once your cut cookies have chilled for 5 minutes, place each cookie with space between on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 11-15 minutes. Baking time will vary based on your oven, the thickness, and the size of the cookie cutter you are using.
- Cookies are done once they have a slightly golden edge. Remove finished cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. If you have remaining dough: roll it out again, cut, freeze, and bake repeating the previous steps for each batch.
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