Memorial Day Cookies
Servings 12 cookies
Ingredients
Cookie dough:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50 grams, out of shell)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond, lemon or vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest if using lemon extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or for gluten-free, King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Frosting:
- 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup softened cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Decoration:
- 8 large (6 oz) fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup (3 oz) fresh blueberries
Instructions
Make the dough:
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the extract, lemon zest if using, and egg just until combined. It'll not be smooth but rather lumpy.
- Sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, salt and cream on tartar on top and stir in until combined.
- Add the flour and beat on low until a dough forms.
- Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Take the dough out and roll into 2-tablespoon balls (each about 40 grams), and place 3" apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten them a bit with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops no longer appear wet and are a bit puffy and crinkly on top. The cookie bottoms will be a light golden brown color, but the tops and edges of the cookies won't be. If they've browned, they'll be dry and cakey.
- Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting:
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the frosting.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
- Add 1/2 cup (60 grams) of the powdered sugar. Taste and add more powdered sugar, if desired. I much prefer it with just 1/2 cup (it has a stronger cream cheese taste and less of a sugar taste). If using 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, the yield is a bit over 2/3 cup (use just under 1 tablespoon of frosting per cookie). If you use the whole cup of powdered sugar, the yield is 14 tablespoons (use just over 1 tablespoon per cookie).
Prepare the fruit:
- Wash and pat dry the fruit. Cut off the stems from the strawberries and slice each strawberry from the top down about 1 centimeter thick each. Use a 1-inch star cookie cutter, or whatever size you'd like (keeping in mind that smaller cutters will make it more difficult) to punch out a star shape from each slice. Do this with the remaining strawberries.
Decorate:
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, frost with cream cheese frosting and top with star strawberries and blueberries. Serve immediately or chill cookies before serving, which is best if you're taking them somewhere warm.
How to store:
- Chilled and decorated cookies can sit out for 3-4 hours. If it’s hot, like at a summer picnic, don’t have them sit out longer than an hour. Or keep them in a cooler.
- Non-chilled cookies (meaning you made them, frosted, and decorated them just now) can sit out for about an hour.
- Refrigerate frosted but undecorated cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Don’t stack them! You can freeze unfrosted cookies or the dough for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the frosted cookies if you have leftovers, but take off the fruit first.
Notes
- I doubled this recipe for the photos, as it's hard to get a good shot of the dough when it's so low in the bowl.
- Chilling the dough before baking isn't absolutely necessary, but recommended as it helps the cookies keep their shape better and makes it easier to form into balls. They'll also crack less on the edges when you press down on them.