Happy Valentine’s Day!
Book Update:
My daughter wrote a book! I have spent the last 6+ months editing the amazing novel Sea Legs. It is available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback! We also have a signed version that is printed slightly off. I’m not sure why because the “no resale” version printed perfectly. My dream is that Sea Legs – the slightly off one – becomes some huge rare collectible item. Wouldn’t that be wild?
Anyway – make a girl happy! Buy the book! It has fewer calories than Girl Scout Cookies! 🙂 Speaking of cookies….
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
I used to buy Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough as part of a fundraiser. Rarely do you see strawberry cookies…. and even rarer are strawberry shortcake cookies available! These cookies are AWESOME!!! Even my choco-holic dark chocolate loving family and husband loved these cookies!! I think the dough is extremely versatile, so if you want to make EXACT replicas of Otis Spunkmeyer you can add dried cranberries as well. Not a fan of white chocolate? You can substitute semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips instead for a chocolate-covered strawberry treat!
For our chocolate-covered strawberries – my sister has a secret. Half milk chocolate and half semisweet chocolate chips all by Ghiradelli. This combo is the BEST strawberry I’ve ever had. It tastes just like the fancy brands!
But back to the cookies! You can make this dough and have cookies in very little time. Grab some freeze-dried strawberries at the store on your way home from work and enjoy them!
Weighing Your Flour
There is one surefire way that your cookies will turn out the same every time — measuring your flour by weight. The type of flour you use and how you scoop it makes a HUGE difference in the final product. 185 grams works perfectly here in this recipe. I know many do this with sourdough, but it can be equally important in cookie making, too!
We also use our scale to weigh our ground beef that we buy in bulk from the store. 🙂 If you need another excuse for a digital scale, there is that too.
For a True Copycat Recipe
The original Otis Spunkmeyer Strawberry Shortcake cookie states it uses strawberries AND dried cranberries. I suspect that the dried cranberries are used more as a cheaper filler since they are significantly less expensive than the strawberries. But if you like that tangy dried cranberries, I would use 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries and 1/2 cup dried cranberries.
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted 1 stick
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup + 2 Tb all-purpose flour or total 185 grams of flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries crushed
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
Instructions
- In a great big bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes) on medium speed.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Scrape the bowl and mix until incorporated.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir on low until combined.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries that are already crushed and the white chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Mix by hand.
- Scoop the dough onto a silicone or parchment-lined cookie sheet using 1 or 2 Tablespoon scoopfuls. It depends on how big you want your cookies. Once scooped, place them into the freezer to harden for about an hour or two.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone. Place cookies at least 2-3" apart. Bake for 9-12 minutes. The time will be dependent on the size of your cookies. The cookies will be golden brown on the edges and just set in the middle. They will not look raw in the middle.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Place on a cooling rack to cool further and eat! Seal in an airtight container for storage.