These cute kitties were created two years ago as a special request by someone who grew up playing with Webkinz. Do you remember the Strawberry Cloud Leopard? It was a cute pink Webkinz plushie. The cookies are made of tender, buttery shortbread dough. They get their natural color and flavor from freeze dried strawberries. Mini chocolate chips are added to make the adorable leopard spots. To watch the Strawberry Cloud Leopard Shortbread Cookies Instagram video, click here.
I recently brought back the heart-shaped version of these cookies on social media, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Currently, the price of eggs is very high. These cookies don’t contain eggs, which is so helpful right now. They make a perfect shareable Valentine treat.
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Tender strawberry shortbread cookies dotted with mini chocolate chips
Ingredients
- 2 cups (255g) all purpose flour, sifted
- ½ cup (64g) powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup (18g) freeze dried strawberries not dried
- 1 cup (227g) good quality unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3-1/2 cup (57g-85g) mini semi sweet chocolate chips
- Decor for leopards vanilla buttercream, finely shredded unsweetened coconut, heart candy sprinkles, melted chocolate optional
Instructions
- Process the freeze dried strawberries to a powder with a small food processor or a clean spice grinder. Pass the powder through a sieve to strain out the seeds.
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, powdered sugar and salt together.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the freeze dried strawberry powder and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture and beat just until dough comes together. Fold in 1/3 cup (57g) of mini chocolate chips for the leopards or 1/2 cup (85g) of mini chocolate chips for the hearts.
- Divide the dough into two portions and form into disks. (Alternately, you can roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.) Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut the cookies into your desired shapes. I used a 4-inch tall cat cookie cutter** for the leopards and a 3-inch tall heart cookie cutter for the hearts.
- Place the cookies about 2-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. To prevent excessive spreading, refrigerate the cut cookies for 30 minutes prior to baking, especially if your dough becomes warm as you work with it.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Bake until the cookies are slightly puffed and the edges barely start to turn light golden brown, about 11-13 minutes. (Smaller cookies will need a shorter baking time.) Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 3-4 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
Notes
To find a cat cookie cutter, click here.
