Strawberries and Cream Cookies

   Spring is here, and what better way to celebrate it than with a cookie with strawberries in it! The strawberries are not fresh, but they are just as amazing anyways. They also add a little pop of color, otherwise these would just be white chocolate chip cookies!

   So, the strawberries are dried, not fresh and not freeze dried. This can make it such a huge pain to find them, but they can be found at Target in the dried fruits section. Oh, and the lady over at Cookies and Cups, where I got this recipe, said that, as hard as she tried, she just could not seem to make fresh strawberries to work. No worries, these cookies come out amazing anyways!

   Everything in the first step gets creamed together, which is best done in a stand-alone KitchenAide bowl. Or, if you are like me and don't have one, an old electric mixer will do just the job! If needed, it can all be mixed with a spoon, just the electric beater does a better job at making sure there are no clumps and that everything is distributed evenly. The eggs do not have to be beaten one at a time, but if that is your preference then go for it!

   Since the dry ingredients don't need to be mixed in a separate bowl, just throw them all in at once and stil very slowly to not get flour everywhere. The dough will quickly turn into an actual cookie dough-like consistency, and when it is like that and there are no pockets of flour around the bowl, go ahead and fold in the strawberries and the white chocolate chips. Using a mixer for this part may not work since the dough is so thick, so you can fold them in using a spoon.

   Drop onto a greased cookie sheet using a cookie portion scoop (or two heaping Tablespoons), top them off with a little bit more of the strawberry(if you have any) for a little extra decoration. Bake for 9 minutes, and viola, they are perfect! You can eat them right off the pan or wait until they are cool, they are amazing either way!

Recipe:

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c Butter, soft

1 c Brown Sugar, packed

1 Egg (+) 1 Egg Yolk

2 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 1/4 c Flour

1 c Dried Strawberries, chopped

1 c White Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a baking sheet.

2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Then, beat in the egg and egg yolk, then mix in the vanilla.

3. Mix in the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until combined.

4. Fold in the strawberries and chocolate chips.

5. Using a portion scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.