Strawberry Shortcake Cookies for Mothers Day

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on May 10, 2010 in Blog, Cookies, Special Occasions | 12 comments

When I was younger, I loved to bake.  I didn’t care to cook and help my mom make “regular meals”, but I loved to bake cookies.

My good friend, AJ, in elementary school lived down the street from me and every Friday we had a play day, each week alternating whose house we would go to. On Fridays where we played at her house, we always baked chocolate chip cookies.  We never strayed from this routine.  She had a pool in her backyard, and on warmer days we would swim, but not even the pool would deter us from our baking routine.  We always stopped swimming later in the afternoon so we could bake chocolate chip cookies before it was time for me to go home.

As I got older, my love for baking cookies continued to grow as I tried many, many different types of recipes, but eventually I only baked during the Christmas holiday.  I always did this with passion, however, baking 5 to 6 different types of cookies and making cookie bags to give as gifts.

My favorite cookie to bake was an oatmeal crisp cookie that my jichan (my paternal grandpa) loved to eat.  Every time I visited my grandparents in Japan I would bake these cookies and take them to him.  I was fortunate to visit often, but when I couldn’t, I would send them via Airmail at least twice per year.

About 10 years ago, just before my jichan passed away, I sent a batch of his favorite cookies even though I knew he really couldn’t eat anymore.

Sadly, he passed away just after I sent them, and when my mom and I flew to Japan for his funeral, the cookies were delivered a day or two after we arrived.  The sight of my unopened package really broke my heart, and in all seriousness, baking cookies was never the same after that.  Over the past 10 years I only baked cookies less than a handful of times.

This is my jichan at his home in California before he and my bachan moved to Japan for business.

A few years ago, for our wedding, my closest Auntie S (who is actually not blood related but really might as well be) and her family generously gave us several gifts from our wedding registry, including the KitchenAid mixer.  I was soooo happy to receive the mixer!  I remember at our gift opening my Auntie told me that she hoped that I would bake cookies again so that she might enjoy them.  :)

This past Christmas was the first holiday in a very long time where I baked cookies and I really enjoyed making them.  Since then, I’ve tried one new cookie recipe this year (this was pre-Bebe Love Okazu blog so I’ll have to post this the next time I make these).

Well, the other day I was at the Korean supermarket and strawberries were on sale.  (Yay for me!)  I bought 2 packs and decided that I was going to make the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies for Mother’s Day for my mom and my Auntie.  I decided to use the original Strawberry Shortcake Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

• 2 cups diced fresh strawberries
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 9 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (try Kosher salt)
• 6 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream (I substituted this with low-fat milk)
• Sanding sugar, for optional decorative sprinkling (I did without this since I didn’t have any)

1)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2)  Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.  Toss gently.

3)  Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter and rub into the flour mixture using fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  I was very tempted to use the KitchenAid mixer and very likely could have, but I chose to mix everything by hand and it wasn’t very labor intensive given the dough was very soft and pliable.

4)  Stir in low-fat milk until dough starts to come together, then gently stir in strawberry mixture.  I unintentionally let the strawberry mixture sit a little bit, and this created quite a bit of strawberry “syrup”.  When I was folding the strawberry mixture into the dough, I was very careful not to include this syrup.

5)  Scoop a tablespoon-size drop of dough onto baking sheets lined with Silpat (silicone baking mats).  I always bake with Silpat because I like the way it evenly cooks the cookie, keeps the pan clean and it’s reusable.  The original recipe called for the use of parchment paper, but if you don’t have any, use wax paper or Silpat.

6)  I Googled “sanding sugar” since I didn’t know what this was, and it’s basically a sugar crystal that withstands high heat and doesn’t lose it’s crystalized shape.

Cookies decorated with large sugar crystals are definitely pretty, but if you don’t want the additional sugar, you can definitely go without it.  I made this batch of Strawberry Shortcake Cookies without sanding sugar and I thought they were perfect, not too sweet, and absolutely delicious!  BUT, because I have to try everything at least once, I’m going to take a trip to Michael’s craft store one of these days to try sanding sugar with this recipe next time.

7) Bake cookies for 20 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Because every oven is different, I would recommend baking for 20 minutes and then checking on them.  The first batch I baked for the recommended 24 to 25 minutes and the strawberries that were on the bottom of the cookie turned black from the sugar mixture although the top of the cookie was golden brown.  At 20 minutes the cookies were well-done, slightly golden, but the strawberries on the bottom were also not black.

Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

8)  Best served immediately or consumed within 1 -3 days (if refrigerated) because of the fresh strawberries.  I refrigerated the cookies in airtight containers immediately after they cooled and they kept well in the fridge and were still delicious on day 3.

Since my first batch of cookies didn’t turn out well because of the burnt strawberry pieces on the bottom of the cookie, I only had a limited number of pretty cookies to give away.  (Bebe dada, big onechan and I ate the ones with black strawberries – they were still good.)

I packed the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies in clear cellophane bags and tied them with pretty ribbon.  For my mom and Auntie S, I made little gift tags…. Not exactly the tag I originally hoped to make but due to time constraints this is what I ended up with.

Mom and Auntie S enjoyed the cookies.  We also sent a bag home with our good friend, D, who was visiting from Northern California and he and his wife and son also enjoyed the cookies.  This recipe is definitely a keeper and I’m going to make these again next week for Yin Yin (bebe E’s paternal grandma) and my sister-in-laws when we get together with bebe dada’s family to celebrate Mother’s Day.  Thanks again, KM, for sharing this recipe!

For Mother’s Day I received a beautiful bouquet of pink (my fave color) roses and bebe dada made me a nice breakfast of french toast and bacon (bacon = bad for me, but oh so good!).  Then we took bebe E up to Los Angeles to have lunch with bachan and jichan (grandma & grandpa, i.e. my parents).

It turns out Mother’s Day Sunday was the last day of the Renoir exhibit at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).  My Auntie S and her family were planning to go so we all jumped on the bandwagon and joined them.  I can’t really say that bebe E enjoyed Renoir’s 100 + year old paintings, sculptures and drawings and definitely was more interested in squealing with joy at any children that were nearby, but it was a wonderful Mother’s Day and I was happy to spend this day with my mom, Auntie S and our family.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day too!  If you have any questions or comments regarding the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies, please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.  I would enjoy hearing from you!

Cheers,

Judy | bebe mama