Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Unseasonable Strawberries and Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Is it a good thing that you can now get strawberries all year long? I think that is most likely a problem. Like, where are these strawberries coming from and how much money and energy does it take to get them here? When I was a kid – a VERY long time ago – fruit was way more seasonal. And as much as I probably would have liked to have had cherries in, say, January, it gave me something to look forward to in the early summer. Certain fruits were, actually, a marker of particular seasons. My philosophic rant aside, these strawberry shortbread sandwich cookies with cheesecake filling can be made any time of year because they use freeze dried strawberries.
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies with Freeze Dried Strawberries
As much as I do love strawberries, I find that they no longer actually have much of a taste. They are all kind of bland and unripe. They become distinctly ripe fairly quickly and move straight to inedible and moldy. Finding freeze dried strawberries in my supermarket has been a game changer. I can keep them in the cupboard for weeks and pop them out when I need them. They have a really good strawberry flavor and they don’t make baked goods soggy. Wins all around.
Cookie Math is Dumb
To make the cookies, I used my general shortbread recipe and then added the freeze dried strawberries, smashed into a powder. Each bag was ½ cup of sliced berries and I needed 2 bags to make ¼ cup of powder. That math still doesn’t make sense to me, but whatevs. The dough needs to be chilled for about 30 minutes before rolling out or the cookies will spread too much.
Cheesecake Filling, Jam, + Shortbread = Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
While the cookies baked, I prepared my no-bake cheesecake filling. It is a tangy combination of cream cheese and whipped cream. Super easy to put together. I let it chill in the fridge while the cookies cooled. Once the cookies were ready, I used a piping bag to add the filling to the inside of one cookie, leaving a teaspoon sized space in the middle. I filled the middle with a spoonful of strawberry jam and sandwiched everything together with another cookie.
Pink Cookies for the Win!
The cookies are best slightly chilled and you can keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. They are sweet and tangy with a real strawberry flavor. Best of all, for me at least, is that they are pink! Happy summer fruit season!
Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberry powder from 1 cup sliced freeze dried strawberries
- 2 cups all purpose flour
No-Bake Cheesecake Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup sour cream room temperature
- 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
Strawberry Jam
- 8 tsp store bought strawberry jam
Instructions
- Prepare the cookie dough first.
- Place about 1 cup of sliced freeze dried strawberries in a Ziploc bag and whack it with a rolling pin. You should have 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberry powder when you are done. Set aside.
- Add the butter and confectioners sugar to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom.
- Add the vanilla and mix.
- Add the freeze dried strawberry powder and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the flour and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and pat into a disc.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- As you near the end of the chilling time, preheat the over to 350 degrees.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin.
- Roll out the disc to about 1/4-inch thick.
- Use a circular cookie cutter (mine was about the diameter of the top of a glass) and cut out the dough. Keep putting the scraps together and rolling and cutting them until there is no more dough.
- Bake the cookies until the bottom and edges are golden, about 11 minutes. I use two pans and switch the racks midway through.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the cookies to a wire rack. They need to be COMPLETELY cool before filling them.
- While the cookies cool, make the no-bake cheesecake filling.
- Attach the whisk to a mixer.
- Add the heavy whipping cream to the bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. You can use a medium high speed. It should take about two minutes. Be careful of not over mixing or it will become butter.
- Gently slide the cream into a large bowl and set aside.
- Using the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese, sour cream, confectioners sugar, and vanilla together until completely mixed and smooth.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Do this gently, folding the cream in with a spatula.
- Let this chill in the fridge for a few minutes.
- When the cookies are cooled, prepare to fill them.
- Fit a piping bag with a tip and fill the bag with the no-bake cheesecake cream. If you don't have a piping bag, fill a Ziploc and cut off a corner.
- Pipe the cream onto the inside of a cookie, leaving about a 1 teaspoon space open in the middle.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam to the center of the cookie.
- Place a second cookie on top, squeezing gently.
- Chill for about 30 minutes before eating.
