Dandelion Cookies with Strawberry Glaze
These dandelion shortbread cookies are soft, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth tender with the prettiest little strawberry glaze on top.
Servings: 20 cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter very soft, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup dandelion sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
Strawberry glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- additional freeze-dried strawberries & dandelion petals optional for garnish
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Make the cookie dough: Cream together 8 oz butter, ½ tsp salt, and 1 tsp vanilla until light, fluffy, and super soft, about 2-3 minutes. Then blend in ⅓ cup dandelion sugar until well mixed. Add 1 ¾ cup flour, mixing just until a soft dough forms. If there are some dry pockets of flour, you can knead the dough gently with your hands just until it all comes together.
- Roll the dough: Pat the dough into a rough disc and roll between two pieces of parchment paper to about ¼ inch thickness. Do NOT roll on a floured surface, as it can make the final cookies dry and tough.
- Chill briefly: Move rolled dough to a baking sheet and chill for 15-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Cut and chill again: Cut dough into shapes using a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or a pastry wheel. I cut mine into roughly 2x2 inch squares using a fluted pastry wheel.Chill shaped cookies for another 30 minutes in the refrigerator. This is important! It helps the cookies hold their shape during baking and prevents spreading.
- Bake: When cookies are almost done chilling, preheat oven to 325° F.Place cookies at least an inch apart on lined baking sheets and bake just until the edges are set and barely golden, about 12-15 minutes. Move to cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
For the glaze:
- Mix: Blend ¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries until they're a fine powder. This is easiest to do with a spice/coffee grinder, but you can also use a small food processor or seal them in a freezer bag and roll a rolling pin over them for a few minutes.In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, the crushed freeze-dried strawberries, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp milk until smooth. Add additional milk or water if the glaze is too thick, or add a little more powdered sugar if the glaze is too thin. It should be thick but pourable.
- Decorate: Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies, then finish with crushed dried strawberries and a sprinkle of dandelion petals.