Strawberry, Marshmallow, Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Should we just get down to brass tacks and I try with all my might to persuade you that you need these Strawberry, Marshmallow, Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies in your life to make it complete?  Perhaps it's necessary to fill a void, a reason to cheat on that diet (that you knew deep down you weren't sticking to anyways), a salve to soothe away winter blues.  I could even argue the case that these lovely treats contain mood lifting dark chocolate and real strawberries, but really now; stare deeply into their little pink hearts, you know resistance is futile.  

Face it we all have our growing lists of crap-to-do and limited amounts of time to do it in.  I think I'm becoming a master of distraction and can easily convince my vast expanse of a wandering mind that there are a million other things I need to be doing than sitting down working these days.  For one, my chaturanga got up and left, actually I'm not sure if it ever really liked me that much anyhow but I do miss it so.  Baking and my lack of it the last few months was something else I sorely missed so I rounded up all the energy and focus I could and whipped up some treats to share with my Valentines.  It was a good salve and I enjoyed the time immersed in it, one day at a time, I'm going to get there.  I have no idea where "there" is but I know I'll recognize it when I see it.

Until you get to your "there" perhaps you should immerse yourself in a kitchen filled with the aroma of strawberries, the sweetness of soft fluffy marshmallow needing to be licked off your sticky fingers, or perhaps disposing of all the wayward melty chocolate and errant sprinkles is more your speed.  Either way we all can get something we want out of the deal.

    

Strawberry Sugar Cookies
1.2 ounces freeze dried strawberries

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2.  Place the strawberries in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until they are a powder. Sift the powder through a fine sieve and discard any larger pieces that are left. Set aside.

3.  Add the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and mix until the butter is lighter in color and fluffy.

4.  Add the egg, strawberry powder, flour, and salt and mix until well combined.

5.  Roll 1/2 of the dough on a floured surface into a 1/4” thick disk. Cut the cookies in heart shapes or whichever shape you’d like. Place the cookies onto a baking sheet prepared with parchment or silicone mats. Space the cookies about an inch apart. Repeat until all the dough has been used up.

6.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until the cookies feel firm to the touch.
7.  Let cool.

Marshmallow Fluff

3 large egg whites 

2/3 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons 

3/4 cup light corn syrup 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Pinch salt

1.  Beat eggs in a mixer until frothy and then add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until soft peaks form. 

2.  In a small pan heat corn syrup and 1/3 cup water and rest of granulated sugar until boiling. Let boil until it reaches a temperature of 242 degrees F. 

3.  Pour sugar into mixer with egg whites and beat on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed until the sugar is cool and mixture resembles marshmallow fluff.

4.  Place fluff in a piping bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.  Pipe the marshmallow fluff onto half of the sugar cookies and top with another cookie and set aside.

This version is so good and fluffy and pipes so well, but if you want to just buy a jar that's cool too.  This recipe will make more than you need and you can store the rest in a covered jar in the fridge for a few days. 

Also needed

6 ounces dark chocolate 

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Assorted sprinkles

1.  Melt the chocolate and cream in a bowl of a double boiler, stirring until melted and then take off heat.  

2.  Dip sides of filled cookies in chocolate and then sprinkle with the sprinkles over a separate bowl.  

3.  Place finished cookies on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper and place in the fridge until firmed up.  Store in a cool place.  

Spreading around a little love and cookies was a huge mood lifter.  I'm putting it back on the do-again-soon list.  

Enjoy,

Gina