Strawberry Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

Strawberry vanilla shortbread cookies... yes please! I cannot get away from strawberries at the moment especially when their on special offer at my local supermarket. These extremely simple cookies have three main elements which are fresh strawberry, vanilla butter cream and a wonderful melt and crumble shortbread. The shortbread provides the platform for the piped vanilla butter cream and sliced fresh strawberries. You have to get the sweet pastry just right, make sure to rest it in the chiller for at least 30 minutes. To give the shortbread added crunchiness dab a little water on top and sprinkle with demerara sugar. As a little aesthetic plus to these Strawberry Vanilla Shortbread Cookies I have used a lattice roller before cutting out the cookies, this looks great and encourages a more crispier finish. Be warned if your on a diet because this is a serious sugar rush, don't ask me about calories... there's a lot!

Strawberry vanilla shortbread cookies recipe and method

There's not really a whole lot to these cookies just make your sweet pastry roll out and if you want use a lattice roller and cut out your cookies. Once baked and completely cooled pipe some vanilla butter cream then lay a layer of sliced strawberries then another layer of butter cream and finally top off with another cookie. For the vanilla butter cream use two parts icing sugar to one part softened butter. Whisk up and add two or three tablespoons of milk, the more milk the lighter it will be, add two teaspoons of vanilla extract and combine. Brush with a little water and sprinkle with demerara sugar then bake the cookies @ 180ºC / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4 for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.