Strawberry White Chocolate Valentine Cookies 26 Cookies Tanya Emerick @scarlet_nantes, Owner of Scarlet Nantes Macaron and Pastry Chef at Bastyr University

Note from Tanya: These cookies are inspired by Sarah Kieffer’s Buttery Sugar Cookie and the Valentine’s Day favorite, chocolate-dipped strawberries. The cookie’s sweetness is balanced by the lovely strawberry puree and two kinds of chocolate Valrhona Inspiration Strawberry and white chocolate fève (pronounced f-eh-v, which means “bean” in French).

Ingredients:
•	¼ cup The Perfect Purée Strawberry Puree, thawed
•	2 ½ cups plus all-purpose flour
•	¾ tsp. baking soda
•	¾ tsp. salt
•	1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
•	1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
•	1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
•	2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
•	2 oz. white chocolate chopped
•	2 oz. of strawberry inspiration chopped
•	optional: freeze-dried strawberries
•	optional: 2 drops pink food color or pink luster dust
Method:
1.	Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.	Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3.	In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
4.	Place dough onto a work surface and divide it into two equal portions. Put half of the dough back into the mixer and add the chopped white chocolate. Alternatively, reserve the white chocolate to sprinkle on top of the cookie once the cookies are removed from the oven). Put the other half of the dough back into the mixer, add the strawberry puree and strawberry chocolate, or save the strawberry chocolate to sprinkle on the cookie once baked. Mix on low until combined. For a darker strawberry color, add food color, luster dust, freeze-dried strawberry, or more strawberry puree being careful not to add too much moisture to the dough.
5.	Place 6 cookies on a sheet pan. Pinch a small portion of each of the two doughs, and press them gently together, so they adhere to each other but keep their unique colors. Press the piece into a 1.5 oz. cookie scoop or roll it into a ball. If you like the pattern the cookie scoop makes when scooping onto the cookie sheet, use that.
6.	Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the cookies are puffed for 10 to 11 minutes. Once the cookies are removed from the oven, you can sprinkle them with the chocolates and freeze-dried strawberries or sugar crystals. This is optional.
7.	Let the cookies cool on the pan, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.