It’s that time of year again! What a year it’s been – good or bad, depends on your circumstances. I hope yours were all good! No matter, this cookie will put a shine on your day! It is a twist on a classic – you know I love twists, hence “ish” in the title!. The strawberry flavor just makes this shortbread jump with joy when it hits your tongue. Enjoy this first of our Christmas Treats 2025! 

I bought my freeze dried strawberry powder almost one year ago and I use it to add that unique strawberry flavor to cakes, icings (Italian Meringue Buttercream icing – oh my, oh my), and cookies. Honestly, it’s a delight to have in your baking pantry. It does keep well in the air tight bag it comes in, but it will clump up over time if you don’t use it often enough. But not to worry, just break up the clumps with your finger – really very therapeutic – or use a mini food processor to break up any large clumps and then do the measuring. Still, I recommend sifting it and use the back of a spoon to gently force any remaining clumps through the sieve.

When making the dough, start adding the flour a little bit at a time with the mixer on low. Once all the flour is added in, and the dough begins to form, stop and scrape down the bowl to help the process. Once mostly mixed raise the speed to medium to form a smooth dough. The bowl should be clean as the mixer turns. This quantity makes about 60 squares about 1” each. Half it if this is too much (really?!).  Just watch the baking time if you are making a half batch – check at 10 minutes, it should not look or feel wet.  

I used a large size freezer bag to refrigerate the dough, but you could just as easily roll the dough into a log shape, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.  I would actually recommend this if you are making a smaller batch as the freezer bag would be too big leaving you with very thin shortbread – delicious, but very thin!  Cut into ¼” slices when you are ready to bake. The instructions below give you squares or rectangles. Either way works perfectly well. Even if your squares or circles aren’t perfect, the taste of this cookie will make everyone smile.

In case you forgot, citrus sugar is just the zest of any citrus fruit rubbed into some sugar. I usually use 1 lemon or orange, maybe two limes as they are smaller, to 1 cup of sugar. It keeps well in a sealed container/jar and can be used for anything you might use regular white sugar for.  You could also sprinkle the cookies with sanding sugar, it comes in various colors as well.  A fine dusting of cocoa powder and the strawberry powder would be amazing – hmmm, chocolate and strawberry flavor :)!

I think you will like this recipe. I know it will make a great colorful start/addition to my holiday treat table. As always – enjoy!

Ingredients
380g Flour
300g butter, softened (I’m using salted)
200g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Kosher salt
4 tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder

Directions
To the bowl of a stand (or hand) mixer, add the softened butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract – mix until well combined – if you want to do this part by hand make sure the butter is really soft, it’s just easier to mix everything together
Add the strawberry powder – sift it into the bowl – and mix until smooth and beautifully pink
Add the flour and mix on low until a crumbly dough starts to form – stop and scrape down the bowl, continue to mix until it comes together into a smooth dough – the bowl should be clean
Empty the contents into a large freezer bag, mine measured 26cm x 27cm – standard freezer bag
Flatten evenly using a rolling pin or bottle – you should have enough for about ¼” of dough
Refrigerate the freezer bag of dough for at least one hour or longer
Preheat the oven to 350f and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Remove the dough bag from the fridge, open the bag and carefully slide a kitchen knife into the bag and cut through the ends of the bag (see picture)
Cut into 1” squares and transfer to the baking sheet – it’s a Christmas Treat so you want it small, taster size, so all your other treats can be tasted as well
Bake for 13 – 15 minutes for a batch this size – check at 10 minutes if you are halving the recipe
Remove from the oven and while still hot, dust with some citrus sugar and strawberry powder that you’ve mixed together – the cookies will harden as they cool and sparkle with the sugar combo
Let cool before storing in an airtight container in the fridge