Strawberries are one of the many foods which are only worth my while fresh when they're in season and local. Call me a snob, but these a fruit that do not ripen properly when picked early; this means those which come from a distance rarely make the cut when it comes to flavour. I'll take a local British strawberry any day, even if it means the supplies are limited to just a couple of months of the year. These strawberry chocolate cookies were made from some of my first strawberry purchases of the season.
I often like to over-complicate my food. When it comes to strawberries, however, I'm firmly of the opinion that some things deserve to be simple. These strawberry and chocolate cookies are far from complicated and are dead easy. Try serving them with a dollop of soy whipped cream!
Chocolate Strawberry Cookies
- Directions/Method
- Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F).
- Sift the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter while pulsing, until crumbs begin to form. Pour in the water and vanilla, and pulse again briefly to bring the dough together.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a very thin 1/16th inch thickness and cut into 2.5-3 inch squares. Lay a slice of strawberry in the centre of each, along with a pinch of sugar and a sprinkle of chocolate (maybe ⅛ teaspoon of each).
- Fold each of the four corners of the pastry into the centre, pressing lightly together to hold if necessary. Place the mini tarts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is ever so slightly beginning to brown.
- Cool or eat hot, your choice.