Strawberry Lemonade Cut-Out Cookie

Ingredients

1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsp lemon extract
1 ½ tsp strawberry extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
0.8 oz package freeze-dried strawberries (pulverized into powder)
Zest one lemon
3 to 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 drops pink food coloring (optional)

Directions

In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Mix until fluffy and well incorporated.

Add egg, lemon extract, strawberry extract, salt, baking powder, strawberry powder, lemon zest, and pink food coloring. Mix until it is all well incorporated.

Add flour, mixing a cupful at a time, to the butter/sugar/egg/fruit mixture. Stop adding flour when the dough is non-greasy to the touch, and it should pull cleanly from the sides of the bowl. If it’s still a little sticky, add a 1/4 cup of flour.

Roll to desired thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. (I love my Joseph Joseph rolling pin because the guides take the guesswork out of wondering if your cookies are the correct thickness and evenly rolled out.) After rolling, chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough is well chilled and hard to the touch, cut out shapes and place them on a parchment paper-lined, light-colored baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Remove from the oven when the top surface looks matte with no shine. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Remove cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula and place on a cooling rack to cool before decorating.