Generous friends gifted me an awesome cookie cutter set for my birthday! Flowers, tulips and hearts…all in mini sizes. Like a kid in the candy store, or an adult food blogger in her own kitchen, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
I love how strawberries get photographed. Something about the way they shine through the camera lens, and the intensity of the red of the good ones could be breath taking. And I read that yesterday was Strawberry Day, so, why not?
Let me introduce you to your new favorite: Strawberry Shortbread Minis. They are about a bite size, and they look like mini flowers. The saltiness and flakiness of the biscuit, plus the softness and sugary goodness of the simple vanilla buttercream are hit anywhere you might go. And they look awesome. So now you know…
Ingredients:
For the biscuits…recipe inspired by Simply Gluten Free.
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour plus more for working with the dough
3/4 cups of cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons of butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cups of almond milk
For the buttercream
1/2 cup of confectioners’sugar
1 cup butter (smooth, at room temperature)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 pint of strawberries (fresh, sliced)
Directions
Set the oven at 400 degrees. Get ready: a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Mix together (with a mixer and dough attachments or by hand) the baking powder, the rice flour, the cornstarch, and the salt. Add the cubed butter (make sure it’s cold enough to hold the cube). You might have to get dirty and mix and work with your fingers. Then, add the almond milk, a little at a time as you form a ball.
Get your dough, flour your working surface, and knead 4-5 times until smooth. Then roll out around 1/2 inch thick. Cut into biscuits using your favorite cutter (mine is the mini flour). Place the cut biscuits onto the parchment paper, bake. You will bake them for around 20 minutes or until golden.
Set to cool down.
For the awesome buttercream, just whip together the butter with 1 cup of sugar, and the vanilla and lemon juice. Then gradually add the rest of the sugar until you get a thick consistency…you might need less or more sugar, depending on your altitude and humidity level.
Pipe the buttercream onto a single cookie, add a slice of strawberry, pipe some more buttercream, and top it with a second cookie. And voila…strawberry shortbread minis!
This recipe is: GF (gluten free); V (vegan, if you replace the butter for shortening); LF (lactose free, if you replace the butter for shortening); FF (Fodmap friendly). For more information on the FODMAP diet, please click here.
Gluten Free Skinny 