Recipe: Urban Cookies Coco Mint Cookies and Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

COCO MINT COOKIES
Source: Shaun Breese of Urban Cookies
From: AZCentral, Dec. 9, 2009 12:00 AM
Makes 1 dozen cookies

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint oil or extract
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
FOR COATING:
Granulated sugar
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl with hand beater or a mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and peppermint extract on medium-high speed until everything is well-blended. Add egg and egg whites to bowl. Mix on medium speed until eggs are fully mixed into the sugar mixture.

Warm milk in microwave for 30 seconds. Add cocoa powder to the bowl on low speed. Mix until fully incorporated. Stream the milk into the butter mixture on low speed. Stop and scrape the bowl.

Add the flour and baking powder to the bowl on low speed. Once incorporated, increase speed to medium for 30 seconds. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours or until stiff.

Using an ice-cream scoop, make evenly sized portions of dough, or roll dough into balls, about 3 ounces each, using hands. Roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar until completely covered. Next, roll the dough ball in powdered sugar. Make sure it is completely coated with no brown showing. Place on cookie sheet with a non-stick surface or covered with parchment paper.

Bake about 25 minutes, or until done. For crispier cookie, bake longer.

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STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE COOKIES
Source: by Shaun and Brady Breese of Urban Cookies
From: AZCentral.com, Feb. 8, 2011
Makes about 18 cookies

3/4 pound/3 sticks European-style salted butter (1 1/2 cups), at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup diced fresh strawberries
Red sprinkles

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, use a hand beater or a stand mixer on medium-high speed to cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt until all ingredients are incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour to the bowl and blend well. Once incorporated, add the strawberries and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds. Refrigerate dough uncovered for 2 hours or until stiff.

Lightly flour a clean surface, and roll dough out to 1/2-inch thickness. Use a medium-size heart cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies. Repeat until out of dough.

Place heart-shaped cookies on a non-stick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with red sprinkles (Breese recommends India Tree's Raspberry Red decorating sugar).

Bake about 20 minutes or until done. For crispier cookies, bake a few minutes longer.