Name: Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 13 min
Total time: 18 min
Yield: 24 Cookie Cups
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 pound 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened; 1 cup sugar (plus 1/4 cup for topping cookies); 1 large egg; 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract or 15 drops lemon essential oil; Topping Ingredients; 1 container (8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed); 1 box (4-serving size strawberry-flavored gelatin (jello))

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If you love the taste of strawberry and lemon, you have to try these Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups. With just a few simple ingredients, you can enjoy a sweet bite of sugar cookie and fluffy filling in a tiny cookie cup. Yum!

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This recipe was originally published on The NY Melrose Family

Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups

Summer is here and I’ve been in a baking mood lately. Recently I made these Amazing Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. But with the warmer weather on its way, I thought I’d share this deliciously cool recipe for Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups – it’s perfect for picnics and parties.

This is the simplest homemade sugar cookie recipe imaginable, and the butter, sugar and vanilla flavors blend together perfectly. The cookie cup edges are firm, to hold the strawberry filling, but the center is soft and chewy. Delish!

Since these little cups are so light and pretty, they’d be perfect to serve at a brunch or a baby or bridal shower. We’ve served them on Mother’s day before and they were a perfect addition to our potluck brunch.

It’s so easy to drop the dough into the mini muffin/cupcake tin to make the cookie cup, but looks like it takes way more skill to make. Your guests will be impressed!

It’s also easy and kinda fun to press down the middle once they come out of the oven. Give it a minute or two before you start, since they’re so hot! A spoon or your fingers work well to depress the center.

Cookie cups just make a fun edible holder for desserts!

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Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Servings 24 Cookie Cups

Author Erin Henry

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup for topping cookies

1 large egg

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract or 15 drops lemon essential oil

Topping Ingredients

1 container 8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 box 4-serving size strawberry-flavored gelatin (jello)

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes at medium speed.

Add egg, vanilla extract, grated lemon peel, and lemon extract or lemon essential oil. Beat until well combined, about 30 more seconds. Add flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds more.

Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; place 1 ball in each muffin cup. Sprinkle each cookie ball with the tiny bit of remaining sugar.

Bake, reversing the positions of the cookie cups halfway through baking time, until edges of the cookies are pale golden, 10 - 11 minutes.

Remove cookies from oven. Gently press small spoon into center of each baked cookie to make shape of cup. Cool in pan 10 minutes.

Remove cookie cups from muffin cups; place on cooling rack. Cool completely.

For topping, add dry flavored gelatin to fully-thawed whipped topping; stir with whisk until well combined. Fill food-storage plastic bag or pastry bag with strawberry topping.

If using plastic bag, cut hole in 1 bottom corner of bag; pipe topping into center of each cooled cookie cup. Serve immediately.

TIPS

Grease the mini cupcake pan generously, so the cookie cups come out with ease.
Make sure the whipped topping is fully thawed before combining with the gelatin. And let the topping sit for a few minutes to allow the gelatin to set before piping into the cookie cups.
These cookie cups be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but bring them back to room temperature before filling and serving.

If you were in a pinch, store bought sugar cookie dough would work for these Strawberry Lemon Cookie Cups, but I think it’s way better with homemade.

This recipe has so many fun variations. You can totally try different gelatin or pudding flavors to vary the topping however you want. How cute would it be to do raspberry, blueberry, and white chocolate for the 4th of July??