Strawberry Oregano Shortbread

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     Looking for a cute little cookie that would be perfect for a tea party or bridal shower?  Strawberry Oregano Shortbread is a delicate, flavorful and pretty pink cookie that would be perfect for any such  occasion!  A combination of flavors that are a little out of the ordinary makes this cookie special and when you are planning an event, being able to make it the day before and allowing the flavors to develop is a big plus for a tiny cookie. 

     Last week, I shared Strawberry Oregano Jam with you, a recipe from the cooking with herbs class that I participated in.  These little shortbread cookies are another gem from that class.  Once again, the flavors or strawberry, oregano and a little lemon essential oil blend into something terrific!  

     I think that because oregano is a part of the mint family, it does surprisingly well in sweet cookie form.  It only takes a little to give just the right earthy flavor to these cookies.  I used one 5 inch stalk of fresh oregano.  Holding it by the top of the stem, I pulled my fingers down the stem, stripping the leaves from the stalk.  Then, I chopped it up finely with my knife.  It made about 1 tsp for my recipe. 
     
     I didn't use fresh strawberries in this recipe, but freeze-dried ones instead.  Fresh strawberries would add too much liquid to the recipe.  I measured out 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries and put them in a plastic sandwich bag.  Then, I smashed them with my rolling pin!  This method left some chunks, plus pulverized some of them into dust!  This was the perfect combination for these cookies, leaving little bits of berries showing, plus making the overall dough a pretty pink! 

     Because I believe that every berry recipe needs a little lemon in it, I decided to use both lemon juice from a bottle, and a couple of drops of lemon essential oil (type lemon oil in the search bar).  I love the lemony flavor mixed with the oregano and strawberries!  If you would like a little less lemon flavor, you can cut back from 2 drops to 1 drop of lemon oil in your recipe. 

     

     This is a slice and bake shortbread.  So, the size of cookies and the number of cookies depends on how long and thin you make your roll of dough.  When I made it for my class, I made a fairly thin log of dough in order to made a lot of little cookies for a large group to taste.  These Strawberry Oregano Shortbreads are definitely meant to be a 2 or 3 bite cookie.  But trust me, people will go back for more! 

     After mixing the dough and forming your log, you should chill the dough for about an hour before slicing into 1/4 inch slices.  (Mine may have been slightly thicker.) The nice thing about these is that they don't really spread or change their shape when baked, so you can fill your cookie sheet pretty full! 

Here is a cross section of the dough. See the pretty pink color and the bits of strawberry and oregano?

As you can see, my 1/4th of an inch may be closer to 1/3rd of an inch. Oh well, they still worked. If you are more precise, you will have more cookies!

     The cookies only need to bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.  They come out light colored, you don't want to bake them too long and burn the strawberries!  They retain a pretty color when they are all baked!  You can eat them right away, but if you allow them to age overnight, I believe that their flavor improves as they sit overnight.  
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Simple yet tasty!

     These cookies are so simple to make, I can picture myself making them with my granddaughters and having a tea party.  We would love that!  Click on the recipe to get the printable version! 

Other cute tea party cookies:

• Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
• Homemade Nutter-Butter Sandwich Cookies​