Ridiculously Easy Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies
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These fabulous Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies will literally melt in your mouth. The easy, strawberry icing (made with fresh strawberries) is the crowning glory!
If you check The Café archives, you’ll note that we are HUGE aficionados of shortbread. You’ll find every shape, color and flavor including lots of seasonal varieties. These buttery Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies, with a fabulous fresh strawberry-lemon icing and a one-bowl dough that comes together with minimal ingredients (no mixer needed), might just be our favorite shortbread ever!
What is shortbread?
You might be wondering why I call these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies „shortbread”, although the title does not include that description. Let’s look at the history and classical characteristics of shortbread.
Classically, shortbread was a plain buttery (delicious) cookie popular in Scotland, Ireland and England. The ingredient list was very basic and included butter, sugar and flour.
These days, shortbread has become a beloved sweet treat all over the world and has lots of variations although there are still a few common denominators. Shortbread generally has a high butter content and, like the traditional recipes, continues to have a short (hence the name) list of ingredients. It also has a „short„, crumbly, texture. Shortbread also differs from other cookie recipes because it does not contain leavening agents, like baking soda or baking powder.
What are Meltaway cookies?
So what’s the difference between shortbread cookies and meltaways? Meltaway cookies fall into the shortbread family. They have a high percentage of butter and also include sugar and flour. The difference is that in meltaway cookie recipes is that a portion of the flour is subbed with cornstarch and instead of granulated sugar, powdered sugar is the sweetener.
Cornstarch and powdered sugar is a magical combination of ingredients in meltaway cookies which gives them a fine, tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.. that’s why we call them „meltaway” cookies.
They say, „A picture is worth a thousand words”. I say, „One bite of these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies is worth a thousand words of trying to explain just how delicious they are!”
Intensely strawberry
If you’ve ever tried to make an icing that bursts with fresh strawberry flavor, you know it’s a little tricky. It’s difficult to add enough strawberries to create intense flavor without making strawberry soup due to the high moisture content of strawberries.
A few years ago, when creating our Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing, I discovered a technique that solves the problem. This is how it works: dice the berries, combine them with a spoonful of sugar then microwave for 1 minute. The sugar and heat will draw the juice out of the berries.
The berries are then strained and the juice is microwaved for a few more minutes to create an intensely flavored strawberry syrup. Combine the pretty red syrup with powdered sugar (and butter for the vanilla bean cake) for a fabulous strawberry icing.
I utilized this easy little trick for the icing on these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies, omitting the butter and adding a splash of fresh lemon juice. You get a BURST of fresh strawberry lemonade flavor with each bite!
When you try these cookies, I know you’ll agree… one bite is NOT enough!
Ridiculously Easy
I call these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies „ridiculously easy” because… they are! With no rolling out or cutting required and just one bowl plus a spatula necessary, they come together quickly with minimal effort.
t also use that description because they fall perfectly into our „Ridiculously Easy” collection of recipes. You can read all about these wonderful recipes in this post and see the entire collection here. My favorite description is, „These are the recipes that will make you look like a kitchen rock star with minimal effort on your part”. Who wouldn’t love that?
How to serve these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies
These delicious little cookies make will be a sensation, no matter when you serve them. They’re perfect for tea and delightful with a tall glass of cold milk or a cup of coffee. They’d also make a wonderful after-dinner sweet treat with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Take them on a picnic or bring them to a potluck. I promise they will be the first dessert to disappear!
We also love to pack them up in a little box, add a pretty ribbon and give them away. They make a wonderful treat to make someone feel special, show appreciation or cheer up. We love to share them with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, favorite teachers, delivery people, etc.
We’ve created a pretty label to adorn our gifts and we’re happy to share a PDF with you so you can print them up yourself. To obtain the free printable labels, simply let us know in the comment section below this post that you’d like to receive them. We’ll email you the PDF along with instructions on how to print the labels and links for the boxes and ribbon.
I hope I’ve convinced you to try this Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies recipe! I think it may become one of your favorites too whenever fresh strawberry season rolls around!
Cafe Tips for making these Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies
- Because this recipe doesn’t call for a mixer, you want the butter to be nice and soft. You can leave butter sit out at room temperature to soften, but if the air is chilly it won’t get soft enough. Here are a few easy tricks for softening butter.
- You can soften the butter in the microwave at a 10% power level. It works like magic. You’ll need to experiment a bit with your microwave though, as they’re all different. Start with 1 minute. Add 20 to 30-second increments until you learn how long your microwave will take to get the butter nice and soft, but not melted.
- Another technique I often use to soften butter is to put it in the microwave for 30 minutes to an hour with the light on. To keep the light on in the microwave, I put a folded paper towel in the door. Don’t leave the butter in the microwave for too long though. I forgot about it a few days ago and was amazed when I opened the door and found a plate of melted butter!
- Boil a cup of water in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and get things nice and steamy. Leave the water cup in the microwave, add the butter and close the door. The warmth from the steamy water will help to quickly soften the butter within 20-30 minutes.
- Cutting the butter into small pieces helps it soften quicker.
- Put the butter in the oven with the light turned on. This will take 1-2 hours.
- The fastest way to soften butter is to put cold butter in the microwave for 10 seconds. Turn it to the opposite side and microwave for another 10 seconds. It might be ready at this point, but if it’s not completely soft, add one or two more 5-second stints, turning the butter each time. Don’t walk away when using this option or you’ll have the prettiest melted butter you ever saw.
- If you prefer to use a mixer, go for it! You won’t need the butter to be as soft.
- I like to use a retractable scooper or a kitchen scale to ensure that my cookies are uniform in size. Either one works! If I’m using a scale, I like making my cookies 30g (right around one ounce.
- You can roll the dough balls in granulated sugar or cane sugar. I prefer cane sugar as it’s just a little coarser and gives the cookies a nice crisp exterior.
Thought for the day:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
What we’re listening to for inspiration:
The Old Rugged Cross
If you enjoy this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
Strawberry Lemonade Melt Away Cookies
These fabulous Strawberry Lemonade Meltaway Cookies will literally melt in your mouth. The easy, strawberry icing (made with fresh strawberries) is the crowning glory!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 cup very soft, I use salted
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- sugar for rolling, I use cane sugar which is a little coarser than granulated sugar
For the strawberry syrup:
- ¾ cup diced fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the strawberry lemonade icing:
- 2-2 ½ tablespoons fresh strawberry syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, maybe a bit more
- 1 ⅓ cups powdered sugar, maybe a bit more
Instructions
For the cookies:
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Place one of your oven racks in the upper third of the oven (this will keep the cookies from getting too brown on the bottom). Preheat oven to 325˚F. Line two sheet pans with parchment baking paper.
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In a medium size bowl, whisk the butter until very light and fluffy, about 20-30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar fand stir until completely incorporated, then add the cornstarch, vanilla and salt. Stir until nice and smooth.
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Lastly, add the flour. Stir until all of the flour has been incorporated. At first, the dough will be very crumbly. Keep stirring, turning the bowl and scraping the sides and bottom as you go.
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The dough will be soft but you should be able to scoop it up and roll it into a ball. If it seems too soft to roll add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir until incorporated. This can be repeated one more time. If the dough still seems too soft to roll, put the bowl in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, then proceed as directed below.
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Using a small cookie scoop, make equal-sized scoops of dough. Roll each scoop into a ball then roll each ball in the sugar. (The sugar will make it a little easier to roll the dough into nice round balls.) Roll the ball again to a nice round shape.
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Arrange the dough balls on the prepared sheet pans, spacing them about 2 inches apart. With a flat bottom glass, gently flatten each cookie slightly, to about ½ inch in height.
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Bake for 18-22 minutes or until just beginning to turn light golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a cooking rack.
For the strawberry syrup:
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While the cookies are baking, make the strawberry syrup by combining the strawberries and granulated sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl (at least 2-3 cup capacity as the strawberry mixture will bubble up a lot).
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Place the bowl with the strawberries in the microwave and cook on high power for one minute.
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Remove the strawberry mixture from the microwave and pour it into a fine-mesh sieve with a bowl set underneath. Stir and push on the solids in the strainer with a spatula or the back of a metal spoon until all of the juice has been strained out. Be sure to scrape the juice from the underside of the sieve. Discard the solids and transfer the syrup back to the original large microwave-safe bowl.
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Return the syrup to the microwave and cook on high power for another minute. You should have right around 2- 2½ tablespoons of strawberry syrup. If there’s more, return the mixture to the microwave for 30-second increments until reduced to 2- 2 ½ tablespoons. Transfer the strawberry syrup to a medium-size bowl.
For the strawberry lemonade icing.
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While the cookies are cooling, make the icing. Add the lemon juice to the bowl with the strawberry syrup. Stir well to combine.
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Add powdered sugar and vanilla to the strawberry syrup in the bowl. Stir with a whisk until smooth and well combined.
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The mixture should be fairly thick but if you hold it above the bowl with your whisk or fork, it should be loose enough to drizzle in a thick ribbon. If it seems too thin, add an additional tablespoon of powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a teaspoon of extra lemon juice.
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Spread icing on the cooled cookies.
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ENJOY!
Notes
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.
I make mine 30g and get 18-20 cookies
Don’t skip the rolling in sugar. 3 purposes it makes the dough eaiser to roll in balls. makes the dough easier to flatten with a glass and gives a little crunch.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookieCalories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 1gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 132mgPotassium: 23mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 284IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 5mgIron: 0.5mg
