“C is for ‘Cookie,’ and cookie is for me.” -Cookie Monster, Sesame Street‘s lovable (and slightly psychotic) sweet-toothed Muppet

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.  I can’t stop baking things, and trust me, this is highly unusual for a girl with a very limited sweet tooth and an unusual propensity for the art of savory.  Must be that pesky Mercury Retrograde thing.  Or maybe it’s just the autumn season, the need for coziness and warm, inviting smells, and comfort food.  I hadn’t made these cookies in a long time, and they suddenly just sounded SO GOOD.

The first time I made them, I was experimenting with various kinds of cookies.  (Yes, I do these things in my spare time, it’s true.  Sad, but true…..)  I brought a batch of these into work for my co-workers to sample and review, and the lovely Nadiyah was so taken with them that she asked me if I would make her a dozen of them to give to her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day…..only she was going to act like she’d made them herself to impress him.  Of course, I loved this idea and wanted to see how it played out, so I happily obliged.  I think by the time her boyfriend got his present there were only 8 or 10 left in the box, and her secret didn’t last too long either.

Well, now all of you can make them on your own to enjoy for yourselves.  They’re very easy and don’t take much time, and with the holidays rolling around, they’d be a great option for a party or cookie exchange.  Happy baking!

Ingredients:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup coarsely chopped dried strawberries

1/3 cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2.  Sift the flour into a bowl and add the baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

3.  In another bowl, add the sugar and room temperature butter together, and cream together with an electric hand mixer on the lowest setting until fluffy.  Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg and work together with the hand mixer on low until everything is incorporated smoothly.

4.  With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture until everything is just combined.  Fold in the strawberries, toasted almonds, and white chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

5.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or  Silpat.  Roll the dough into 1″ balls with your hands and arrange on the baking sheet with about 1 1/2-2″ of room between each one.  (You may have to bake in batches.)  Gently press each ball of dough down to flatten slightly into a disc shape.  Place baking sheet in the oven, and bake for exactly 15 minutes.  Transfer gently to a cooling rack until completely cooled.  (NOTE:  When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will seem too soft and underdone.  This is normal, and they will harden a bit as they cool down.)

Yield: Approximately 2 dozen cookies