Red, White and Blue Cookies

I sort of get annoyed at those cliché cakes that come out every Fourth of July -- you know, the ones where you cover a yellow cake in whipped cream and drop strawberries and blueberries on top of it until it somewhat looks like the American flag? I mean, it’s delicious and pretty, but we do it EVERY year and I don’t know, I sort of feel like it’s cheating when you just drop fruit on top of something and have that constitute as part of your "color palette."

My red, white, and blue cookies are based off of a very good shortbread cookie recipe I like. It’s rich and buttery, but has bits of dried blueberries and cranberries baked in. To add additional texture to the cookies, I roll the edges in coarse turbinado sugar, which adds to the crunch and look.

Some tips on this cookie is to make sure and wait until the dough is cold and firm before you cut it. It’s much easier to cut and you get much nicer edges that way. Also the dough freezes quite well, so you can make several logs in advance, freeze them, and thaw it for when you want to make the cookies again.

Directions

1. Drain and dry your rehydrated berries and put into the refrigerator.

2.Cream butter and sugar together.

3. Add in yolk, vanilla, and salt. Mix until combined.

4. Toss berries and/or nuts into the flour. Add into butter mixture and gently mix on slow till just combined.

5. Divide dough in half. Roll dough into 13 1/2-inch logs on parchment paper. Use ruler to shape for a more finished look. Put logs into freezer for an hour.