Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies

There is a lot to love about these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies. Just one look and you're likely to get all googly-eyed over their striking good looks. But there is more than meets the eye to these vibrant beauties.

The roots of this recipe begin with my Big Pink Cookies recipe, a classic that's been on my site for years. I've always had a soft spot for oversized, soft and cakey cookies. Especially if they are slathered in cream cheese frosting. That recipe has morphed over the years. Instead of using food coloring to dye the frosting, I now use freeze dried berries, crushed into oblivion until they are a fine powder, full of tart flavor and natural color. The Big Pink Cookies are better for it and they've become one of my most popular recipes on the blog.

Over the summer, I had the honor of participating in a local bake sale as part of the Bakers Against Racism movement. I partnered up with some local Portland bakers and bloggers and together we were able to raise $2500 for the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition in Portland, OR.

The BFSC mission is to ignite Black and brown communities to participate as owners and movement leaders within food systems, placemaking, and economic development. As creators in the food space, as well as consumers, it's imperative that we support organizations who are putting energy into breaking down the systemic barriers that make food and economic opportunities inaccessible to so many members of our community. I encourage you to learn more about the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition and research similar organizations who are building a better and more equitable community in your area. Show your support in whatever way works for you, volunteering, donations or even spreading the good word. It all makes a difference.

For the fundraiser I wanted to sell my Big Pink Cookies because they are adored by so many. But, I worried about the cream cheese frosting and refrigeration issues in the summertime. So I improvised and devised a fresh and flavorful version of the BPCs. After testing out some different ideas, I landed on these irresistible Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies.

What makes these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies so lovable?

Well, let's start with the cookies themselves. The simple dough is easy to make and as versatile as they come. You can pretty much jazz this easy rolling dough up any way you want. In the original recipe I use a mix of vanilla and almond extract along with a little cardamom to flavor the dough. This recipe just uses vanilla and the fresh scent of lemon zest for flavor.

• Big love. These cookies are big, I use a 4" heart shaped cookie cutter and cut them thick, at least ¼" up to a ½" thick.
• Softness you can feel. They are soft and cakey but still have a nice bite to them.
• Easy roller. This cookie dough is smooth and supple and rolls out like a dream. It holds its shape, with crisp edges when baked so it's ideal for cut cookie shapes.
• Easy on the sweet. While it is a sugar cookie dough, it isn't overly sweet so you get equally buttery notes alongside the sweetness. Plus the lemon scent from the zest in the dough is bright and sunny.

There is no denying the heart throbbing, show stopping feature of these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies, that poppin' pink glaze! This glitzy, glammy glaze is really what makes these cookies sparkle. Here's why.

• All natural. That vibrant, glowing glaze is naturally colored and flavored with finely ground, freeze dried strawberries.
• Sweet & tart. The freeze dried strawberry powdered is blended with powdered sugar, then they get all glaze-y when fresh lemon juice joins the party. The concentrated flavor of the tart berries and lemon combined with the sweetness of the powdered sugar makes a perfectly sweet-tart finish.
• Sparkle & shine. The sparkling sugar not only adds glitzy glam to the the icing but it also provides a crunchy texture against the smooth glaze and soft cookie.
• Wow factor. That bright, bold color streaking across the cookies adds instant drama. But the best news is, the drizzle is done in seconds so you get big wows with little effort.

Combine all of those qualities and you get an ideal cookie that is full of flavor, texture and best of all, love. At their core, these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies are simple. But it's all of the little things that add up to make them so swoon worthy.

I think what I love most about these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies is that they were born out of a need to adapt. I was able to take something that was working perfectly well and morph it into something similar underneath but entirely new and fresh on the surface. We should always be adapting, thinking about things in new ways and shaking things up for shakes sake. Just because we are familiar with one way of doing things, even if we genuinely enjoy them, it's always interesting to push the boundaries in unfamiliar way. It doesn't mean the old way has to go away, it just makes space for more possibilities. And there is so much more to explore, in the kitchen and in life in general.

Push yourself and open your mind to trying something new. It doesn't have to be big, it can be as simple as baking a batch of these Glazed Strawberry Lemon Heart Cookies. Big love, friends.

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