Strawberry Strips

I made these YUMMY, amazingly easy cookies this morning with P & E.  They're so easy and SO delicious!  The cookie is very rich and buttery, so using a high-quality butter makes them extra awesome!  The original recipe uses raspberry preserves, but I'm not a fan of anything raspberry other than actual raspberries themselves, so I substituted strawberry.  Any flavor preserves would work and I plan to experiment with all different flavors...I think blackberry will be next!!!

Prep: 20 min ~ Cook: 20 min ~ Other: 10 min

1/3 cup granulated sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg white

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Beat granulated sugar and butter with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and egg white; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stirring until well blended (dough will be stiff).

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 12-inch log. Place logs 3 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Form a 1/2-inch deep indentation down length of each log using an index finger or end of a wooden spoon. Spoon preserves into indentation. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a cutting board.

4. Combine powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract; stir well with a whisk. Drizzle sugar mixture over warm logs. Immediately cut each log diagonally into 12 slices (do not separate slices). Cool 10 minutes. Separate slices and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

CALORIES 75 (30% from fat); FAT 2.5g (sat 1.5g, mono 0.7g, polu 0.2g); PROTEIN 0.7g; CARB 12.4g; FIBER 0.2g; CHOL 6mg; IRON 0.3g; SODIUM 56mg; CALC 4mg