Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

Make the strawberry sugar (Work Time: 5 minutes): Use a food processor to pulse the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder. Then, add the sugar and pulse to combine. Although you can skip a step by just pulsing the strawberries and sugar together, I don't recommend it. The strawberries need to be finely ground for the cookies and pulse better on their own first!

Special Equipment: A food processor; a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop.

Instructions:

1. Prep the oven and pans. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Make the strawberry sugar. Use a food processor to pulse the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder. Add the sugar for the topping and pulse 2 to 3 times to combine. Pour into a shallow bowl.
3. Make the rose water cookie dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
4. Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. Add the eggs, rose water, and dry ingredients. Reduce the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only after the previous one has been fully incorporated. Add the rose water and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
6. Assemble the snickerdoodles. Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls. Roll each in the snickerdoodle topping, covering them completely. Place the coated cookies at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.
7. Bake the snickerdoodles. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey. The cookies will look puffed when you pull them out of the oven, but will fall and crack into the perfect cookies as they cool. Immediately garnish with the rose petals. Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
8. Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes / Best Tips:

• Freeze-dried strawberries tend to get soft and soggy the longer they sit. If your freeze-dried strawberries are on the softer side, the food processor will have a hard time pulverizing them. You'll likely end up with a few larger pieces of strawberries in your sugar. If necessary, pick out any large pieces larger than the size of a pea. These tend to burn in the oven, ruining the look of your cookies!
• Because this dough has a LOT of butter in it, it has a tendency to really want to stick to the bottom and sides of the bowl when mixing. For the best cookies, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the paddle and the bowl repeatedly—I like to liberally scrape things down two to three times during the creaming process (once after every minute of creaming), once after every egg addition, and finally, two more times after adding the dry ingredients (the first time after ALL the dry ingredients have JUST been added, the second time after they've just been mixed together).
• I like to bake the cookies one pan at a time. I find that doing so makes the best cookies, ensuring that none of them have overly burnt bottoms or raw centers. However, to save time, you can bake two sheet pans at a time. Position a rack in the upper-third position of the oven, and a second one in the lower-third position of the oven. Bake a pan on each rack, swapping their positions half way through the Bake Time.

FAQ — Storing Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles: How to store: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze them? Yes, in two ways:

• Freeze the unbaked snickerdoodle cookie dough. After portioning the dough into balls, place the balls on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze for 30 minutes, or until the dough is hard enough to handle without being sticky. Transfer to a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Note that the dough will be frozen WITHOUT the snickerdoodle topping. When ready to bake, you'll need to roll the cookie dough balls in the snickerdoodle topping. There's no need to thaw the cookie dough balls before baking. Follow the instructions for baking in the recipe, but increase the Bake Time to 14 minutes.
• Freeze the baked strawberry rose snickerdoodles. First, scrape off any rose petals—they don't freeze well. Individually wrap any leftover cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave before serving.