Fruit cookies with a twist

Fruit puree can be used as an ingredient in sweet breakfast recipes like homemade fruit yogurt and sugar free jam. It’s also a great refined sugar substitute in baked goods. It’s ideal as it provides adequate sweetness, because it contains fructose – a naturally occurring sugar in fruit. Fruit puree can also be used to add color, texture and moisture. Purees retain the color, aroma and flavor of the fruit. Here are two delicious recipes with fruit. These fruit cookies are a spin on the classic sugar cookie recipe, only they are more colorful and chewier.

These fruit cookies will create a party for your tastebuds

Strawberry sugar cookies (adapted from a recipe by Junia Sonier)

Makes 2 dozen fruit cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter (softened to room temp)
• 3 tbs of strawberry puree
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• ½ tsp of salt

For the coating

• Granulated sugar
• Red sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Cream the butter and the sugar together with an electric mixer. When the mixture is fluffy, break the egg into the bowl and then add the strawberry puree. Beat again until the mixture becomes pale pink all the way through. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence and fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Make sure the flour is fully incorporated into the dough.

Scoop out a heaped teaspoon of cookie dough and form it into a ball between your hands (each ball should be roughly the size of a walnut). Roll it in a shallow dish of granulated sugar, lightly coating the outside of the cookie. Repeat this process until all the dough is used up. Place the fruit cookies 1 ½ inches apart on the baking sheet and flatten them lightly with your fingertips. Bake them for 10-15 minutes until they are lightly browned. Leave the fruit cookies to cool on the baking tray for a couple of minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Blueberry sugar cookies

Makes 2 dozen fruit cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter (softened to room temp)
• 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• ½ tsp of baking powder
• ½ tsp of baking soda

Blueberry puree (play around with the amount depending on what color you want your fruit cookies (See also:  Recipes with fruit ) to be)

Cream the butter and the sugar together with an electric mixer. When the mixture is light and fluffy, break the egg into the bowl, add the vanilla and beat. The mixture should lighten in color. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and then fold into the egg mixture with a spatula. Add the blueberry puree to the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it stand in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line 2 large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, roll it and cut out the cookies. Place the fruit cookies a couple of inches apart on the baking sheet. There should be about 12 fruit cookies on each. Bake them for 11-13 minutes until slightly crackly on top. They should still be soft and chewy. Let them cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Benefits to consider

It’s important to note that fruit puree contains water and so if there is liquid in the recipe, reduce it by a ¼ cup when you are replacing sugar with puree. Also, 1 cup of puree equals 1 to 2 tbs of sugar.

By adding fruit purees to your baking, you’ll not only make healthier bakes, but you’ll also create an authentic fruit taste explosion. Surprise your guests with colorful sugar fruit cookies that burst with flavor.