Strawberry Milk Cookies

Soft, chewy cookies with the taste of childhood and lightly caramelized white chocolate

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Chill Time 2

Total Time 2 25

Category Cookies, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
¾ cup Nesquik strawberry milk powder
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 drops pink food color (I recommend a gel color, such as Americolor or Wilton Color Right)
2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp kosher salt
12 oz white chocolate chips, divided (I highly recommend Guittard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Milk Chips or another high quality white chocolate)

In a large bowl, sift together your flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Give this mixture a quick whisk to ensure everything is well mixed then set aside.
In stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), cream your butter, brown sugar and strawberry milk powder until fluffy and pale pink. Scrape down the sides of your bowl at least once while mixing.
Lightly whisk the egg, egg yolk and vanilla in small bowl with a fork. Set your mixer to low and slowly pour your eggs into the creamed mixture. Add 2-3 drops of pink food coloring, then increase the speed until everything is smooth and lovely shade of pink.
With your mixer on low, slowly add your dry ingredients to the butter mixture until just combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips, reserving either ¼ cup for the tops of the cookies or ½ cup for a decorative drizzle.
Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop and your hands, form the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet for chilling. I was able to fit all 24 dough balls on a single 17" x 11" sheet. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Letting your dough rest deepens the flavors and prevents spreading in the oven.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Remove your dough from the refrigerator and arrange 2" apart on your baking sheets. I was able to fit 8 cookies per sheet.
Bake each sheet for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden.
Did you reserve chips for the tops? Pull the cookies out after 8 minutes, add 2-3 chips to each cookie, and pop them back into the oven for the remaining 2-4 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.

Melt ½ cup white chocolate chips (see tips below in the notes). Pour into a 12" piping bag and snip off the tip. Once the cookies are fully cooled, drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops and immediately sprinkle with Valentine's Day themed sprinkles.
Enjoy your cookies with a glass of strawberry milk!

If you're using the Guittard Choc-Au-Lait chips, place ½ cup of white chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 15 seconds at 50% power. Stir the chips and microwave for an additional 15 seconds. At this point, the chocolate should be warm enough to fully melt with vigorous stirring, but it will look like a thick paste. Do not try to continue heating it in the microwave. Overheated white chocolate will seize up and become grainy. Instead, simply add a splash of boiling water to your bowl and stir to loosen up the paste. Continue adding splashes of boiling water until you reach a drizzling consistency.
Microwave Meal Prep has a great article with tips on how to melt white chocolate in the microwave: https://microwavemealprep.com/how-to-melt-white-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
You can also use candy melts from your local craft store, which melt very easily and come in a variety of colors (Sweet Tooth Fairy even has a strawberries and cream flavor!).

Keywords strawberry, white chocolate