Raspberry Butter Cookies

One of my blog obsessions is Joelen's Culinary Adventures. The woman does some incredible things with foods and hosts the most delicious food events. So when I saw her post about joining her "Culinary Adventures in Cyberspace" I jumped on it. While she has a few adventures posted that I want to participate in, this was the one I wanted to do first:

Little Chefs: Cookies ~ This event is dedicated to all the young aspiring chefs out there. In this culinary adventure, we're teaming up with the Ronald McDonald House each month to provide some kid-friendly events to their children & families… as well as a chance for your children to participate too! This month, we're making cookies from scratch with the kids. If you have any cookie recipes easy enough for kids to make, please share it during this culinary blogging adventure!

For this adventure, I thought it would be fun to do some easy cookies that had a red color to them in honor of Ronald McDonald's cool hair. I chose to make butter cookies with raspberries in them. The recipe is easy to follow and doesnt' have too many ingredients in them (you can even change the fruit to something else). The only part that isn't too kid friendly (depending on the age) is when you have to cut the roll into the slices, but you don't even have to do this part because of how well the dough holds together. After I baked the cookies, I thought about how great it would have been to create a flat sheet of dough, freeze that, and then use cookie cutters to make cool shapes out of the dough. Making the cookies this way would definitely be more kid friendly.

Raspberry Butter Cookies
Source: Carole Bloom's The Essential Baker

4 ounces (8 Tbsp/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sliced raspberries

Place the butter in a bowl and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the brown sugar and salt to the butter and cream together well. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour in two stages to the butter mixture and blend thoroughly after each addition.

Add the raspberry to the dough mixture and stir in with the spatula.

Place a large sheet of wax paper on a flat surface and place the dough on the sheet. Use the wax paper to shape and roll the dough into a cylinder about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. Cover the cylinder tightly with the waxed paper and then wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the freezer for 45 minutes or in the fridge for at least 4 hours, until firm enough to slice.

Adjust the oven racks to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or with a non-stick pan liner.

Place the cookie cylinders on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the cylinder into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Cut straight down and roll the cylinder a quarter after every 6 slices so it will keep its round shape. If the dough becomes soft while you are working with it, rewrap it, chill for another 10-15 minutes, then continue slicing.

Place the slices on the baking sheets, leaving at least 1 inch of space between them. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and leave the cookies on the sheets to cool on the racks.