These delicious strawberry & mint cookie cups are filled with my smooth homemade pastry cream. Strawberry and fresh mint are so refreshing!
I love pastry cream a lot and I use my smooth homemade pastry cream in my cookie cups today. After my mille-feuille post, this is my second post with pastry cream.
Today I make cookie cups, fill them with pastry cream, add fresh mint and strawberry on top. Fresh mint is very refreshing in these cookie cups. They remind me tarts with pastry cream and fresh fruit.
You can easily make cookie cups. You have to make a cookie dough first. After you make the dough, you roll the dough into balls, place the balls into cupcake cups and press each ball onto bottom and up sides to give a cup shape. Bake for 14 minutes. That’s all!
This cookie dough is melt-in-mouth with low sugar. Except for my chewy and moist cookies, I always try to use low sugar. If we want to make a chewy and moist cookie, we have to increase the sugar amount.
But today I make a light dough, that is melt-in-mouth which makes a nice combination with my soft homemade pastry cream. Also, there is a chocolate surprise in my cookie cups!
It is very easy to make cookie cups but with step by step pictures, it’s even easier.
So, let’s start!
First I make my homemade pastry cream. I set aside. I cover it with a plastic film to prevent a skin from forming on top. When it cools, I keep it in the refrigerator.
A half recipe will be enough, but it is so smooth, tastes so nice that you may want to eat a little bit or more with a spoon. If you do that, the half recipe won’t be enough so you should make the whole recipe. It takes almost only 10 minutes to make the pastry cream!
Before I start making the dough, I grease my cupcake pan and set aside it too.
How to Make Cookie Cups
First, I place the butter in my stand mixer and beat at medium speed with paddle attachment until it is soft. Then I add the sugar and cream them together.
Next, I add the egg and the vanilla. Finally, I add the flour in 2 batches and mix until incorporated. From the pictures below, you can see that in each step I scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Scrape down as needed so ingredients can be evenly incorporated.
After the dough is ready, I divide the dough into equally 12 pieces(48grams).
First, I roll them into balls. Using my fingers, I press the balls onto bottom and up sides to give a cup shape.
I bake them for 8 minutes until the edges are lightly golden brown. The dough will be puffed after 8 minutes. I keep the oven open but I remove the cupcake pan.
Using the back of a measuring spoon, I gently press the center to give its cup shape again. I do it while the dough is still soft. Then I place the pan in the oven and bake for an additional 6 minutes until the edges become golden brown.
I remove the pan from the oven and let the cookie dough cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes.
This dough is slightly crunchy at the edges. In order not to damage the cookie cup, I use a toothpick to remove it from the pan. I gently place a toothpick into the bottom corner of the cookie cups and gently lift the cookies up and remove them from the pan.
Then, I coat the inside of the cookie cups with melted chocolate. The melted chocolate tastes very nice in these cookie cups. The chocolate makes a nice crisp but it also prevents softening the cookie cups after they are filled with pastry cream.
I keep the cups in the fridge for 5 minutes to let the chocolate set. After that, I spoon almost 1 tablespoon of pastry cream over the melted chocolate. (If you eat them immediately, the cups will not soften even without the chocolate cover.)
Finally, I put the fresh mints and strawberries over the pastry cream. They taste like fruit tarts which I love a lot!
Enjoy!
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Strawberry & Mint Cookie Cups with Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- ½ recipe homemade pastry cream*
- 280 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour (dip and sweep)**
- 150 g (⅔ cup) butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
- 105 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 30 g (1 oz) bitter-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 12 strawberries
- 12 fresh mints
Instructions
- First make the pastry cream. Cover it with a plastic film to prevent a skin forming on top. When it cools, keep in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F(165C°). Grease regular size cupcake pan and set aside.
- Start making the dough: Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes until it is soft with a hand-held mixer or with paddle attachment if using a stand-mixer. Add the sugar and mix until creamy. Add the egg and mix well. Then add the vanilla and mix. When needed, stop the machine and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so they are all mixed well. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Divide the dough into equally 12 pieces(48grams). Roll them into balls. Press the balls onto bottom and up sides to give a cup shape.
- Bake for 8 minutes until the edges are lightly golden brown. The dough will be puffed after 8 minutes. Don't turn off the oven but remove the cupcake pan from the oven. Using the back of a measuring spoon, gently press the center of the cookie cups to give their cup shape again. Bake for additional 6 minutes until the edges become golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookie dough cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. If needed, gently press the center again as soon as you remove the pan from the oven. To remove the cookies from the pan, gently place a toothpick into the bottom corner of the cookie cup and gently lift the cookies up and remove them from the pan.
- Place the chopped chocolate into an ovenproof dish and melt in the oven at 210°F (100°C). When the chocolate starts melting, stir the chocolate. Continue melting-stirring as needed.
- Assemble: Coat inside of the cookie cups with melted chocolate. Keep the cups in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to let the chocolate set. Besides its good taste, melted chocolate will prevent the cookie cups softening after they are filled with the pastry cream. Spoon almost 1 tablespoon of pastry cream over the melted chocolate. Put the fresh mints and strawberries over the pastry cream. Keep in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
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