Happy Monday! Today we’re celebrating Mickey and Minnie’s 96th birthday! In honor of my favorite mice, I’m excited to share Mickey & Minnie’s Strawberry Sandwich Cookies! These tender vanilla shortbread cookies are pressed with Mickey and Minnie’s faces and are filled with a refreshing strawberry buttercream!
Sandwich cookies are some of my favorites. Whether they’re filled with jam, frosting, or ice cream, cookie sandwiches’ contrasting textures and fun flavor combinations. I recently came across some Mickey & Minnie cookie stamps from Williams-Sonoma and thought they would make the perfect cookie sandwiches!
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For these cookie sandwiches, I used my favorite shortbread cookies as a base. While they’re tender cookies, they hold the shape of the cookie press design. To make the shortbread, combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. Then, in a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
Divide the dough in half and roll out each half between two sheets of parchment paper until it’s ¼ inch thick. Wrap the dough in the parchment paper, place on a baking sheet, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and place on a flat surface. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Dip the cookie stamp into flour and shake off any excess. Press the stamp into the dough. Use the round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies around the stamp.
One thing I liked about the cookie stamps from Williams-Sonoma is that it came as a set of four different designs and also included a perfectly sized round cookie cutter. Repeat the cookie stamping and cutting process with both halves of the dough.
Transfer cut out cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Bake the cookies at 350 F for 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for a couple minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies cool, make the strawberry frosting. I chose strawberry for my filling because I wanted to use one of Mickey & Minnie’s colors and thought strawberry and vanilla would be a tasty combination. The cookies are versatile though, so if you want to try a different filling, you definitely could!
To make the frosting, whisk together the powdered sugar and freeze-dried strawberry powder in a medium bowl. For the freeze-dried strawberry powder, I found it helpful to run the power through a strainer to get out any large pieces.
In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low speed until incorporated.
Add the milk and a few drops of red gel food coloring. I used the red from the Ann Clark set. If you want the filling to be more pink, you can omit the food coloring as the strawberry powder will color it some. Beat on medium speed until fluffy.
Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip. I used a Wilton 1M tip for this but you could also use a large round tip. To assemble the cookie sandwiches, Flip half of the cookies over and then pipe a swirl of strawberry frosting onto each of the flipped over cookie halves. Gently press the remaining cooking halves on top of the frosting topped cookies to create a cookie sandwich.
Enjoy Mickey & Minnie’s Strawberry Sandwich Cookies! Happy 96th Birthday Mickey and Minnie!
Mickey & Minnie’s Strawberry Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
Shortbread Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Buttercream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup freeze dried strawberries, finely crushed into a powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
- red gel food coloring
Equipment
- Mickey/Minnie Mouse cookie stamps
- round cookie cutter
- large piping bag
- large start piping tip (Wilton 1M)
Instructions
Shortbread Cookies
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In a small bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.
-
Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
-
Divide the dough in half and roll out each half between two sheets of parchment paper until about ¼ inch thick.
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Wrap the dough in the parchment paper, place on a baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.
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Remove dough from the refrigerator and place on a flat surface. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Dip the cookie stamp into flour and shake off any excess. Press the stamp into the dough. Use the round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies around the stamp.
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Repeat the cookie stamping and cutting with both halves of the dough.
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Transfer cut out cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. While the cookies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F.
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Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
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Let the cookies cool on the pan for a couple minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Strawberry Buttercream
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and freeze-dried strawberry powder.
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In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
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Gradually add the powdered sugar mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low speed until incorporated.
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Add the milk and a few drops of red gel food coloring. Beat on medium speed until fluffy.
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Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip.
Assembly
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Flip half of the cookies over.
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Pipe a swirl of strawberry frosting onto each of the flipped over cookie halves.
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Gently press the remaining cooking halves on top of the frosting topped cookies to create a cookie sandwich.