Strawberry Scented Shampoo and Chocolate Hair Cookies

   

  I believe the first mention of anything food related is when Bella smells her hair, commenting that it only smelled like her strawberry-scented shampoo. This is after Edward shrinks away as she sits at the biology table.
  At first I pictured a chocolate meringue cookie shaped like long hair viewed from the back and puréed strawberries for the shampoo. I attempted the chocolate meringue cookie recipes 3 times and didn't like the color or the taste. I ended up with 7 egg yolks from free-range hens and I hate to throw away good food so I made Greek soup, avgolemono. So with the meringue fail, I next opted for shortbread. I compared 9 different chocolate shortbread recipes and came up with this one, which worked perfectly. The taste is scrumptious - buttery and not too sweet. 

COOKIE - THE HAIR
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350˚.

     While the butter is hard from the refrigerator, remove from paper and place in large bowl. Let butter soften to room temperature.
     Using a large spoon (I used a serving spoon,) mix in the sugar and salt. Mix in the vanilla. Blend in the cocoa powder, stirring slowly so the cocoa doesn't fling up into the air. I used Hershey's Special Dark Cacao. 
  
   Fluff the flour with the measuring cup and scoop gently so the flour doesn't get packed. Add flour all at once and begin cutting in with the spoon. When the flour is incorporated and all the contents are the same color, use your hand to press the loose mixture together into a ball. 



    Form the dough onto wax paper into a long log of the shape you want for "Bella's hair." Refrigerate for an hour or more. Slice the log into 1/4" pieces. You can reshape it or add to pieces together for the shape you like. I imagined Bella's long brown hair as slightly layered at the ends, like Kristen's was in the movie, so I made the bottom shaped in a curve. 

 As you can see, they don't need to be shaped perfectly. It's hair, right?
Bake it on parchment paper for 15-20 minutes. The color won't tell you if they are done. You want them firm enough in the center so they won't fall apart. I cooked them for 15 minutes in a gas oven and thought they were a bit soft when they were warm, but the next day I ate one from the fridge and they were just right.

Remove from oven and place chocolate chips to melt. I used Ghiradelli 60% Bittersweet gourmet chips, they're big. And they aren't bitter. 
The chocolate gets bulbous and shiny when they are at the right stage to spread.
I used an old Tupperware chevron edge tool. Wilton also has different ones. You can also make your own with plastic from a strawberry clamshell.
I found it best to spread the chocolate widthwise to spread the chocolate and then run the edge tool lengthwise for the "hair." Next time I'll try placing the chocolate at the edge so I only need to go one direction.

Let the chocolate cool and harden. I did straight, wavy, and crimped hair for variety. Some turned out better than others - it's a casual thing. 

STRAWBERRY PURÉE - THE SHAMPOO

Rinse, core, and halve a quart of fresh strawberries. Place in blender and pulse. Do not add any liquid. I used stevia for sweetener. Sugar would be fine, too. The stevia is lighter and bubbled up nicely. It stayed frothy for days in the fridge.

Serve in a pitcher so guests can pour their own "shampoo" onto the "hair" cookies.
The surprise in the taste of these cookies was how the chocolate acted as a melding agent between the shortbread and the purée. I hope you love them.
I'll next try the recipe with regular cocoa powder and milk chocolate.