Mmmm Mondays and Strawberries!

With May comes one of my favorite rituals! Picking strawberries! I have fond memories of my daughter eating more than she picked and walking around with a strawberry in each hand. So for todays, Mmmm Monday, I am choosing an easy, but super sweet strawberry recipe! Enjoy!!

Strawberry Shortcake Sliders
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
6 cups stemmed fresh local strawberries, divided
1 cup simple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar

Directions
Sift flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. With a fork or pastry cutter, cut in butter to fine particles. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups cream (enough so that dough holds together and is soft but not sticky). On a floured surface, knead dough lightly a few times to form a ball. Pat into a 1/2-inch-thick circle. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 15 minutes. Heat oven to 400°F. With a 2-inch round cutter, cut dough into 12 circles. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet; bake 15-20 minutes or until golden.
In a saucepan, simmer 4 cups strawberries with simple syrup until jam-like consistency; cool. Slice remaining strawberries. Whip 3/4 cup cream with vanilla and 1 tablespoon sugar until soft peaks form.
To serve, cut shortcakes in half horizontally. Place 3 shortcake bottoms on each of 4 plates. Top with cooked strawberries, whipped cream and sliced strawberries, dividing ingredients evenly. Place tops on shortcakes; dust with confectioner’s sugar! A perfect sweet treat for those ohh so lovely hand-picked strawberries!

photo from Simply Recipes