Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color (2-3 minutes). Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Roll to ¼ inch thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. After rolling, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Once the dough is well chilled and hard to the touch, cut out shapes and place them on a silicone mat or parchment-lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7-9 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Do not over bake. The cookies will look a little underdone but that is ok. It will set up as it cools and result in a soft and chewy cookie. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. (Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Tip: Place cookie sheet with the cookie dough shapes in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking to help the cookies not to spread too much.

In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed for about 3-5 minutes.

Turn the mixer down to low speed and gradually add powdered sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and strawberry puree, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 20 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Once the cookies are completely cool, frost with the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.

(*I prepared my strawberries by first washing them and slicing them, then covering them with a generous pinch of sugar and letting them sit for about 10 minutes. Then I pureed them in my food processor but of course a blender works great! You could even mash them yourself using a fork.)