In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on medium to high speed.
Add your sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until all combined.
Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla.
Beat in flour.
Crush your freeze dried strawberries until they are a fine powder. I do this in a sealed ziplock bag. Add your crushed dried strawberries to your cookie batter. Stir until completely mixed.
Store the finished dough in your refrigerator for 20 minutes. (You can store it longer if needed, you'll just need to work a little harder to roll the dough after.)
Divide dough in half. The dough you're not using at the minute should go back in the fridge.
On a lightly floured surface roll half the dough until it's approximately 1/8 inch thick. Using your preferred cookie cutter shape (I used a heart) cut dough. You can also use a cookie scoop if you prefer a round cookie! Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Pink Icing:
Peel the beet and cut into 4-6 pieces. Place in a small pot with 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium. Cover loosely so a little steam can escape. Cook until your beet is soft when pierced with a fork. This can take 5-10 minutes. Once soft, remove it and set aside. You should have 2 - 3 tbsp of glorious dark red beet juice. Place your juice in the freezer just for a few minutes so that it cools. You do NOT want to freeze it. You want it to be lukewarm before we add it to the rest of our icing.
In a mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on medium to high speed.
Add sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
Add 1 tbsp of beet juice. Mix. You can add more to achieve the shade of pink you desire just be sure to add it a little at a time.
Spread your icing on the cookies once the cookies have completely cooled.