Strawberry cookies

No special equipment needed: A hand mixer or even a wooden spoon and some elbow grease will do the job.

Real strawberry flavor: Freeze-dried strawberry powder gives you bold, natural strawberry taste without watering down the dough.

No chilling required: The butter-to-flour ratio is carefully balanced so your cookies spread perfectly without any fridge time.

Beautiful pink color: The powder alone creates a lovely blush - no food coloring necessary (though you can add a drop if you want a deeper hue).

Chewy center, crispy edges: The classic cookie texture everyone loves. The "drop the pan" trick is the key to getting that crackly top.

Food coloring. Completely optional. If the strawberry powder hasn't given you the pink depth you want, add a drop or two of red gel food coloring. Gel is much more effective than liquid and won't add extra moisture to the dough.

Flour. All-purpose flour works perfectly for this recipe. No need for cake flour or anything special.

Baking soda. Baking soda (not baking powder) is what gives you that chewy texture. Don't swap them - baking powder would make the cookies cakey instead.

Salt and vanilla extract. Vanilla complements the strawberry flavor beautifully, and salt keeps everything balanced. Don't add more than ¼ teaspoon of vanilla or it will overpower the strawberry.

Freeze-dried strawberries. This is the star ingredient. Fresh or frozen strawberries release too much water and result in very mild flavor after baking. Freeze-dried powder has an intense, 100% natural strawberry flavor that holds up perfectly in the oven. You can buy it ready-made or pulse freeze-dried strawberry pieces in a blender until fine. Note: dried strawberries and freeze-dried strawberries are not the same thing - dried strawberries are still too moist to grind into powder.

Butter. Use unsalted butter at room temperature. Cold butter won't cream properly, so take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you start.

Sugar. White granulated sugar or caster sugar both work well here.

Egg. Should be at room temperature, just like the butter.

Use a kitchen scale. Baking by weight gives far more consistent results than cups, especially for flour.

Don't overmix the dough. Once the flour goes in, mix only until no dry streaks remain. Overmixing develops gluten and makes your cookies tough and dense instead of tender and chewy.

Bake one sheet at a time. This ensures even heat distribution. Two sheets in the oven at once can lead to uneven browning.

Don't skip the drop trick. In the last two minutes of baking, the cookies puff up significantly. Once they're out of the oven, drop the baking sheet firmly on a flat surface 2-3 times. This deflates them and creates that beautiful crinkly, crackly surface with a chewy center.

Combine the dry ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and freeze-dried strawberry powder until evenly distributed. Set aside.

Combine the wet ingredients: Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until it resembles a thick, homogeneous paste. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and food coloring (if using) and beat until fully emulsified.

Make the dough: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat on the lowest speed just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.

Shape and bake: Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Form 16 even balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake one batch at a time for 10-11 minutes, until the cookies have finished spreading and puffing up. Remove from the oven and immediately drop the baking sheet firmly on a flat surface 2-3 times - this deflates the puffy cookies and gives them that crinkly, crackly surface. Transfer to a cooling rack and repeat with the second batch.

Chocolate chips. Fold in white or dark chocolate chips after mixing the dough. White chocolate pairs especially well with strawberry.

Strawberry lemon. Add a teaspoon of lemon zest to the dough for a bright, citrusy twist that complements the strawberry beautifully.

Glazed strawberry cookies. Drizzle a simple strawberry glaze (powdered sugar, a pinch of strawberry powder, and a splash of milk) over completely cooled cookies for an extra-pretty finish.

Cream cheese sandwich cookies. Make Cream cheese frosting and sandwich pairs of cooled cookies together. Store in the fridge.