This easy strawberry cookies recipe is made with freeze-dried strawberry powder which makes the cookies very flavorful. These cookies are crunchy on the edges with a chewy middle and have a beautiful pink color.
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Why you should try this recipe
Can be made without special equipment. Of course, the best way to beat the butter with the sugar is to use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer, but you can manage without them. Just use a bowl and a wooden spoon to mix the two ingredients until it resembles a thick paste, then add the egg and use a metal whisk to emulsify. You will need to whisk vigorously but, in the end, the mixture will turn out right. Add the dry ingredients and mix again with a spoon, then voila - your strawberry cookie dough is ready!
No need to chill the dough. Many cookie recipes require chilling the dough before forming the balls and baking them. This is to prevent the dough from spreading too much in the oven. With this recipe, however, you don't need this extra step. The ratio between the butter and flour is perfect and your cookies will spread just the right amount without chilling the dough beforehand.
The dough is easy to work with. It's not sticky and you can easily roll the cookie dough balls with your hands instead of using a cookie scoop.
Ingredients and substitutes
Flour - You can use all-purpose flour to make this strawberry cookie recipe.
Baking soda - Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies while baking powder is used for cakey cookies.
Salt and vanilla extract - Vanilla complements the strawberry flavor and salt is for flavor balance.
Freeze-dried strawberries - In my opinion, no matter how much you reduce your frozen or fresh strawberries before adding them to your desserts, the flavor will be very mild. That's why I decided to make these cookies with freeze-dried strawberry powder (you can buy it or make it by pulsing freeze-dried strawberry wedges in a blender or a food processor). The powder has a very strong strawberry flavor which is 100% natural. Also, I want to make a distinction between dried strawberries and freeze-dried strawberries: these two are not the same! It's not possible to make powder from dried strawberries because they are still a bit too moist for that.
Butter - Use unsalted butter at room temperature.
Sugar - You can use white granulated sugar or castor sugar.
Egg - The egg should be at room temperature.
Food coloring - If you think the strawberry powder wasn't enough to make pink strawberry cookies, add a few drops of gel food coloring.
Cooking tips
Don't add too much vanilla. Vanilla extract is a very powerful flavoring that can easily overpower the strawberry flavor. Don't add more than ¼ teaspoon or you will end up with vanilla cookies instead of strawberry ones.
Don't overmix the dough. Overmixing the dough will make the cookies tough and rubbery instead of moist and chewy.
Drop the baking sheet. You will notice that the cookies will become very puffy in the last two minutes in the oven. Once they are out, you want to drop the baking sheet on a flat surface several times to deflate them. The cookies will become flat with a crackly surface, like in the pictures.
Step by step directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and freeze-dried strawberry powder. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 2-3 minutes or until it resembles a thick, homogenous paste.
4. Add the egg and food coloring and beat until emulsified.
5. Add the dry ingredients and beat on the lowest speed just until no dry ingredients are left.
6. Form 16 even balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake one batch at a time for 10 minutes or until finished spreading and puffing up. Remove from the oven and drop the tray 2-3 times on a flat surface to deflate the cookies. Transfer with an offset spatula onto a cooling rack.
8. Repeat the process with the second batch.
Possible variations
Fresh strawberry cookies - If you really want to add a fresh strawberry touch to your cookies, you can make the sugar glaze from my Strawberry pound cake recipe and drizzle it on top of completely cooled cookies.
Chocolate chips - Fold in the chocolate chips of your choice to the cookie dough to make strawberry chocolate chip cookies.
Cream cheese frosting - If you're not a big fan of sugar glaze, you can make cream cheese frosting and make cookie sandwiches with it. However, you'll need to store your cookies in the fridge.
FAQ
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container lined with a paper towel, or covered with plastic wrap on a plate at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Yes, you can freeze the cookies for up to 2 months.
Freeze the dough for up to 2 months.
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Recipe card
Strawberry cookies
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Stand mixer or hand mixer and a large mixing bowl
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 20 g freeze-dried strawberry powder bought or made by pulsing freeze-dried strawberries in a blender or a food processor
- 120 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 180 g white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 drops red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and freeze-dried strawberry powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or you can use a bowl and a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 2-3 minutes or until it resembles a thick, homogenous paste.
- Then, add the egg and food coloring and beat until emulsified.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat on the lowest speed just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Form 16 even balls (35g each) and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake one batch at a time for 10-11 minutes or until finished spreading and puffing up. Remove from the oven and drop the tray 2-3 times on a flat surface to deflate the cookies. Transfer with an offset spatula onto a cooling rack.
- Repeat the process with the second batch.
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