Strawberry Cookies – Made with REAL strawberries

strawberry cookies made with real strawberries! These cookies are soft with slightly crunchy edges and a thick, chewy center. You can coat them with a light glaze or roll them in sugar.

A few months ago I was just about to bake our lemon biscuits when I had a brilliant idea that if you could add a sweet to flavor a biscuit then surely freeze dried fruit could do the same. Sure enough a Summer Strawberry Cookies was born!

As a kid, I thought strawberry was the absolute best flavor. I’m now leaning towards using more raspberries from the berry family (I’m curious what you all would pick), but my kids are certainly on the childhood train fresh, juicy red strawberries. They love that these cookies are dense and chewy, but they have the choice of rolling them in sugar or topping them with a crunchy glaze.

I personally prefer to make one Lemon frosting to dress up these cute cookies, but you can do whatever makes you happy!

Ingredients for strawberry cookies

Most strawberry cookie recipes out there use strawberry cake mix or strawberry pudding to get the strawberry flavor (in fact, we have our own strawberry pudding cookie recipe here on the blog), but I love using real strawberries in this recipe to make it real Strawberry taste. Here’s what you need to prepare these cookies:

For the cookies

• Freeze Dried Strawberries: Do not use fresh strawberries. They add too much moisture to the batter and make the cookies cakey.
• Sugar: regular granulated white sugar
• Butter flavored shortening: You can also use regular shortening (this will lose some flavor) or just regular butter, but butter will end up being drier.
• Unsalted Butter: Softened, combined with the shortening, the cookies are tender and still rich in flavor
• eggs: Add structure to the cookies
• Vanilla: imparts flavor
• strawberry extract: Just for a little flavor boost
• Flour: Use all-purpose flour
• baking powder: leavening agent to give rise and fluffiness to the biscuits
• baking powder: Leavening agent that, together with the baking powder, helps the biscuits to rise
• Salt: enhances all flavors

For the glaze

• powdered sugar: adds sweetness and structure to the glaze
• milk or water: Milk will be slightly more flavorful
• lemon juice: I like to add some lemon juice to give the cookie a nice flavor note, but this is entirely optional.
  • BONUS: You can also add some strawberry extract to the glaze if you want even more strawberry flavor.

Sugar

• Sugar: Roll the cookie dough balls in sugar before baking if you prefer that instead of the glaze.

For the measurements of all the ingredients and how to make these cookies, see the recipe card at the end of this post. Check out the video below to see how these cookies come together…

Summer Strawberry Cookies recipe video

What are freeze dried strawberries?

Freeze-dried strawberries are real strawberries that have undergone a freeze-drying process that removes all moisture from them. No sugar or other additives are added and the taste and nutrients are preserved. In the end they are quite crunchy and taste really delicious when eaten plain. Even after freeze-drying, they are storage-stable.

Where to buy freeze dried strawberries

You can find freeze-dried strawberries at any grocery store. Check out the Healthy Foods section or other dried fruits like raisins, prunes, craisins, etc. I actually found a giant 10 gallon can of freeze dried strawberries in the food storage/shelf stability section yesterday. You can also buy them on Amazon.

Why You’ll Love These Cookies

1. Easy: This recipe is easy to make and follows typical cookie making instructions. My kids love baking these cookies.
2. Flavor: The delicious strawberry flavor is added from the freeze-dried strawberries, giving real strawberry flavor.
3. Color: I love the color these cookies end up with. It looks natural and is subtly pink.
4. Kid-friendly: Strawberries are so popular with kids that I’ve never met a kid who didn’t love these cookies.
5. Feeding a Crowd: This recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies, so there’s enough to feed a large group or freeze and save for another day.
6. Store Well: You can freeze the batter or baked cookies and they will keep for up to 3 months.

Cookie Variations

These strawberry cookies are like that versatile. You can embellish them or keep them plain. Here are a few ideas for variations:

• Add white chocolate chips to make strawberries and cream cookies.
• For even more strawberry flavor, gently stir in small pieces of the freeze-dried strawberries into the batter before baking.
• Make a lemon frosting out of the frosting with fresh lemon juice. It tastes like drinking strawberry lemonade!
• Sprinkle some ground freeze-dried strawberries on top of the icing for more color.
• Mix some freeze-dried strawberry powder with the sugar before rolling the dough in the sugar.

How to save cookies

Once the cookies are completely cool, store them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They can be kept for 3-4 days at room temperature and up to a week in the refrigerator.

You can also freeze either the cookie dough balls or the baked cookies. To freeze the dough balls, form all of the dough into balls and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place the tray in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Once frozen, you can place them in a sealable bag or container. You can then bake them from frozen (which adds a few minutes to the baking time) or allow them to come to room temperature and then bake them according to the recipe instructions.

To freeze the baked cookies, allow them to cool completely, then stack in a freezer-safe container. Wait until just before serving to add the glaze.

strawberry desserts is one of my love languages ​​(hello strawberry shortcake!!) and these strawberry shortcake cookies are making me swoon! The freeze-dried strawberries add the real strawberry flavor we love.

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