These no-chill strawberry sugar cookies are made with fresh strawberries and freeze dried strawberries for maximum berry flavor. And each chewy cookie is topped with an irresistible crunchy strawberry streusel.
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The Soft and Chewy Strawberry Cookies that Won My Heart
Listen, these cookies are the epitome of “on Wednesdays, we wear pink.” They’re naturally vibrant pink thanks to freeze dried strawberries, and packed with a punchy hit of strawberry flavor. And if you haven't baked with ground freeze dried strawberries before, you're in for a real treat! I love its natural color & potent flavor in these strawberry cookies along with my strawberry crunch cupcakes - and trust me, it tastes way better than using strawberry extract.
In addition to freeze dried strawberries, we're also adding fresh strawberries since they turn into little gooey, juicy, bursts of fruity-goodness. And while a lot of strawberry sugar cookie recipes out there are either plain or glazed, I just couldn't resist adding a sweet & crumbly streusel on top, inspired by my lemon blueberry streusel cookies. And yes, of course, I put freeze dried strawberries in the streusel too!
Now, I tested these cookies by chilling the dough first versus baking them right away, and there wasn’t much difference, so feel free to save time and get those puppies in the oven pronto! And my test-batch with jam mixed into the dough turned out a little too wet. But if you're hankering for jam cookies, definitely try my strawberry jam sandwich cookies.
Ingredients Needed: freeze dried strawberries, all purpose flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, fresh strawberries, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
Let's Bake these Adorable Pink Cookies!
For the full step-by-step directions and ingredient quantities, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1. Mix the streusel & set aside.
2. Toss the diced strawberries in flour.
3. Whisk flour, freeze dried strawberries, cornstarch, baking soda & salt.
5. Mix in the eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
7. Gently fold in the strawberries.
9. Top with the streusel.
4. Beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until it's fluffy & creamy.
6. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
8. Shape the dough into balls.
10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Carissa's Baking Hack
I add a little cornstarch in the dough to help the cookies hold their shape better in the oven, so they don’t spread too much.
Tips for Baking with Strawberries
- Use Ripe Strawberries: I can't recommend enough using ripe strawberries that taste good on their own, since a lot of the flavor in these cookies comes from them! If your strawberries are kind of bland, then your cookies won’t taste as sweet.
- Toss in Flour: I tested this recipe by tossing the strawberries in flour and by just leaving them plain, and I found that the flour is essential to preventing too much moisture from leaking into the cookie dough.
- Measure Before Grinding: I wrote the measurements of the freeze dried strawberries before grinding them. Keep in mind that they’ll reduce a lot in volume once you turn them into a powder, so don't wait to measure them after you grind them.
Strawberry Sugar Cookies (Fresh + Freeze Dried Strawberries)
Ingredients
STRAWBERRY STREUSEL TOPPING
- ⅓ cup freeze dried strawberries, ground into a powder
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
STRAWBERRY COOKIES
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, diced
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour, plus one Tablespoon, divided
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries, ground into a powder
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (1 stick)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest from one lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare the streusel by mixing the ground freeze dried strawberries, flour, sugar, and melted butter with a fork until it forms a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, toss the diced strawberries in one tablespoon of the flour. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining 1¾ cups of flour, ground freeze dried strawberries, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar with a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until it looks creamy.
- Beat the eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest into the butter mixture until it’s well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Gently mix the dough with a large spoon or spatula just until there is no visible dry flour. Gently fold the strawberries into the dough.
- Use a large cookie scoop or two spoons to shape the cookie dough into balls. Place them on the baking sheet spread out at least 2 inches apart.
- Gently flatten the tops of the cookies and sprinkle the streusel on top, gently pressing it in to get the streusel to stick to the sides.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, just until they start to turn golden around the edges. Allow them to cool and firm up for a few minutes on a baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack & enjoy!!
Notes
- Freeze Dried Strawberries: Grind the freeze dried strawberries into a fine powder in a food processor or by smashing it in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.
- Storing: Since these cookies contain fresh fruit, I found that they lasted much longer stored in the fridge, rather than at room temperature.
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