“These cookies are SO delicious! They became an instant family favorite.” ~Tim
strawberry cookies are the IT cookie of the season.
Sparkly Strawberry Shortbread Cookies are pretty in pink cookies that might look demure, but pack a burst of berry flavor. The frilly edge of sparkling sugar gives a nice crunchy contrast to the buttery shortbread, too. This might be the ultimate strawberry cookie!
When was the last time you had a strawberry cookie? Probably never, right? That’s because it’s incredibly difficult to incorporate juicy strawberries into a crunchy cookie recipe. Right up until my first bite I wasn’t sure this one was going to work. And frankly, it’s almost unbelievable that it does, but omg, these cookies actually taste like fresh strawberries. I think I’ve made the quintessential spring cookie!
the secret to the fresh berry flavor in these strawberry cookies?
It’s freeze dried strawberries. That’s right. Freeze drying removes all the moisture, and I can process the dried berries into a fine strawberry rich powder in my blender. That way I can add it to shortbread without any extra liquid, which would ruin the texture of the cookie. (You can also buy strawberry powder ready made, if you prefer.)
The strawberry powder mixes right into my regular shortbread dough making a soft pink color and a bright juicy flavor. You know what’s even better? Freeze dried strawberries are simply strawberries, so there’s none of that artificial flavor we’re used to in commercial products. These strawberry cookies taste like fresh strawberries!
how to make freeze dried strawberry powder
- Start with freeze dried strawberries. I used Trader Joe’s.
- Put them in a high speed blender and blitz until they become a fine powder. This will happen almost instantly. You can use a food processor, too, but the powder won’t be as fine.
- A 1.2 ounce bag makes about 3-4 tablespoons of delicious strawberry ‘dust’.
- Find freeze dried strawberries in the dried fruit section of your market, or find them online.
sparkle and crunch!
I rim them with a little sparkling sugar for a little pizazz. Sparkling sugar is a coarse sugar with a super shine, I’ve used it before on my raspberry rugelach bars, and my cranberry breakfast cake. Its not just for looks, either, it adds an appealing sweet crunch.
if you loved my pansy topped shortbread cookies
You might be wondering if you could do the same thing with these cookies and the answer is yes! This is so nice for special occasions…simply flatten fresh flowers between sheets of parchment paper, and then gently press them onto hot cookies, just out of the oven. Read all the details in my how to make pansy topped shortbread post.
Frankly I don’t think these strawberry cookies need any embellishment other than the sprinkle of sugar. I’m sampling another cookie as I write this, and I’m struck by the unique flavor…I think you’re really going to love these cookies, please let me know what you think if you try them…
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Strawberry Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 2 Tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder Note: see instructions in the cook's notes below for making your own.
- 2 cups all purpose flour
sugar edging
- sparkling sugar
- 1 egg white, beaten. I use a pasteruized egg.
Instructions
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Put the butter, sugar, and extract, if using, in the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer. Sift in the strawberry powder to avoid lumps. Cream well. Make sure your strawberry powder is well incorporated and the mixture is streak free.
- Add the flour and pulse about 10 times, then run the machine briefly, just until the dough comes together into a lump or lumps. If using a stand mixer, add the flour on low and mix until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and finish bringing it together, if necessary, with your hands. When it is smooth with no crumbly spots remaining, form it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with a cookie cutter. I used a 2 inch cookie cutter for about 20 cookies. I like to refrigerate the cut cookies for 15-20 minutes before baking.
- Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cookies. I like my shortbread on the softer side, but if you prefer it crunchy, bake a little longer. Don't let them get browned.
- Cool on the pan for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are firm enough to handle, and then lightly brush the edges with egg white, and roll in sparkling sugar. Let dry before eating. Note: you can also brush the edges and roll in sugar before baking, if you prefer.
Notes
- Start with freeze dried strawberries. I used Trader Joe’s.
- Put them in a high speed blender and blitz until they become a fine powder. This will happen almost instantly. You can use a food processor, too, but the powder won’t be as fine.
- A 1.2 ounce bag makes about 3-4 tablespoons of delicious strawberry ‘dust’.
- Find freeze dried strawberries in the dried fruit section of your market, or find them online.
Nutrition
These were a real hit. I didn’t use the sparkling sugar, and cut some with a heart-shaped cutter, which made them fragile. I had better luck with making them a log and slicing them rather than rolling them out. Yet, the hearts were very popular at my herb society’s fund-raiser. Next time, I may try either grinding lavender with the strawberries or using a bit of lavender paste in the recipe to keep with the herbal theme.
Strawberry lavender sounds nice!
I was fascinated by the recipe until you said they were crunchy cookies. I’m one of those people who prefers soft cookies. If I used fresh strawberries would I get a soft cookie?
My shortbread cookies can be soft or crunchy depending on how long you bake them, it’s your choice. You may want to do a test cookie or two to determine what you like.
Sue, First off, thank you for this fresh idea for cookies! I just made them and have a suggestion. I had to buy the Trader Joe’s mixed berry blend in the freeze dried fruit because they were totally out of the strawberries. The color was still a lovely pink. After I made the dough I gave it a little taste. It seemed to be lacking depth of flavor so, since it was too late to add any salt to the dough, I mixed kosher salt and sugar in the raw as my dipping sugar. (1 Tbsp raw sugar to 1/2 tsp kosher salt). My husband tasted an undipped cookie and said he could barely taste the berry flavor. He said the cookie with a little salt made a huge difference in the berry taste. I am wondering if the butter should be the salted variety, or if the salt in the dipping sugar is the answer.
I love your site=keep up the good work!
Colleen
These cookies are SO delicious! They became an instant family favorite. I rolled them into a log to chill, pulled them out and rolled them in sugar, and sliced them to bake. I like to keep a couple of logs in the freezer so I can have fresh cookies whenever I want. Thank you for this and all your great recipes!
These look wonderful! I’m so excited because I have everything to make these, including Trader Joe’s strawberries, and just took butter out of the frig! I’ve used my mortar and pestle to crush the freeze dried strawberries and it works great. Only takes a few minutes and is oddly satisfying. 🙂
These cookies look amazing!!! I see online that I can buy strawberry powder from freeze dried strawberries. Can I just use 2T of the dried powder, rather than grinding my town from dried berries? And I would suggest using a bit of diluted Light Karo Syrup brushed on the cookie edges before rolling edges in the sugar crystals. It works great as an alternative to egg whites.??
Yes, go ahead and use the powder if you can find it. With the karo, does it stay sticky at all?
They tyaste very strawberry when baked as directed but the cookie is very soft and underbaked. I prefer crispy shortbread. Baked longer they lose a lot of the stawberry flavor.
Hello! I saw your post this spring and finally made these cookies. So good! Just wanted to add in my alterations – I added more like 3+ Tbsp of strawberry powder. I rolled the dough into a log and put it in the fridge overnight. Then I rolled the log in white sprinkles and sliced it into 20 cookies. Since they weren’t perfectly round or of even thickness- I added white sprinkles to the top and mashed out the cookies slightly to make them more equal. They cooked for 13-15 minutes on 350 convection and are still a little soft, no burnt edges.
Love, love , love the flavor and presentation of these cookies. mine flattened and spread too much. I did chill for more like 4 hrs than two and wonder why mine spread so much. Any ideas?
Will make again and again, spread or not!
Do you think I can do small scoops and roll the cookies in sanding sugar instead of rolling out and cutting?
Thank you for al your wonderful recipes.
Shortbread dough doesn’t spread like other cookies, so I don’t think that will work, unless you want little mound cookies. You could make a log, roll the whole thing in sugar, and slice and bake.