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Strawberry Cookies are soft, thick, and bursting with real berry flavor thanks to a secret ingredient: freeze-dried strawberry powder. I made a batch with Lizzie on a rainy spring afternoon when she wanted something pink and pretty, and the whole tray disappeared before they even cooled. If you love our soft Lofthouse cookies, these sparkly strawberry sugar cookies are about to become your new favorite.
They chill in the fridge so they bake up thick and pillowy, with a bakery-style sparkly sugar top that looks as good as it tastes.
Strawberry Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 13 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 2 hours 28 minutes (includes chilling)
- 🍽️ Serving: 37 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 125kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Sweet, buttery, and bursting with real strawberry
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our Easter sugar cookies
Quick Answer
Cream softened butter and sugar, then beat in egg, milk, vanilla, and optional strawberry extract. Mix in flour, freeze-dried strawberry powder, baking powder, salt, and pink food coloring. Scoop into balls, chill at least 2 hours, dip the tops in decorator’s sugar, and bake at 350F for 11 to 13 minutes until puffed and dry.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Freeze-dried strawberry powder. Concentrated real strawberry flavor and natural pink color with no extra moisture to throw off the dough.
- Chilling the dough. A two-hour chill firms the butter so the cookies bake thick and soft instead of spreading flat.
- Creaming butter and sugar. Whipping them together beats in air for that signature light, tender sugar-cookie crumb.
- Decorator’s sugar finish. A quick dip in coarse sugar gives the tops a bakery-style sparkle and a little crunch.
- Baked sugar-side up. Baking the balls as-is keeps them puffed and pillowy with soft, chewy centers.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Real freeze-dried strawberries give these a true strawberry flavor and a naturally pretty pink, with no fake taste.
- They bake up soft, thick, and chewy with a sparkly sugar top that looks bakery-fancy.
- They are an easy make-ahead treat for parties, right alongside our Easter cookie bars.
Key Ingredients
A few simple pantry staples plus one secret ingredient make these Strawberry Cookies pop. Full amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Freeze-dried strawberry powder: the star, packing real concentrated strawberry flavor and natural pink color into the dough.
- Unsalted butter: softened so it creams up light and gives the cookies a rich, tender crumb.
- Granulated sugar: sweetens and helps create that soft, classic sugar-cookie texture.
- Strawberry extract: optional, but it boosts the berry flavor even more.
- Decorator’s sugar: the sparkly coarse sugar that gives the tops their bakery-style finish.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Make these cookies your own with a few easy swaps.
- Skip the food coloring for a naturally soft pink, or go bolder with a few extra drops.
- Swap the strawberry powder for freeze-dried raspberry or cherry powder for a different berry cookie.
- Add a handful of white chocolate chips to the dough for extra sweetness.
- Drizzle the cooled cookies with melted white chocolate or a simple strawberry glaze.
- For a fun holiday version, roll them in colored sugar like our Easter bunny cookies.
How to Make Strawberry Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the milk, vanilla, and strawberry extract, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour, freeze-dried strawberry powder, baking powder, and salt, mixing until just combined with no dry patches.
- Mix in a few drops of pink food coloring, if using, until the dough is an even rosy pink.
- Scoop the dough into 1.5-tablespoon balls, roll them smooth, place on a tray, cover, and chill at least 2 hours (overnight is even better).
- Dip the tops of the chilled dough balls into decorator’s sugar for a sparkly finish.
- Place sugar-side up on parchment-lined trays 2 inches apart and bake at 350F for 11 to 13 minutes until puffed and dry. Cool 10 minutes on the tray, then move to a wire rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Do not skip the chill. Cold dough is what keeps these thick and soft instead of spreading into thin disks.
- Make your own strawberry powder by blitzing freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until fine.
- Measure flour correctly by spooning and leveling it so the cookies do not turn out dry.
- Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies that bake at the same rate.
- Pull them when the tops look dry and puffed; they firm up as they cool, so do not overbake.
- Store them airtight to keep them soft, or freeze the dough balls to bake fresh anytime.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These Strawberry Cookies are gorgeous on a dessert tray, especially for Valentine’s Day, baby showers, or spring parties. Stack them on a cake stand with other soft cookies like our Lofthouse cookies for a pretty pink-and-pastel spread.
Serve them with a cold glass of milk for dunking, or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream. They are also a fun addition to a cookie box with our maple bacon cookies and a layered dessert like our lemon blueberry trifle.
These travel well for bake sales and lunchboxes, and the dough freezes beautifully, so you can bake just a few at a time whenever a strawberry craving hits.
Strawberry Cookies FAQs
Strawberry powder is simply ground freeze-dried strawberries. You can buy freeze-dried strawberries at most grocery stores near the dried fruit and blitz them into a fine powder in a food processor or blender. It gives the cookies real strawberry flavor and a natural pink color without adding moisture.
Chilling firms up the butter so the cookies hold their shape and bake thick and soft instead of spreading flat. Two hours is the minimum, but overnight gives the best texture and lets the strawberry flavor deepen.
No, the strawberry extract is optional. The freeze-dried strawberry powder already provides plenty of berry flavor, but a little extract intensifies it if you want an extra-strong strawberry taste.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Layer them with parchment so the sugar tops stay sparkly. You can also freeze baked cookies for up to three months.
Yes. Roll the dough into balls, freeze them solid on a tray, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to three months. Bake from frozen, adding a minute or two to the bake time, so you can have fresh strawberry cookies anytime.
Spreading usually means the dough was not chilled long enough or the butter was too warm. Chill at least two hours, and if your kitchen is hot, pop the scooped balls back in the fridge between batches.
In the mood for more sweet treats? Try our oatmeal cream pie ice cream bars next for another nostalgic favorite.
For another pretty, crowd-pleasing treat, do not miss our angel food cupcakes.
Strawberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon strawberry extract optional
- Pink food coloring optional
- ⅓ cup decorators sugar optional
Instructions
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper, set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, strawberry powder, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
- In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and mix it in until combined. Add the milk, vanilla, and strawberry extract if using, stir it in until combined, scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and there are no dry patches, scrape down the sides as needed. Add food coloring if using, make sure it is mixed in evenly.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough and roll it into a ball. Place them on the prepared sheet tray close but not touching. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, but best if you can chill overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper. Pour the decorator’s sugar into a small bowl if using.
- Dip the tops of the dough balls into the decorator’s sugar. Place them, sugar side up, onto the parchment-lined sheet trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until the tops are puffed up and they appear dry. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 10 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can use purchased strawberry powder or homemade, see above.
- This makes a large batch, you can make larger cookies if you’d like.
- The decorators sugar is optional but highly recommended.
- The addition of strawberry extract really gives it a nice strawberry flavor.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- If you want a more pink color add some pink food coloring.
Nutrition
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