Have you ever tried my strawberry biscuit cookies? Buttery, tender, and flaky, the cookies come together like an actual biscuit dough filled with fresh berries. They’re adorable, sweet, and topped with icing. But they don’t have that chewy-dense texture we all know and love about, say, chocolate chip cookies. That’s because throwing fresh strawberries into cookie dough creates an overly wet cookie dough… aka a cookie paste. I love the strawberry biscuit cookies, but I never really gave up on my strawberry cookie quest. Enter freeze-dried strawberries, the magical form of berry goodness that makes strawberry buttercream possible. Give the freeze-dried fruit a rough chop and throw them into cookie dough along with white chocolate chunks and cream cheese. This is a recipe for dessert utopia.
Why You’ll Adore These Strawberries & Cream Cookies
Cream cheese in the dough makes for soft and creamy-tasting cookies The freeze-dried strawberries rehydrate in the dough, so the bits of berry are deliciously chewy (not airy and light) Perfectly sweet with gooey pools of melted white chocolate Thick and soft-baked center, with crispy edges Combination of white chocolate and strawberry is so yummy—just like in these white chocolate strawberry cupcakes Enjoy sweet strawberries & cream any time of year!
We’ll use the same cookie dough base as these cookies & cream cookies, though I slightly reduce the butter here as I found the strawberries increased spread. Using a combination of butter and cream cheese, the cookies are extra soft and uniquely creamy-tasting. So satisfying.x
A Few Key Ingredients You Need
Cornstarch: I love adding a touch of cornstarch because it helps create a thicker, softer cookie. If you don’t have it, just leave it out. Baking Soda: Helps the cookies puff up and then fall to their crinkly, chewy destiny. Cream Cheese: Cream cheese makes the dough extra soft and creamy, which I love in so many cookie recipes, like maple walnut tassies and cream cheese sugar cookies. White Chocolate: Chopped white chocolate melts into gooey little puddles of sweet creaminess. The pieces on the bottom of the cookies take on a delicious caramelized flavor, too. You can also use white chocolate chips instead, or semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate chips if you prefer. Freeze-Dried Strawberries: While these start with a light-as-air dry and crispy texture, the strawberries actually rehydrate in the dough, so they end up delightfully chewy in the baked cookies. (I don’t particularly love the texture of freeze-dried strawberries, but after baking in a wet dough, the texture totally transforms.)
Cream the Butter & Cream Cheese Together First
Creamed room-temperature butter and sugar is the base of many cookie recipes. But before we add the sugar, it’s imperative to properly cream the cream cheese and butter together. The two are different textures—cream cheese is much softer than butter. My tip is to beat the cream cheese in your mixer until very soft and smooth, with no lumps. Then add the softened butter and beat together until combined. This is your creamy base for these strawberries & cream cookies.
Freeze-Dried Strawberries Success Tips
Expect a thick and sticky dough. Make sure you take the time to chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, otherwise your cookies will spread into shapeless puddles in the oven. The dough stiffens up quite nicely after 2 hours in the refrigerator:
Tips for Shaping Your Cookies
After chilling, scoop the dough (heaping 1.5 Tablespoons/35g in size, I use this medium cookie scoop) and roll into balls. Actually, you want to form them into tall columns (LOL) to help ensure nice thick cookies, like you see me do when making chewy chocolate chip cookies. If you need more cookie inspiration, today’s cookies join 25+ others on my Summer Cookie Recipes collection page. I also included this recipe over on my Valentine’s Day dessert recipes page, but they’re just as tasty any time of the year 🙂 Let’s eat! I also like to press a few more white chocolate chunks into the tops of the strawberries & cream cookies when they’re still warm, but it’s only for looks. And if you have extra white chocolate, feel free to melt it and drizzle over the cooled cookies.
