These soft and chewy strawberry sugar cookies are naturally flavored and topped with a delicious, dye-free strawberry icing! They’re the perfect cookie for your Spring-time berry cravings!
Iced Strawberry Sugar Cookies
We love eating berries at our house. For us, Spring and Summer mean lots of fresh, affordable berries at our local supermarkets, so our refrigerator is always well-stocked. And, for me, berries = Spring! Around this time last year, I attempted to make these strawberry sugar cookies and then forgot about the recipe. Now that it’s Spring time again (and we’re enjoying berries on the daily) I felt inspired to re-bake these strawberry cookies and share them with you all – this time adding a sweet strawberry icing!
Now for these cookies, you actually won’t use fresh strawberries; you’ll need a small bag of freeze-dried strawberries, which pack a bigger flavor punch. And since they’re dried out, you don’t need to worry about adding too much moisture to your cookies.
What are freeze-dried strawberries?
Freeze-dried strawberries are crunchy, dried, and perfect for adding big flavor to your baked goods. The process of freeze-drying removes all the moisture from the fruit but does not leave it frozen. Freeze-dried strawberries are not the same thing as frozen strawberries! You can usually find freeze-dried strawberries in small bags close to the dried fruits and nuts at your local grocery store. If you’re in the U.S. you can find them at Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Target.
How to make Iced Strawberry Sugar Cookies
- Grind up the freeze-dried strawberries using your favorite food processor or blender. If you have neither, try adding the berries to a plastic baggie and smashing them with a rolling pin, or use a mortar and pestle to grind them up. For these cookies, the smaller the chunks, the better – you’re looking for a coarse powder.
- Make your cookie dough by combining the wet ingredients and the strawberry powder. Then combine the dry ingredients. You’ll use a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula to mix everything together.
- Allow your dough to sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes so that it can dry out just a bit. This way it becomes less sticky and easier to handle.
- Bake the cookies for only 6 or 7 minutes. That’s right – you don’t need to bake them for long! The cookies will puff up and crack slightly.
- Ice the cooled cookies. Use a spoon to swirl the icing on top of each cookie – you want the icing to be just thin enough that it spreads smooth but thick enough that it won’t drip off your cookies.
Some of the Ingredients + Substitutes for Iced Strawberry Sugar Cookies:
- Flour is the main component of these cookies. I like to use unbleached all-purpose flour. If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, I recommend a GF all-purpose blend.
- Egg + egg yolk both keep these sugar cookies chewy and soft. The extra yolk brings moisture for maximum chewiness! I don’t recommend any substitutes.
- Sugar is what makes these sugar cookies! I like to use raw can sugar as it’s what we keep stocked in our pantry, but you can use regular white cane sugar or even coconut sugar (though coconut sugar will result in brown cookies).
- Vegetable oil adds tons of moisture and chewiness to these cookies. I like to use avocado oil or light olive oil. I don’t recommend coconut oil for these cookies.
- Freeze-dried strawberries are processed/ground/blended into a powder to give these cookies their strawberry flavor and beautiful icing! For this recipe, you need to use powdered freeze-dried strawberries – do not attempt to use fresh strawberries as that will add too much moisture to these cookies.
Iced Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Soft and chewy strawberry sugar cookies topped with strawberry icing! Naturally flavored and dye-free, these strawberry gems are the perfect Spring cookie!
Ingredients
Strawberry Cookies
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup cane sugar (raw or refined)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Strawberry Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- ~2 Tbsp plant-based milk
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix in the freeze-dried strawberry powder and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the liquid ingredients and use a large wooden spoon to work the ingredients together - the dough may seem dry at first but keep mixing*.
- Allow the mixed dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, which gives it time to dry out a bit and make it easier to handle. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough balls 1 1/2 Tbsp in size. Bake eight at a time on your prepared baking sheet for 5-7minutes at 350°F. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack. Continue until all cookies are baked.
- Once your cookies are totally cool, you can make the icing. In a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar, strawberry powder, vanilla extract, and 1 Tbsp of the milk. Mix until combined. Then add more milk, 1 tsp at a time, until you've got a thick glaze - when you drizzle the glaze on itself, it should take a few seconds for the ribbons to disappear.
- Spoon the glaze/icing onto each cookie, using the back of your spoon to spread the icing over the cookie surfaces. Enjoy right away or allow icing to set.
- Store any leftovers in a single layer in an airtight container, being sure you don't store them until the icing is set.
Notes
*if your dough still seems dry, you can add a tiny bit of water - 1/2 tsp at a time - until the dough comes together
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