Dairy-Free Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Soft and chewy Strawberry Sugar Cookies coated with glistening sugar sprinkles. These easy strawberry cookies come together in just one bowl and need zero chill time. Plus, they’re flavored with freeze-dried strawberries and both vanilla and strawberry extracts!
Strawberry Sugar Cookies
We’re weeks into spring and there’s just something about a cute strawberry cookie that makes me want to throw on a dress and head outdoors. These cookies are bright, vibrant, and strawberry. The best part? The dough is easy to make! You need just one bag of freeze-dried strawberries (that you’ll blend into a powder) and a little strawberry extract to get a lovely, fruity flavor. No cooking or mashing whole strawberries. And definitely no waiting for peak strawberry season! Really, these can be made year-round and they’ll always be delicious.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Soft and chewy cookie texture
- Dough comes together in one bowl & needs no chill time
- Start to finish this is a quick recipe!
Tip for Successful Cookies
- Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 10-20 minutes after mixing. This will stiffen the dough so that it can easily be rolled without sticking to your hands. If the dough is still sticky after resting for 10 minutes, allow it to rest for another 10 minutes.
- Roll the dough balls smooth before rolling them in the sugar sprinkles or sugar. This will give you round dough balls that will bake into nicely shaped cookies.
- Press the dough balls down before baking. For the perfect spread, you’ll gently press down each dough ball, just a little bit, before baking them. This will give you the perfect cookie thickness.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies as that will lead to a less chewy cookie. The baked cookies will look a little puffy and may be slightly cracked on top. I recommend checking the cookies at the 7 or 8 minute mark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use red food coloring? No, you definitely don’t have to! But your cookies will have only a slight pink/brown color to them if you choose not to add food coloring (like these cookies). You can also try a natural food coloring, but I haven’t had good luck with them in baked goods.
Can I leave the sugar off the dough balls? Totally. Feel free to use regular granulated sugar in place of the sugar sprinkles, or leave off the extra sugar altogether. It’s up to you! You could even turn these into sprinkle cookies by rolling them in your favorite oven-safe sprinkles.
How can I bake these ahead of time? These are the perfect cookie to bake the day before, because they’ll be chewier after sitting for a few hours. Just bake per the recipe, allow to totally cool, and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Soft and chewy, dairy-free Strawberry Sugar Cookies made with freeze-dried strawberries. A quick , easy, and delicious cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 large egg + large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup (150g) white granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (79mL) oil (avocado, vegetable, olive)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
- 1/4 cup (22g) freeze-dried strawberry powder (about a 1oz bag of freeze-dried strawberries)
- 1/4 tsp no-taste red gel food coloring (optional)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- Sugar sprinkles (or more white sugar) for rolling
Instructions
- Prepare the freeze-dried strawberries by blending them in a high-powered blender or food processer until a powder forms. Alternatively, you can add the freeze-dried strawberries to a large Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin (you won't achieve a very fine powder with this method but that's okay). Set the strawberry powder aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, and egg yolk. Whisk in the oil, vanilla extract, and strawberry extract. Whisk in the red food coloring, if using. Finally, whisk in the strawberry powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flour and use a large spoon or spatula to mix until the flour is incorporated. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add sugar sprinkles, or white granulated sugar, to a small bowl.
- After allowing the dough to rest for 10 minutes, scoop dough balls 2 Tbsp in size, rolling each one smooth and then rolling in the sugar. If your dough is too sticky to roll you can let it sit at room temperature for another 10 minutes.
- Place the dough balls on your prepared baking sheet (I bake 8 at a time on a standard half sheet). Gently press down on each dough ball to flatten just a bit. Bake at 350°F for 8-9 minutes. Cookies will look puffed up and slightly cracked.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Repeat Steps 4-5 to finish baking the cookie dough.
- Store any leftover cookies, once totally cool, in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Food Coloring: you don't have to add food coloring to the dough. Without the coloring, the cookies will not be red/pink.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: these are available in most standard grocery stores. They can usually be found in the snack aisle, or near the other dried fruit/nuts.
- Sugar Sprinkles: these are totally optional. I've tested this recipe with regular white sugar and with no sugar. All three versions are delicious. I personally love the crunch that the sugar sprinkles add.
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