|

Freeze-Dried Strawberry Cookies

Freeze-dried strawberries make a delicious snack, but they also make delicious cookies! You’ll love these soft Freeze-Dried Strawberry Cookies. They are a pretty pink color and taste like strawberry cereal. Plus, no food dye! This recipe is for sugar cookies with a blend of freeze-dried strawberries mixed in!

Please note that this post contains affiliate links which allow me to earn a small commission when a purchase is made at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more here.

A stack of five strawberry cookies made with freeze-dried strawberries.

I’ve recently seen many recipes pop up that utilize freeze-dried strawberries (including a lot of these gorgeous no-bake strawberry desserts which you should totally check out!). These little fruit bites were most commonly seen in cereals (where there are never enough–right?!), but they often available as a snack food these days.

Fellow Crumbl Fans!

Join my list and get a weekly email with fresh Crumbl news, delicious copycat recipes, and more!

Because they have become easier to find, more affordable (shout out to Aldi), and are delicious, I find that we purchase freeze-dried strawberries quite often these days. My kids love them for snacks and I love finding ways to use them in baking recipes.

These cookies are a simple sugar cookie, with the addition of crushed freeze-dried strawberries. The berries are ready-to-go, so there’s no fuss with trying to cook, reduce, and cool fresh or frozen berries.

Sugar cookies with tiny pieces of freeze-dried strawberries throughout.

Even when the moisture content of fresh/frozen berries is properly reduced before baking, they still have a tendency to make baked goods soft and muffin-like. This is great for muffins, but not always what we are looking for in cookies! My goal for cookies is usually soft and chewy.

Another perk of freeze-dried strawberries is that they are a natural ingredient without food dyes or chemicals. So many strawberry cookie recipes start with a boxed mix and those are often chockful of unhealthy additives. I certainly still use boxed mixes, but it’s more of a special-occasion thing in our household, so I love a recipe like this for everyday munching.

What Are Freeze-Dried Strawberries?

Freeze-dried strawberries are strawberries that have had the moisture removed through a special process that leaves them light, crunchy, and maintaining their beautiful hue! They are often found in popular cereals since they are shelf-stable.

Freeze-dried strawberries in a ziptop bag, with a rolling pin nearby.

This snack can be found near the dried fruit in your grocery store. I purchase these berries at Aldi where they sell a large bag as well as a bag of smaller snack-size pouches. The berries are expensive if you think about it in terms of weight, but a little does go a long way–especially in baking!

Another treat I love to make with freeze-dried strawberries is a simple strawberry whipped cream, a recipe that I shared on my dessert blog, Elle Makes Dessert. If you have leftover berries, give it a try!

Basic Supplies for Baking Cookies

If you don’t bake a lot, it’s worth spending a bit of time making sure your kitchen has everything you will need. Read through your recipe for any specifics, but there are a few must-haves for every baker.

I personally love my hand mixer for quickly creaming together butter and sugar. It’s not needed for this recipe, but it’s handy for mixing up frostings and cookies that require creaming together the butter and sugar.

Good sturdy cookie sheets (I line mine with parchment paper) are essential too. A cooling rack allows cookies to cool completely without continuing to cook.

A kitchen scale is helpful for getting quantities right every time. It’s far more accurate that measuring cups and saves washing up the measuring cups as you bake too!

Cookie storage boxes are also really helpful. I purchase these inexpensive generic boxes from Target and they are a great size and handy for bringing cookies places around the holidays.

Ingredients You Will Need

Unsalted Butter – I always use unsalted butter when baking. This recipe requires melting the butter and allowing it to cool for 10 minutes before continuing the recipe, so I like to melt the butter and then prep the rest of my ingredients.

All-Purpose Flour – I use all-purpose unbleached flour for my cookie recipes. Measuring it accurately is very important for the final taste and texture of the cookies. Weighing the flour is preferred, but you can also spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with a butter knife if you don’t have a kitchen scale. I like to gently aerate the flour by mixing it briefly with a whisk before spooning it into a cup to make sure it’s not overly packed.

Freeze-Dried Strawberries – Grab freeze-dried strawberries, which are light and crunchy. These are found in grocery stores near the dried fruit. You’ll want 1 ounce for this recipe, so check the package weight to determine how much you will need.

Other Ingredients – You’ll also want to have granulated sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.

How to Make These Cookies

This is just an overview! Find the complete printable recipe at the end of the post!

The freeze-dried berries are lightly crushed and set aside. I usually do this with a ziptop bag and a rolling pin. They don’t need to be powder–just lightly crushed into small pieces.

Freeze-dried strawberries in a ziptop bag, with a rolling pin nearby.

After melting and cooling the butter, we’ll mix in the sugar, then the egg and vanilla. The mixture will be smooth and thick.

Next up, the dry ingredients. We’ll fold in the strawberries right at the end. Then, it’s time to chill the dough. Two hours is about right, but you can also make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days.

Finally, we’ll bake. I use my favorite #40 scoop (I like Vollrath scoops because they are color coded) and slightly flatten the tops of the cookies.

Bake, cool, and eat!

The cookies are soft, a bit chewy, and have a wonderful strawberry flavor that is reminiscent of strawberry cereals!

Three photos showing strawberry cookie dough in a bowl, scooped onto a baking tray, and baked into cookies.

Storing the Cookies

These cookies can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. Or, freeze cookies for 1-2 months.

Strawberry cookies cooling on a lined cookie sheet.

Can’t get enough cookies? Don’t forget to check out my entire library of Cookie Recipes.

More Delish Cookie Recipes

Pin it for Later!

Don’t forget to pin this cookie recipe for later!

Three images of cookies with strawberries baked into them with the words, "Freeze-Dried Strawberry Cookies".

If you loved this recipe, leave a 5-star rating! I would so appreciate it!

Sugar cookies with tiny pieces of freeze-dried strawberries throughout.

Freeze-Dried Strawberry Cookies

Try these soft Freeze-Dried Strawberry Cookies! They are a great way to make soft and chewy strawberry cookies without food dye. They have a yummy strawberry-cereal flavor and a beautiful pink color–a fun and tasty treat everyone will love!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 20 cookies
Calories 119 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled for 10 minutes
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar 5.25 ounces
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups flour 6.65 ounces all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries about 1 very full cup

Instructions
 

  • Pour freeze-dried berries into a ziptop bag and close. Pound or roll with a rolling pin until the berries are crushed into smaller pieces, but not powder. You can leave some larger pieces if you'd like. Set berries aside.
  • Add granulated sugar to melted and cooled butter and whisk until the mixture is totally combined. It should be thick and shiny. Whisk in egg and vanilla until combined and smooth, about 60 seconds.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, and salt into the bowl with the other ingredients and use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Dough will be very soft.
    Add strawberries and gently fold in until evenly distributed.
  • Chill dough for a minimum of 2 hours or up to overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Use a #40 (1.5 tablespoon) scoop to scoop the cookie dough and arrange 2” apart on baking sheet. Flatten scoops slightly with fingertips or the back of a measuring cup.
  • Bake one sheet at a time for 10-11 minutes, or until cookies have puffed, spread, and appear just slightly golden on the edges and set in the centers. Don’t overbake. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Notes

How to Store: Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Or, freeze in freezer safe packaging for 1-2 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 88mgPotassium: 33mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 187IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Fellow Crumbl Fans!

Join my list and get a weekly email with fresh Crumbl news, delicious copycat recipes, and more!

Similar Posts

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




One Comment

  1. These cookies are amazing! I cut the sugar and added the egg white because I hate having egg whites. Also, I creamed softened butter with the sugar, followed the recipe and just added the egg white back in right before adding the strawberries. We pressed the cookie dough balls into some naturally dyed sprinkles and they were fantastic. Like a shortbread cookie with strawberries. I will be making these again for my daughter’s 3rd birthday this weekend! I would never think to make a strawberry cookie but my toddler asked and she received. She had fun making these too. Pressing the sprinkles on was her favorite part.