Best Strawberry Cookies: Make Them Colorful And Delicious!

These homemade strawberry cookies are like strawberry shortcake in an easy-to-make hand-held treat.

For these sweet treats, you’ll fold fresh strawberries into flaky, biscuit-like cookie dough for a summery treat that’s marked with juicy pops of color and flavor. Serve them with ice cold lemonade for a perfect warm-weather afternoon pick-me-up or picnic dessert.

Equipment for Best Strawberry Cookies

To make this recipe, you'll need a few different mixing bowls. One for the strawberries to macerate in sugar and lemon juice. One to mix the dry ingredients, and a third to whip up the cream cheese and other wet ingredients.

To cut the butter into the flour for the biscuit-like dough, you can use a pastry cutter. This handy tool keeps the butter from softening under the heat of your hands, but you can just as easily do the job with your finger tips.

You’ll also need two baking sheets lined with parchment paper for baking the cookies and easy clean up. A cookie scoop can be helpful to divide the dough into evenly sized pieces, but it’s not 100% necessary. You can do that part with your hands, just try to handle the dough as little as possible to keep it cold and stiff. For precision, you can weigh each dough ball on a scale, but since this is a homemade treat, no one expects perfection.

How To Make Strawberry Cookies

Place 2 cups of chopped fresh strawberries in a small bowl.

Stir 2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into the strawberries. Let them rest while you continue with the recipe.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, 1 egg, ⅓ cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with an electric mixer until light and creamy.

Fold the flour mixture into the cream cheese mixer with a rubber spatula, stirring until just combined.

Drain the strawberry pieces of excess liquid and fold them into the dough carefully.

Scoop the dough into equal sized balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch of space between each cookie.

Bake in a 375°F oven for 17 to 20 minutes, until the edges start to color.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for several minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Can I add fresh strawberry bits to cookies?

Yes! These strawberry biscuit cookies include pieces of fresh strawberries folded into flaky dough. The strawberries cook down so they’re soft, juicy and naturally sweet.

You can replace the fresh strawberries with frozen berries, but it’s best to let them thaw first and cut them into smaller pieces. For a quick thaw, place frozen strawberries in the microwave in 30 second intervals until they’re soft enough to chop into small pieces.

It’s not recommended to substitute with freeze-dried or dried strawberries, which don’t have the same juiciness and moisture as fresh or frozen berries.

How to store strawberry cookies

At room temperature, you can store the cookies in an airtight container for up to three days.

Can I freeze them?

For longer storage, place the cookies in the freezer for up to three months. To defrost, let the cookies thaw for several hours on the counter before serving.

Best Strawberry Cookies Recipe

Recipe notes

You’ll need to use cold butter for this recipe. Keep your butter in the fridge until right before you start baking. And to make mixing the dough a bit easier, cut the cold butter into ½ inch chunks. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture, and use your hands to work the butter into the flour. You can stop when you have pea-sized pieces of butter coated in flour. Avoid over-mixing the dough, as your hands are warm and can melt the butter. Soft butter will prevent your cookies from forming the delightful flaky layers you want.

Likewise, make sure your cream cheese and heavy cream are well-chilled before starting the recipe. Cold ingredients keep the dough firm and together, while warm ingredients can cause the cookies to flatten out a lot as they bake.

If you only have salted butter, skip the added ¼ teaspoon of salt in the recipe.