This Soft Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookie recipe is packed with strawberry flavor, using freeze-dried strawberries in every bite! Plus, it is a NO CHILL recipe so it comes together quickly!
The first cookie recipes that I began to create in 2018 were cut-out sugar cookies, mainly because I was heavily into decorating cookies at the time and wanted to enjoy a share a variety of flavor options with the people I made the cookies for. Experimenting with flavors eventually bloomed to other types of desserts (and continues to do so!), but I wanted to go back to my roots and update the strawberry cut-out sugar cookie recipe I used years ago.
This strawberry sugar cookies recipe is tastier and easier than my 2018 version - and without food coloring! It uses the natural color of strawberries to achieve the gorgeous pink hue. Plus it is a NO CHILL recipe with minimal spread - win-win! These delicious pink cookies are truly a perfect treat if you are looking to make them in your kitchen for your family or share with friends.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
This recipe is easy to love because:
- No chill recipe means you save time - at least 2 hours - because you will not need to chill but will still be able to achieve the minimal spread needed.
- Bursting with strawberry flavor! It’s tangy, it's fruity and pairs perfectly with buttercream or royal icing. Or opt to eat without either and you will still have tasty and chewy sugar cookies! You will truly find them packed with real strawberry flavor!
- Easy to make! You only need a stand mixer with a few other tools to get started on this recipe tonight.
- Share with family and friends! This is a perfect Valentine's Day recipe! You can use royal icing or buttercream to decorate further, or just enjoy it as is.
If you are looking for other fruit inspired desserts, than I recommend also trying my Strawberry Sugar Cookie recipe, Berry Cake, or Banana Bread Cookies! You can also try these other sugar cookie recipes on the blog - Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies or my Chocolate Sugar Cookies!
Ingredients
Please read through the ingredients list so you can familiarize yourself with each ingredient, along with suggestions or recommendations during the preparation or baking process. Please see the Recipe Card for all details.
Freeze Dried Strawberries. Freeze-dried Strawberry powder helps amplify the flavor without the overly chewy texture because it removes the water from the fruit but keeps all the flavor. Do not substitute with dried fruit - it will yield different results. I prefer to use the whole freeze-dried fruit vs the powder version. I find the whole yields better flavor and gives it a fresh strawberry flavor.
Butter. I use unsalted butter since I add fine sea salt with the all-purpose flour. You can use salted butter, just omit the fine sea salt.
Baking Powder. This will help the dough rise and create a light texture for our cookie.
Vanilla Bean Extract. You can substitute it with pure vanilla extract. I do not recommend adding an imitation strawberry extract. This recipe will provide plenty of strawberry flavor without having to add imitation.
Pre-Bake Tips
Grind Down Strawberries. Use a food processor or rolling pin to grind down freeze-dried strawberries. Prepare it just as you are ready to add to the dough.
Use Kitchen Scale. The greatest advantage you can give yourself when baking is using a kitchen scale. It helps more accurately measure ingredients by weight vs. volume.
Spoon and Level Flour. If you do not have a kitchen scale, then spoon and level your flour to ensure you are not adding too much.
Room Temperature Ingredients. Make sure your butter is softened before beginning.
Variations
- Substitute the vanilla extract for the lemon extract to update this recipe to strawberry lemonade sugar cookies! Or add lemon zest to the sugar coating if you do not have any lemon extract. Make sure to rub that zest well into the sugar to release the lemon oils and flavor.
- If you want a more pink cookie, then just add 1 - 2 drops of pink food gel coloring to the dough (when adding the egg) to help achieve the pinker color.
How To Make Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
This Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookies recipe uses baking tools and ingredients that can be found in most homes. Please see the recipe card for the full list of equipment and ingredients.
Step 1: Place whole freeze-dried strawberries into the food process to grind them down into powder. Or place it in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush it into powder. You don’t need to worry about grinding down to pure powder - I like to allow a few larger pieces to remain for added flavor bursts.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 375 F. Fit baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Step 3: Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
Step 4: In the stand mixer bowl combine butter, sugar, and vanilla. Using a paddle attachment, mix on high until creamed, about 2 - 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed during mixing.
Step 5: Add freeze-dried strawberry powder and mix on medium until well combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Step 6: Add egg and mix on medium-low until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Hot Tip! These cookies once baked are a light pink hue. If you desire a more vibrant pink hue, add 1 - 2 pink food gel drops at either step 5 or step 6.
Step 7: Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low. Increase speed to medium-low until dough pulls together on the paddle attachment and away from the bowl.
Step 8: Use your hands to help adhere the dough together a bit more, and then place it on floured parchment paper. Sprinkle a bit more flour on top of the dough before placing another piece of parchment on top.
Hot Tip! The bit of additional flour below and above the dough helps to keep the dough from sticking too much. Also, rolling the dough between two pieces of parchment makes the process much easier!
Step 9: Roll dough to the desired thickness with a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many as possible. Place on cookie sheet at least 1” - 2” apart.
Step 10: Bake for 10 minutes, or until you see the bottom edges lightly browning. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Step 11: For strawberry sugar coating, combine freeze-dried strawberry powder and sugar in a bowl and whisk well.
Step 12: Take a cooled cookie with the top facing down and rub it into the strawberry sugar mixture gently but firmly. This will help ‘color’ the cookie further into a pink hue. Then turn over and sprinkle the strawberry sugar mixture on top and then gently top off the excess.
FAQ's
No, this recipe is catered to use only freeze-dried strawberries. Real strawberries, strawberry jam, or dried strawberries still contain water, and that moisture will affect the structure of this recipe. Freeze-dried strawberries (and other freeze-dried fruit) have removed the moisture but what remains is all that fruit flavor.
While the only physical difference is one is powdered and the other is whole, I have found a difference in the flavor present. I have purchased both powdered and whole freeze-dried strawberries, and I have found the flavor lacking with the powdered version. The whole freeze-dried strawberries can be found at your local grocery store, Target or Amazon.
You can use a hand mixer throughout the process. Once you need to add the flour, whisk in until most of the flour has been absorbed. Then use your hands to continue kneading the dough until it is well absorbed.
The sugar cookie recipes I have on the blog are a combination of cut-out and non-cut-out. The cut-out cookies recipe is made specifically to use cookie cutters so that you can achieve certain shapes.
Storage
Pre-Bake Storage. Follow all the steps before you roll out the dough. Instead, flatten it into a 1” - 2” disc and double-wrap it in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. When ready to use, remove from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Proceed with step 8.
Post Bake Storage. Place in a ziplock bag and keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or place it in freezer safe ziplock bag and freeze it for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, remove from freezer and allow to come to room temperature (do not open the bag until at room temperature!).
If you try these Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookies, or any other recipe on this website, please don't forget to leave a star ⭐️ review! Your feedback and comments are appreciated!
Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (No Chill)
Equipment
- stand mixer with paddle attachment
- rubber spatula
- kitchen scale optional but recommended
- parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- cooling rack
- cookie cutters
Ingredients
Strawberry Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature 168g
- ¾ cup sugar 150g
- 1 ea large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup whole freeze-dried strawberries about 1/2 cup freeze-dried powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Strawberry Sugar Coating
- ¼ cup whole freeze-dried strawberries about 3-4 tablespoons freeze-dried powder
- ¼ cup sugar 50g
Instructions
- Place whole freeze-dried strawberries into the food process to grind them down into powder. Or place it in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush it into powder.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Fit baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Combine butter, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer bowl. Using a paddle attachment, mix on high until creamed, about 2 - 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed during mixing.
- Add freeze-dried strawberry powder and mix on medium until well combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Add egg and mix on medium-low until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low. Increase speed to medium-low until dough pulls together on the paddle attachment and away from the bowl.
- Use your hands to help adhere the dough together a bit more, and then place it on floured parchment paper. Sprinkle a bit more flour on top of the dough before placing another piece of parchment on top.
- Roll the dough to the desired thickness with a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many as possible. Place on cookie sheet at least 1” - 2” apart.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until you see the bottom edges lightly browning. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- For strawberry sugar coating, combine freeze-dried strawberry powder and sugar in a bowl and whisk well.
- Take a cooled cookie with the top facing down and rub it into the strawberry sugar mixture gently but firmly. This will help ‘color’ the cookie further into a pink hue. Then turn over and sprinkle the strawberry sugar mixture on top and then gently top off the excess.
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