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This fresh strawberry cookies recipe features a soft, chewy, buttery cookie base with sweet bursts of strawberry and a vanilla glaze drizzled on top. This quick and easy drop cookie recipe will remind you of strawberry pastries, but is much easier to make!
Strawberry season comes early here in Florida. February is prime time to load up on the jewel-toned sweet and tangy fruit.
That came as quite a surprise to me when I first moved here. Back home in Buffalo, strawberry season typically isn’t until the second half of June!
Anyway, last strawberry season I loaded up a ton of berries. I snacked on them, used them as a topping for yogurt and oatmeal, made them into muffins (Strawberry Lemonade Muffins is my go-to), and added them to salads (this Strawberry Black Bean Salad is one of my favorites!). I had high hopes of making a strawberry cake of some kind, but time got the better of me.
One day I realized I only had a small bowl of fresh strawberries left and I hadn’t baked with them at all yet! I decided to make them into cookies before they were gone.
Soft and chewy buttery cookies with fresh bursts of sweet/tart strawberry and a drizzle of vanilla glaze on top make these ordinary cookies feel special! If you’re looking for a way to use up fresh strawberries, these cookies are perfect.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Strawberry Danish fans will love these cookies! They’re reminiscent of strawberry pastries, but much easier to make.
- If you’re looking for new ways to use up fresh strawberries, this recipe will help with that (at least a little bit!).
- These from-scratch cookies are surprisingly quick and easy to whip up. They’re perfect for spring gatherings or Mother’s Day celebrations. And of course because fresh strawberries are available all year, you don’t have to wait for your local strawberry season to make them!
Fresh Strawberry Cookies Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
This is an easy recipe for drop cookies with a simple glaze. These cookies come together in less than an hour, even including the time it takes for them to cool.
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
Fresh Strawberry Cookies Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – Like many sugar cookies, these have rich, buttery vanilla flavor.
- Sugar – Use regular granulated white sugar here.
- Egg – Egg acts as a binder and helps yield the perfect cookie texture.
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract adds flavor and aroma to these cookies.
- Flour – Use regular all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Baking powder – We use a little bit of baking powder as the leavening agent to add some lift so the berries don’t weigh the cookies down.
- Salt – Even dessert recipes use a little bit of salt to elevate the flavor of everything else.
- Fresh strawberries – This is a small batch of cookies (we only use 1 1/2 cups of flour), so we don’t need a ton of berries. You can increase the amount of fresh strawberries to 3/4 cup if you want, just note that your cookies might be a bit gooier because of the strawberries’ liquid content.
Vanilla Glaze Ingredients
- Powdered sugar – This is the base of our glaze that gets drizzled on top of the cookies.
- Vanilla extract – We use vanilla as the flavoring because it pairs beautifully with strawberries.
- Heavy whipping cream – All we need is a touch of cream to achieve a pourable consistency.
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Cookies
Cream together the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat until incorporated. Fold in the strawberries, being careful not to crush them.
Scoop out the dough and bake until the cookies are set and light golden along the outside, about 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through. Let the cookies cool before glazing.
Step 2: Make the Glaze
Once the cookies are cooled, make the glaze. Stir together all ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl.
Step 3: Glaze the Cookies
Immediately drizzle the glaze on the cooled cookies. Let the glaze set before serving.
Storage
Store these cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let them sit for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Tips
- Make sure to pat the berries dry after washing them. We don’t want them to add too much liquid to our cookie dough.
- Chop the strawberries on the small side for these cookies.
- You can swap out the chopped strawberries for fresh raspberries or blueberries instead.
- To make the flavor profile even closer to strawberry pastries, instead of a regular vanilla glaze, you can make a cream cheese glaze for these cookies. Beat together 1 ounce cream cheese (at room temperature) with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk so it has a glaze-like consistency.
Strawberry Cookies FAQs
Can I Use Freeze Dried Strawberries Here?
Yes! You can definitely use freeze dried strawberries instead of fresh strawberries here.
Use up to 1 cup of freeze dried strawberries in this cookie recipe. If you want smaller pieces, lightly crush them in your hands before adding them to the dough.
What Can I Do With an Abundance of Strawberries?
The sky is the limit when it comes to ways to use up strawberries. Here are a few sweet and savory strawberry recipes to get you started:
- Strawberry Balsamic Pulled Chicken
- Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes
- Overnight Oats
- Strawberry Coffee Cake
- Iced Chia Seed Strawberry Green Tea
- Strawberry Grilled Cheese
- Almost Instant Strawberry Low Carb Ice Cream
Can I Freeze Fresh Strawberries?
Yes! To flash freeze fresh strawberries:
- Wash them and pat them dry.
- Arrange them in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking tray (not touching if possible), and freeze until they’re frozen solid.
- Transfer the frozen strawberries to freezer-safe zip-top plastic bags.
- Store flash frozen strawberries in the freezer for up to 6 months.
The only kicker is that you can’t use frozen strawberries to make this recipe because they will lend too much water. However, you can use frozen strawberries to make smoothies, strawberry pie, and strawberry jam!
More Easy Cookie Recipes to Make
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies – chewy and flavorful with brown butter and coconut
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies – gooey chocolate cookies stuffed with rich peanut butter filling
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies – a classic old-fashioned cookie that everyone loves
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Fresh Strawberry Cookies Recipe
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Ingredients
Cookies:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries washed and patted dry before chopping
Glaze:
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Make the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking trays with silpat baking mats or parchment paper.
- Add the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl and use a handheld electric mixer to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat until incorporated. Fold in the strawberries, being careful not to crush them.
- Use a 1 1/2-tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough, and arrange the dough balls on the baking trays. Bake until the cookies are set and light golden along the outside, about 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through.
- Let the cookies cool before glazing.
Make the Glaze:
- Once the cookies are cooled, make the glaze. Stir together all ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl.
Glaze the Cookies:
- Immediately drizzle the glaze on the cooled cookies. Let the glaze set before serving.
Notes
- Storage: Store these cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let them sit for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.
- For the Strawberries: Make sure to pat the berries dry after washing them. We don’t want them to add too much liquid to our cookie dough. Chop the strawberries on the small side for these cookies.
- Instead of Strawberries: You can swap out the chopped strawberries for fresh raspberries or blueberries instead.
- For a Cream Cheese Glaze: To make the flavor profile even closer to strawberry pastries, instead of a regular vanilla glaze, you can make a cream cheese glaze for these cookies. Beat together 1 ounce cream cheese (at room temperature) with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk so it has a glaze-like consistency.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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This post was first published on An Edible Mosaic on July 17, 2022 and updated on April 10, 2024.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
Free Bonus
Are these cookies able to be baked ahead of time and frozen?
Sandy, Yes! If you freeze them, I recommend waiting to drizzle on the icing until after thawing when you want to serve them.
These cookies are so good! I had to stop myself at two. I could have eaten a lot more. I also used 3/4 cup strawberries as another commenter recommended.
These cookies were absolutely amazing! Once you make this recipe once, you will want to make it again and again. They were super easy to make and everyone who tried one went for a second. I recommend using about 3/4 of a cup of strawberries instead of 1/2 of a cup. Because some of the cookies missed out on the juicy flavor bursts from the strawberries. But overall this is one of my favorite recipes ever!
Able to use frozen strawberries instead of fresh?
Jamie, I haven’t tried this recipe with frozen strawberries instead of fresh. My only concern is that they would add too much water. I would thaw the berries, pat them dry, chop them, and then pat them dry again before adding to the cookie dough. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!