These strawberry biscuit cookies are made from real strawberries without the crutch of artificial flavor. Adapted from my biscuits and strawberry shortcake, each buttery cookie is tender and flaky in the centers, packed with juicy strawberries, and topped with a sprinkle of crunchy sugar and sweet icing. A truly unique cookie!
The cookies you see here started out as a major recipe fail—twice. I initially took my blueberry muffin cookies and swapped blueberries for strawberries. Sounds perfectly doable right? Well, I’m sure that could work with frozen chopped strawberries, but fresh strawberries are wet and created a cookie paste, not a cookie dough. I even reduced the added liquid in the recipe, too. Unsurprisingly, the cookies spread horribly.
In the 2nd attempt I reduced the strawberries and left out the milk. There were hardly any strawberries in each cookie. And they tasted dry. Back to the drawing board.
Cookies with Real Strawberry Flavor
As you might remember from my endless strawberry cake recipe testing, it’s difficult to produce strawberry-flavored baked goods made solely from real strawberries. The crutch of artificial strawberry flavor is over-used because recipe creators often lose their minds developing a strawberry tasting recipe without it. (See above!)
You have to get creative. I ditched my entire idea, turned to my homemade biscuits, and created sweet strawberry biscuit cookies. Added fresh chopped strawberries, a sprinkle of coarse crunchy sugar, and drizzled each with sweet icing. It took determined (stubborn?) effort, but now we have cookies with REAL strawberry flavor. 🙂
Why You’ll Love These Strawberry Biscuit Cookies
- Flaky biscuit-like centers
- Buttery, soft, and cakey
- Crunchy sugared tops
- Juicy strawberries
- No mixer required
- Sweet icing
Like strawberry shortcake or scones in cookie form!
Ingredients You Need
- Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen, make sure they’re chopped and frozen. Do not thaw them prior to adding to the cookie dough. If using fresh, as I usually do, chop them up in the first step instructed in the written recipe below, then blot them with a clean towel to rid excess moisture. Place the chopped strawberries in the freezer as you work on the rest of the ingredients. The colder they are, the easier they are to work with in this dough. Trust me!
- Flour: Like biscuits, one of the main ingredients is all-purpose flour.
- Sugar: These are strawberry biscuit cookies, so they’re sweeter than savory biscuits. Use regular granulated sugar in this cookie recipe.
- Baking Powder: We need quite a bit of leavener to lift this heavy cookie dough.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Cold Butter: Butter adds ALL of the texture. For flaky layers and pockets, use cold butter. When little pieces of butter melt as the biscuit cookies bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air– this makes the cookies flaky on the inside with set edges. (We don’t want this butter to melt or get soft before the dough hits the oven. The colder, the better.)
- Whole Milk: This dough requires liquid. Though my regular biscuits use buttermilk, regular whole milk is great here. You can use nondairy milk if needed.
- Egg: An egg turns these biscuits into cookies, allowing them to hold their shape.
- Optional Coarse Sugar: A sprinkle of coarse sparkling sugar adds delicious crunch on top of the soft and flaky cookies. Talk about a burst of TEXTURE!
How to Make Strawberry Biscuit Cookies
If you’ve made my biscuits or strawberry shortcake before, you’re familiar with this process. It seems complicated, but truly couldn’t be easier if you take the time to read the recipe before you begin. So you understand the process, let me quickly walk through each step.
Strawberry Icing
Of course you could call it a day now, but who doesn’t love a snazzy little accessory every now and then?! Add icing! Start with regular vanilla icing and add a heaping Tablespoon of strawberry jam. The jam adds a little color and flavor. If you don’t have strawberry jam, don’t worry about it because these strawberry biscuit cookies taste excellent with regular vanilla icing as well.
Flaky, buttery, soft, thick, vanilla-y, juicy, and REAL STRAWBERRIES!
Strawberry Biscuit Cookies Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- If you’re using fresh strawberries, chop the strawberries into small bite-sized pieces if you haven’t already. Gently blot them with a towel to rid some moisture. (No need to thaw and blot if you’re using frozen strawberries.) The wetter the berries are, the more difficult they are to combine with the dough. Freeze the fresh chopped strawberries as you prepare the other dough ingredients. The colder, the better.
- You can use a food processor for this step, but I encourage you to do it by hand so you don’t accidentally over-work the dough. Overworked dough lends tougher cookies. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl (or pulse together in your food processor). Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form. (Or pulse several times in a food processor.. If you used a food processor in this step, pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour/butter mixture. Using a large spoon or silicone spatula, fold everything together until just about combined. The dough is thick, sticky, and tacky. Avoid overworking the dough.
- Carefully work in the cold strawberries. Do not over-mix, which will turn the dough slimy. Some strawberries won’t combine into the dough at all and that’s ok. You can add them to the dough balls when you shape the cookies before baking.
- Cover the cookie dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes and up to 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Using a Tablespoon measuring spoon or medium cookie scoop, portion/shape dough into balls about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. (If using a Tablespoon measure, it will be a heaping Tablespoon of dough.) Press any strawberries that haven’t stuck to the dough into the tops of the cookie dough balls. Arrange 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If desired for delicious crunch, sprinkle each dough ball with coarse sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- Using a fork, whisk confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tablespoons (30ml) of milk/heavy cream, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Add 1 more Tablespoon (15ml) of milk/cream to thin out if necessary. (I always add it, especially if using cream.) If desired for light strawberry flavor, whisk in strawberry jam. Drizzle over cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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