There’s something about a double dose of strawberry that feels extra special, and these frosted strawberry cookies absolutely deliver. Today’s soft-baked, chewy cookies are topped with a naturally pink, flavor-packed strawberry cream cheese frosting, both made with real freeze-dried strawberries. No artificial flavors, no food coloring… just pure, concentrated berry flavor in every bite!
If you’ve ever baked with freeze-dried berries before, you already know their magic: they add bold flavor without extra moisture, which means you can incorporate them into desserts without throwing off the ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients. Total baking lifesavers!
In this recipe, we use freeze-dried strawberries to flavor both the cookie dough and the frosting. They add a bright, concentrated strawberry flavor to each component without affecting texture. And as a bonus, they create that naturally beautiful pink color.
These cookies have all the flavor of this reader-favorite strawberry cake, but with the deliciously soft, chewy texture of a drop sugar cookie. In fact, it’s topped with the very same strawberry cream cheese frosting! 🙂
Here’s what 1 taste tester said, verbatim: “I don’t use this phrase a lot, but you must know that this is the best cookie I have EVER eaten. The flavor is out of this world. It’s as close to eating a strawberry without actually eating a strawberry.”
And best of all, you don’t have to wait for strawberries to be in season to make a batch. (Though a fresh berry on top certainly adds some oomph!)
Here’s Why This Strawberry Cookie Recipe Works
- No artificial flavoring or coloring: Freeze-dried strawberries deliver real strawberry flavor in every bite, without adding unneeded moisture to the dough or frosting.
- The secret ingredient: cream cheese! Using cream cheese in the dough balances the sweetness and makes the cookies melt-in-your-mouth tender—soft, chewy, a little creamy, and not crumbly or cakey in the slightest.
- Double the freeze-dried strawberries, double the deliciousness: The cookie dough includes both ground and whole freeze-dried berries. The ground powder adds concentrated flavor, and the whole pieces add chewy texture as well as gorgeous pops of color in every bite.
Recipe Testing Strawberry Cookies
My team and I made more batches of strawberry cookies than we can count in our quest to create the BEST strawberry cookie.
We tried using cooked fresh strawberries (like a strawberry sauce); strawberry jam; and fresh strawberries; but freeze-dried strawberries were the clear choice for delivering the purest strawberry flavor without adding excess moisture to the dough. We tried using all ground, and all whole, but in the end we loved the cookie dough that uses BOTH ground and whole freeze-dried berries.
We also tested various versions of a strawberry drop sugar cookie using baking powder and more butter, but each and every time, the dough with the baking soda and cream cheese won in taste and texture.
When it came to topping these frosted strawberry cookies, that was a no-brainer: we simply scaled down the strawberry cream cheese frosting from my favorite strawberry cake. Perfection!
Ingredients You Need & Why
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: You need a lot of these, for both the cookies and the frosting. You’ll grind some into a powder, and keep some whole for texture.
- Softened Butter: Be sure to use proper room-temperature butter, which may be cooler than you think (about 65°F (18°C) is ideal). It makes up the base of the frosting as well.
- Cream Cheese: Pick up one block/brick of full-fat cream cheese. You need half for the cookie dough and the other half for the frosting.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens, and helps the cookies spread. We also roll the cookie dough balls in some sugar before baking.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together.
- Vanilla & Salt: Key flavorings in pretty much all our cookie recipes!
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides the structure.
- Baking Soda: Provides lift for thick cookies.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens, thickens, and stabilizes the frosting.
How to Make Our Winning Batch of Strawberry Cookies
Let me walk you through this recipe with some step photos before you get started. Start by pulsing half the freeze-dried strawberries in your food processor until finely ground:
The rest of the ingredients all come together in one mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar; beat in the egg and vanilla; then add all your dry ingredients. Finally, beat in the remaining half of the freeze-dried strawberries (the ones you kept whole). The mixer will break them down into smaller pieces as it beats them into the dough—that’s exactly what we want.
Because there is no food coloring in the dough, the baked cookies are a pink-tinted beige color. The longer the dough sits in the refrigerator, the more purple-toned it becomes. If you’d like to tint the cookie dough, I recommend red or pink gel food coloring. The pictured dough and cookies were not tinted with food coloring.
This very thick and sticky dough needs to chill for 2 hours before you scoop and roll it. It’s much easier to handle after chilling! Roll the cookie dough balls into some granulated sugar before baking:
Success Tips for the Best Strawberry Cookies
- Use both ground and whole freeze-dried strawberries in the dough for the best flavor and texture (plus all those pretty pink speckles and freckles!)
- Don’t skip chilling the dough: This prevents spreading and improves texture. Keep in mind that if the dough chills for longer than a couple hours, it may take on a purple/grayish hue. The cookies will still taste great, but the color may look a bit different than the cookies pictured here.
- Measure flour correctly: Weigh or spoon and level your flour to avoid dense cookies.
- Bake on light-colored (silver) baking sheets: Dark metal pans conduct heat faster and can cause the cookies to over-brown on the bottom. I always use and recommend these half sheet pans lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper for cookies.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
While these soft-baked strawberry cookies bring the berry bliss all on their own, a double dose of strawberry sweetness is always a good idea… so we’re adding frosting. I know, I really had to twist your arm there. 😉
We’re using a scaled-down version of the frosting on this strawberry cake. It’s smooth, ultra creamy, and just sweet enough to complement the cookies without overpowering them.
Just like with the cookie dough, ground freeze-dried strawberries are the key to making a strawberry frosting without any artificial flavoring. They deliver the most intense (and natural) strawberry flavor while, at the same time, do not alter the texture of the actual frosting. And they turn it a naturally pretty pink color, too!
If you’d prefer a cream-cheese-less buttercream instead, feel free to use this strawberry buttercream frosting.
I usually find them at major grocery stores in the dried fruit section or at Target, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Walmart, or online here or here. They tend to be more expensive online.
Not today. While we start with fresh strawberries for strawberry cupcakes, this strawberry cookie dough requires freeze-dried strawberries. If you’re looking to make cookies with fresh strawberries, try these strawberry biscuit cookies instead.
I don’t recommend it. My team and I tried many, many variations using just butter and nothing ever compared to the version below! If you’d like to test it out, feel free to add strawberry powder to these drop sugar cookies. If doing so, leave out the sprinkles, and you may want to slightly increase the flour to avoid over-spreading.
Yes, if you’d like a deeper pink hue, you can tint the cookie dough with pink or red gel food coloring.
If you love these fruity frosted cookies, try these lemon blueberry cookies next!
Frosted Strawberry Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
- Yield: 28 cookies
- Category: Cookies, Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft, chewy strawberry cookies made with real freeze-dried strawberries and topped with a creamy strawberry cream cheese frosting. Naturally flavored and beautifully pink, these cookies are packed with bold strawberry flavor in every bite. See Recipe Notes for tips on freeze-dried strawberries and freezing the dough.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat block cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/3 cups (267g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (about 48g) freeze-dried strawberries, divided
Rolling
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup (about 12g) freeze-dried strawberries
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (240g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt, to taste
- for topping: sliced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Make the cookies: Using a food processor or blender, process half (1 cup/24g) of the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. Set aside. Reserve the remaining 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries to beat into the dough in step 3.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the strawberry powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until combined. Finally, beat in the remaining 1 cup (24g) freeze-dried strawberries just until incorporated. Dough will be thick and sticky.
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (and up to 3 days). This dough is quite sticky before chilling, so chilling is key. Keep in mind that the longer the dough chills, the more it can take on a slightly purple/grayish hue from the freeze-dried berries. This is completely normal and doesn’t affect the taste—the baked cookies will still be wonderfully flavored!
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line light-colored baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Scoop dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of dough per cookie, and roll into balls. Roll each into granulated sugar and arrange 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 13–14 minutes or until the edges are set. The centers will look very soft, but they will continue to set as they cool.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting: Using a food processor or blender, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy and combined, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, strawberry powder, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then gradually increase to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Spread or pipe frosting on cooled cookies. I used a small offset spatula on the pictured cookies. Garnish with a fresh strawberry slice just before serving, if desired.
- Store frosted cookies tightly covered at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: For the cookies: You can make the cookie dough ahead and chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough. Baked (unfrosted) cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. For the frosting: Use immediately or cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed. (It stiffens in the refrigerator.)
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor or Blender | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Small Offset Spatula
- Where to Buy Freeze-Dried Strawberries: I usually find them at major grocery stores in the dried fruit section or at Target, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Walmart, or online here or here. They tend to be more expensive online. Do not use the chewy/gummy dried strawberries. You need FREEZE-dried strawberries, which grind into a powder.
- Do Not Use Fresh or Frozen Strawberries: This recipe requires freeze-dried strawberries. Fresh or frozen strawberries add too much moisture and will throw off the dough. If you’re looking to bake with fresh strawberries, try my strawberry biscuit cookies instead.
- Cream Cheese in Dough: I don’t recommend leaving out the cream cheese in the cookie dough. It adds richness and creates a soft, tender texture that butter alone couldn’t replicate in testing. If you want to experiment, you can add strawberry powder to my drop sugar cookies instead; just leave out the sprinkles and consider slightly increasing the flour to prevent over-spreading.
- Can I Skip the Cream Cheese in the Frosting? Try this recipe for strawberry buttercream instead (halve the amounts).
- Food Coloring (Optional): The cookies have a naturally light pink hue, but you can tint the dough with pink or red gel food coloring before chilling it for a brighter color. For reference, the pictured cookies do not contain food coloring.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious! Perfect for the strawberry lovers in your life, these come together for a soft and moist cookie with a frosting that’s not too sweet.
These cookies are a sweet spring treat that highlights the sweetness and fruitiness of strawberries in the best way. The cream cheese contrasts the sweetness of the strawberries, and leaves you craving for another bite! I think it would be interesting to add white chocolate to the dough or to possibly dip the bottoms in tempered white chocolate to add a snap to this delightfully soft treat!
These came out really good. Cut down the sugar in the main cookie recipe, didn’t roll in sugar, and cut it down in the frosting and they were still delicious!
Absolutely fabulous! Soft texture, bright flavor, a win!
Dear Sally:
I am curious as to why the recipe for “Strawberry and Cream Cookies” was removed? They were very tasty!
Hi Dorothy, we were no longer satisfied with the outcome of that recipe, so we unpublished it. We still have it, so send us an email and we can forward it to you. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
Thank you for the quick response, Michelle. I have a hard copy, so no need to forward. I did notice that the dried strawberries burned a little in the baking of that recipe. I’ll try the frosted strawberry cookie recipe (sans frosting) this time around. Pulverizing a cup of the freeze-dried strawberries will definitely add more flavor.
These cookies were delicious and were thoroughly enjoyed by my family and friends! The freeze dried strawberries gave such a nice strawberry flavor to the cookies and the cream cheese frosting went perfectly with them. They were a bit sweet, so if I made them again I would cut down on the sugar.
It’s my first time baking with freeze dried fruit and I’m NOT DISAPPOINTED. The cookies are so fruity and pink inside, they will appear more often in my kitchen
Is it possible to substitute freeze-dried raspberries for strawberries in both the cookie dough and frosting? If so, would you put all the raspberries in the food processor and sift out the seeds for the dough or include some of the whole freeze-dried raspberries in the dough as the recipe calls for?
Hi Janet, you could definitely do that. We’d recommend sifting out the seeds, as raspberries have a lot more tiny seeds than strawberries. Let us know how they turn out!
I made these for a party and got such great compliments! The texture is so soft and the strawberry flavor comes through beautifully. They aren’t too sweet, even with the frosting. I thought the recipe was very easy too! My kids asked me to make them again!
These are delicious! The color and flavor are perfect for spring. Don’t walk to the kitchen to make them- run!
Can these be crunchy, or is it best to cook them for the recommended time? They look delicious and so pretty!
Hi Sam, these cookies are intended to be soft-baked and chewy. We recommend sticking with the recipe and baking times as written for best results!
Wowza I loved these. They are soooooo yummy. And I’m a chocolate gal not super into fruity desserts but these are excellent.
These have a great strawberry flavor and are easy to make. Took them to work and they didn’t last long!
Make these, you won’t regret it! I normally gravitate to chocolate, but I would pick these instead. They are so yummy, great strawberry flavor without being too sweet, and taste like springtime. (I used our favorite freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s).
These cookies are easy to make, taste delicious and are absolutely beautiful to look at!
These cookies checked all the boxes! They had great strawberry flavor, were very soft, and of course delicious! This is a recipe I normally wouldn’t go for, but I am glad I did. I made the full recipe but put half the frosting and cookies in the freezer to enjoy at a later time, hehe.
So delicious! First time I’ve ever used freeze dried strawberries and they add amazing flavor! The recipe is easy to follow (as Sally’s always are) and fun to make!
Fabulous cookies! Very easy and straightforward with wonderful, REAL strawberry flavor.
The cookie I didn’t think I’d like ha! These are really soft and yummy and strawberry ish!! Will definitely make again! Thanks Sally
These cookies are divine! I made a batch and then had to turn around and make more because my family could not get enough of them!
HOLY MOLY these are fantastic! The recipe was very easy to follow, and exceptionally delicious. I did, however, find out that cookies are quite hard to frost LOL.
These were so good! I loved the richness the cream cheese added to both the cookie and the frosting. This will definitely be joining the cookie rotation!
What an amazing strawberry flavor! This are light and fresh and so easy to make.
AMAZING!
I made these today for Teacher Appreciation Week for my daughter’s teachers and oh my goodness are they tasty! The strawberry flavor really comes through and that frosting is just *chef’s kiss* I will definitely be making these again!
These are delicious! They’re soft and chewie with a hint of thw cream chesse that makes them almost taste like a chesse cake but in cookie form. Sooo good! Next time I will drizzle some chocolate for the perfect combination.
Lovely strawberry flavor!
Such a fun new cookies recipe! Can’t wait to try this one with different add-ins, like white chocolate chips, or maybe chocolate frosting
Love all the freeze dried fruit frosting recipes! Perfect for the season.
Bright, tangy, bursting with strawberry flavor, sweet, and delicious—so much tastier than I imagined!
I made these for Mother’s Day weekend and let’s just say there probably won’t be any left by Sunday! These are deliciously light, fluffy, and moist. I’ve never has a cookie like this! I had no trouble following the recipe – just make sure to factor at least 2 hours to chill the dough because the wait is worth it!!