Soft-baked with crisp edges, loaded with chewy dried strawberries and creamy white chocolate, these strawberries & cream cookies deliver a summery-sweet taste any time of year.
Have you ever tried my strawberry biscuit cookies? Buttery, tender, and flaky, the cookies come together like an actual biscuit dough filled with fresh berries. They’re adorable, sweet, and topped with icing.
But they don’t have that chewy-dense texture we all know and love about, say, chocolate chip cookies. That’s because throwing fresh strawberries into cookie dough creates an overly wet cookie dough… aka a cookie paste. I love the strawberry biscuit cookies, but I never really gave up on my strawberry cookie quest.
Enter freeze-dried strawberries, the magical form of berry goodness that makes strawberry buttercream possible. Give the freeze-dried fruit a rough chop and throw them into cookie dough along with white chocolate chunks and cream cheese. This is a recipe for dessert utopia.
Why You’ll Adore These Strawberries & Cream Cookies
- Cream cheese in the dough makes for soft and creamy-tasting cookies
- The freeze-dried strawberries rehydrate in the dough, so the bits of berry are deliciously chewy (not airy and light)
- Perfectly sweet with gooey pools of melted white chocolate
- Thick and soft-baked center, with crispy edges
- Combination of white chocolate and strawberry is so yummy—just like in these white chocolate strawberry cupcakes
- Enjoy sweet strawberries & cream any time of year!
We’ll use the same cookie dough base as these cookies & cream cookies. Using a combination of butter and cream cheese, the cookies are extra soft and uniquely creamy-tasting. So satisfying.x
A Few Key Ingredients You Need
- Cornstarch: I love adding a touch of cornstarch because it helps create a thicker, softer cookie. If you don’t have it, just leave it out.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies puff up and then fall to their crinkly, chewy destiny.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese makes the dough extra soft and creamy, which I love in so many cookie recipes, like maple walnut tassies and cream cheese sugar cookies.
- White Chocolate: Chopped white chocolate melts into gooey little puddles of sweet creaminess. The pieces on the bottom of the cookies take on a delicious caramelized flavor, too. You can also use white chocolate chips instead, or semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate chips if you prefer.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: While these start with a light-as-air dry and crispy texture, the strawberries actually rehydrate in the dough, so they end up delightfully chewy in the baked cookies. (I don’t particularly love the texture of freeze-dried strawberries, but after baking in a wet dough, the texture totally transforms.)
Cream the Butter & Cream Cheese Together First
Creamed room-temperature butter and sugar is the base of many cookie recipes. But before we add the sugar, it’s imperative to properly cream the cream cheese and butter together. The two are different textures—cream cheese is much softer than butter. My tip is to beat the cream cheese in your mixer until very soft and smooth, with no lumps. Then add the softened butter and beat together until combined. This is your creamy base for these strawberries & cream cookies.
Freeze-Dried Strawberries Success Tips
- Where to buy freeze-dried strawberries? I find freeze-dried strawberries in my regular grocery store in the dried fruit aisle. They’re becoming quite common. Trader Joe’s, Amazon, and Target all carry them, as well.
- Mix them into the dough last. Beat in the white chocolate chunks first, and then add in the strawberry pieces on your mixer’s lowest speed, just briefly to incorporate, without letting the mixer crush the berries too much (or you’ll end up with pinkish-taupe cookies). Use the pieces of strawberries, not all the strawberry dust that’s created when you chop the freeze-dried berries. Save that for making the frosting for a strawberry cake!
Expect a thick and sticky dough. Make sure you take the time to chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, otherwise your cookies will spread into shapeless puddles in the oven. The dough stiffens up quite nicely after 2 hours in the refrigerator:
Tips for Shaping Your Cookies
After chilling, scoop the dough (heaping 1.5 Tablespoons/35g in size, I use this medium cookie scoop) and roll into balls. Actually, you want to form them into tall columns (LOL) to help ensure nice thick cookies, like you see me do when making chewy chocolate chip cookies.
These are thick, lumpy-bumpy cookies. Don’t expect them to come out looking uniform, thanks to the chunky pieces of chopped berries and white chocolate, but that’s part of their charm! Check on the cookies about halfway through baking and:
- If they’re not spreading much, take the baking sheet out of the oven and bang it on your counter a couple times, to initiate the spread. The longer you chill the dough, the less the cookies will spread, so if you chill the dough for longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before forming into cookies and baking.
- If your cookies are over-spreading or looking really uneven in shape or size, use a spoon to gently press in around the edges to reshape, then return the pans to the oven to finish baking.
I also like to press a few more white chocolate chunks into the tops of the strawberries & cream cookies when they’re still warm, but it’s only for looks. And if you have extra white chocolate, feel free to melt it and drizzle over the cooled cookies.
If you need more cookie inspiration, today’s cookies join 25+ others on my Summer Cookie Recipes collection page. I also included this recipe over on my Valentine’s Day dessert recipes page, but they’re just as tasty any time of the year 🙂 Let’s eat!
PrintStrawberries & Cream Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 28–30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Using a combination of butter and cream cheese, these strawberry-speckled white chocolate cookies are extra soft and uniquely creamy-tasting. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces (170g) white chocolate, to yield 1 cup white chocolate chunks
- 1 and 1/2 cups (45g) roughly chopped freeze-dried strawberries
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until combined, scraping down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, beat in the white chocolate chunks. Add the freeze-dried strawberries and beat on low speed briefly, until just combined.
- Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I use this medium-size cookie scoop), and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 13–15 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more white chocolate chunks into the tops, just for looks.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cornstarch: I love adding a little cornstarch to some cookie recipes because it helps keep the cookies extra soft. You can leave it out if you don’t have any with no other changes to the recipe needed. (The cookies are still pretty soft without it!)
- Cream Cheese: You need 4 ounces of cream cheese for this recipe, so use half of an 8 ounce brick of full-fat cream cheese. Do not use cream cheese spread or whipped cream cheese. If using low-fat or fat-free, keep in mind that the texture of the cookies will be different. They won’t be as rich or chewy and could spread more. I recommend full-fat.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: This cookie recipe only works with freeze dried strawberries (or try freeze-dried raspberries or blueberries). Do not use fresh or frozen strawberries. If you want to use those, try these strawberry biscuit cookies instead. I always find freeze-dried strawberries in my regular grocery store in the aisle with the dried fruit. Target, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s carry them, too. Or you can purchase them online.
- White Chocolate: I typically use the Baker’s or Ghirardelli brand white chocolate baking bars, which come in 4-ounce (113g) bars, so I chopped up 1 and 1/2 bars for these cookies. Feel free to use 1 cup white chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips instead.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
I made these this weekend. They were amazing! I’m gonna try it with dried blueberries. I couldn’t find freeze dried blueberries. I also was thinking maybe add cinnamon and a pinch of clove and use the freeze dried peaches. Like a peach cobbler cookie. I obviously will be making these again. Thank you so much for your recipe!
Can you freeze them once baked?
Hi Fabrice, baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months.
Great recipe. Great Cookie.
I used incredibly inexpensive freeze dried strawberries (from the dollar store) and the flavour was amazingly on point. This recipe yielded 19×50 gram cookies.
6 I made with chocolate chunks pressed in after coming out of the oven.
6 I stuffed with Dare brand Strawberry Marshmallows (I was concerned that the artificial flavour might ruin the cookie but it married very well)
6 I made with no chunks in the top.
1 I stuffed with a regular marshmallow.
Next time I make these I will stuff some with a cheesecake filling.
Thanks for this recipe Sally, another winner!
Just baked these cookies and they are the perfect remedy for the bitter cold weather outside! I mixed them last night. I love the texture and the strawberry flavor. I added 5 Spice and Cinnamon. Substituted toasted walnuts for the white chocolate chunks. I drizzled the white chocolate with a little more 5 Spice over the top. Delicious! Thank you!!
The overall flavors of the cookies were amazing! The tart strawberries balanced so well with the white chocolate. My only gripe is what many others have said, the cookies puffed up and for the most part stayed that way. I made 2 batches thinking I may have made a mistake with the recipe…nope! both came out the same way. Perhaps decreasing the amount of baking soda would help with the puffiness?
Hi Lisa! When cookies don’t spread, usually the cause is too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I had the same issue with the strawberry cookies but I figured I added too much flour some how. I made her chewy chocolate chip as well and the recipe calls for same amount of flour. They were perfect. So I’m going to take a tablespoon of flour put next time and try that.
A bust. They didn’t spread at all and were very cakey. I bake frequently and love Sally’s recipes. I followed the recipe exactly, and these look like drop biscuits instead of cookies. The burnt strawberries on the bottom were a turnoff, too.
Love all your recipes.
These cookies are…insanely delicious. Took me two tries on the baking, just one try on the dough! The first time, the strawberries sneaking through the bottom burnt and my cookies turned out a little dry (after baking for 11 min with a midway tray bang and rotate) but still delicious. I let the dough chill overnight and tried again the next day with a shorter bake time (8 min, halfway through rotate, no tray bang needed!) and they turned out PERFECTLY! Def recommend a longer chill time, it seemed to help the texture overall and gave the strawberry more time to rehydrate! 10/10
Love these. Has anyone tried them with freeze dried cherries instead of strawberries?
These cookies came out perfectly for me. So soft and chewy with just enough sweetness. My Trader Joe’s was out of freeze dried strawberries so I got freeze dried mixed berries instead. I also didn’t read the note about not adding the dust lest your cookies turn colors. So, were my cookies a slightly blueish color? Yes, they were. Did anyone care? No, they did not.
These cookies are going into the repertoire!!
I agree that this recipe was a bust. I really wanted to like it but the strawberry flavor was barely there there and the white chocolate didn’t add anything to the flavor. They were also dry. I’ll stick to some of your other cookie recipes that I love.
Unfortunately this recipe is a bust. I use MANY of Sally’s recipes and they are always fabulous! I wanted to like these as they would have been perfect for Valentine’s Day. I often sell my baked good for a profit and these would have been unique to promote.
These cookies don’t really taste like anything. The strawberry flavor is lacking and the white chocolate doesn’t bring anything to the table either. Mine were quite puffy and the strawberries on the bottom burnt easily. The bake time is way too much and they were quite dense. Even after I adjusted the bake time, they were still not quite right. Also, these are an expensive cookie to bake. Freeze dried strawberries will run you $7 on top of the cream cheese and butter, you’re looking at a $10+ cookie for only about 2 dozen. This doesn’t add up for me and a small bakery business.
I will continue to use Sally’s great recipes, just not this one.
Agree…i don’t taste the strawberry at all and they’re dense and heavy. Not sure what the cream cheese was meant to add to the experience. If it were swirled into the dough so you could taste it maybe, but otherwise I’m not sure why it was included.
Stuffed these cookies with cream cheese and they were just amazing!!
Another great recipe! We made them gluten free and they came out fabulous.
Thank you fir sharing your recipes.
I wanted to love these since I’m a big fan of all Sally’s recipes! However, if I’m honest I’m disappointed and so was my husband. No substitutions, I followed the recipe exactly. I just didn’t think the strawberries rehydrated well or had a good texture and I guess they just weren’t for us. I’ll stick to other favorites though!
WOW! Just made these for a ski weekend – but had to sample before we take them with us – SO SO good! The dried strawberries softened perfectly! Great new recipe to add to the cookie collection!
I made this recipe and the cookies & cream cookie recipe within days of each other (a random 4oz of cream cheese sitting around seemed like a good reason to make both!). They are phenomenal. Mine baked up puffy (not flat) which my family loves. I just ate the last strawberry & cream cookie for breakfast and it’s as good today as it was when I made it 4 days ago. You will not regret making cookies with this cream cheese dough! Thank you, Sally!
Just made these! Wonderful flavor. My future daughter in law loves strawberries, I think these will be a hit.
Do a lot of baking for coworkers and these cookies were probably the indisputable favorite cookie recipe that I’ve made.
I may make these again and replace some or all of the regular cream cheese with strawberry cream cheese to increase the strawberry flavor .
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese?
Hi Yves, I don’t recommend yogurt. If you want to skip the cream cheese, try using the same cookie dough as these white chocolate cranberry cookies. Leave out the dried cranberries and add the 1 and 1/2 cups (45g) freeze-dried strawberries.
Great recipe I bake for all of my neighbors and one is vegan. I found that nearly all of your recipes convert easily to vegan. I use aquafaba for the egg substitute.It works so well my non vegan friends cannot tell the difference. Thanks
These cookies are delicious! Mine didn’t spread at all and now thinking back I may have used baking powder by mistake . Could that he it? Such a delicious flavor!
So unusual with the freeze dried strawberries and SOOO delicious! We can always count on Sally’s recipes and I bake A LOT of cookies. Love the addition of the cream cheese! I did add half a cup of chopped pecans because I love them. I would suggest adding the nuts!
Just made it, and OMG they were great!
can I use strawberries in can? it’s more liquid so what do I need to replace. thanks
Hi Carol, freeze dried berries are the only berries that will work properly in this recipe. For a recipe that uses fresh strawberries, we recommend our strawberry biscuit cookies instead.
I’m looking forward to making these cookies! Every Target around me carries a variety of freeze dried fruits.
Could you use freeze-dried strawberry powder, just less?
Hi Heather, I’m sure you could work that into the recipe, however it will take place for some of the dry ingredients (not a 1:1 swap, but I would slightly reduce the flour). It hasn’t been tested. However, I do have these raspberry sugar cookies made with freeze-dried raspberry powder. You can make those with the strawberry powder instead.
Great cookie – a real treat as they are so different from my regular repertoire! I didn’t have freeze dried strawberries, but still so good. Really good just out of the freezer as well
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try! Can I use other types of freeze dried fruit, like raspberries?
Yes, absolutely.
Can this recipe work with GF flour?
Hi Ginny, I’m unsure. If you test it, let me know. I know many readers use GF flour blends in my cookie recipes with success.
Could you use other freeze-dried fruits like raspberries or blueberries?
Absolutely! Raspberries would be wonderful.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
Hi Mary, No, they need to be the freeze dried berries for this recipe. If you want to use fresh or frozen berries you can try these strawberry biscuit cookies instead.