Buttery, bright, juicy, and so easy to make, these Strawberry Shortcake Cookies are a great recipe any time of year!

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Strawberry shortbread cookies: a delicious and fun baking recipe the whole family will enjoy! Freeze-dried strawberries give these cookies authentic bold fruity flavor without making the cookies mushy or using artificial flavors.

Save this freeze dried strawberry recipe for later on Pinterest:

What are strawberry shortbread cookies?

Strawberry shortbread cookies are light and buttery cookies that taste bright, sweet and fruity.

Because the cookies don't use eggs, they are technically a flavored shortbread cookie, but they can also be referred to as strawberry sugar cookies, strawberry cookies, and strawberry shortbread cookies.

The recipe secret: freeze-dried strawberries!

We infuse these cookies with great fresh strawberry flavor by using freeze-dried strawberry powder. Whereas fresh strawberries have lots of moisture that ruin the texture of shortbread cookies, dried strawberry powder has all of the flavor without any of the moisture, being the perfect secret ingredient for these cookies.

You can easily make this powder yourself (see the directions below), or buy strawberry powder online.

Where to buy freeze-dried strawberries:

Freeze-dried strawberries are easy to find at Trader Joe's here in the United States. You can also buy them online and at some major grocery store chains.

Strawberry shortbread ingredients:

• Freeze-dried strawberries - see my notes above on where to purchase these
• Unsalted butter - salted butter can also be used; just reduce the additional salt to just ⅛ teaspoon
• Granulated sugar
• Pure vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Salt

Chocolate drizzle ingredients:

• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• White chocolate Chips
• Coconut oil - raw or virgin coconut oil works the best. If you don't have coconut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil are great substitutes.

How to make strawberry powder for baking:

1. Add the freeze-fried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor or a blender.
2. Blend the strawberries until a fine powder forms. This may take a minute or two, as small chunks of strawberries can be somewhat stubborn. Just keep blending and pulsing until the powder is fine and smooth.
3. Measure the amount of strawberry powder you need for the recipe and continue with the rest of the recipe (below) as directed.

Note: Leftover strawberry powder keeps covered in an airtight container at room temperature until the expiration date on the freeze-dried strawberry package.

How to make strawberry shortbread cookies:

For the complete recipe and measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• In a mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until creamy.
• Mix the vanilla extract into the creamed butter until combined. 

• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, strawberry powder, and salt until combined.
• Add the flour and strawberry mixture to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until combined.

• Shape the dough into a 2 ½ inch cylinder. Wrap up tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (45 minutes - 1 hour).

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut the shortbread into rounds. Prick the top of the cookies with a fork or chopstick in the design of your liking. 
• Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are just starting to turn golden.

• Cool the cookies on a wire cooling rack. 
• Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in one small mixing bowl and the white chocolate chips and remaining coconut oil in another small mixing bowl.
• Melt the chocolate for 1-2 minutes on 40% heat, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and melted. 

• Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. Let cool completely. Enjoy!

Strawberry Cookie Recipe pro-tips:

• Room temperature butter - the butter creams best with the sugar when at room temperature.
• Softening butter quickly - save time softening the butter by cutting it into tablespoon chunks and heating on low heat in the microwave for 10-15 second intervals, or until soft enough to easily press into the butter with your finger.
• Mixing the cookie dough thoroughly - the dough may look crumbly at first as you mix. That is ok. Just keep mixing the cookies until thick chunks of cookie dough form. Then, using your hand or a spatula, press the cookie dough together into one large mass.
• Chill the cookie dough - firm the dough up in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to 1 hour before slicing. Otherwise, the dough will be too pliable, making it hard to evenly slice.
• Other cookie shapes - you can also shape the strawberry shortbread into a rectangular cube and then slice the cookies into rectangular blocks before baking.
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mat - to keep the cookies from sticking to the baking sheet, use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Space the cookies out on the baking sheet - the cookies will look small before baking, but they will expand almost 2 times the size during baking, so space them out well on the baking sheet.
• Rotate pans during baking - if your oven bakes unevenly or has hot spots, rotate the pans halfway through baking so the cookies bake evenly.
• How to know when the cookies are done - the cookies are done when the bottoms are just golden brown.
• Melt the chocolate in intervals - to keep from burning the chocolate, melt it in intervals in the microwave over low-to-moderate heat, stirring between each interval, or until melted and smooth.

Recipe variations:

Make these cookies your own by trying out any of the following variations:

• Using other freeze-dried fruit: these cookies can also be made with freeze-dried raspberries, mango, or blueberries.
• Cookie toppings: drizzle the cookies with just all white chocolate chips or all semi-chocolate chips.
• Sugared cookies: make strawberry sugar cookies by rolling the strawberry cookies in sanding sugar before slicing and baking.

Serving suggestions:

These strawberry butter cookies are so versatile, bright, sweet, and buttery that they are welcome anytime of year.

These cookies make great Valentine's day cookies, though they are fantastic for Easter, baby showers, and spring picnics!

These cookies also make a great gift! Just wrap up with red or white ribbon and give a gift that always brings a smile!

Storage directions:

Tools needed to make this recipe:

• Mixing bowls
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Silicone spatula
• Cookie sheet
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
• Chef knife
• Wire cooling rack
• Heat-safe spatula

More cookie recipes:

• Lemon Sugar Cookies
• High Altitude Sugar Cookies
• Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies
• Brown Butter Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

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