Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

These rich and buttery strawberry shortbread cookies are full of berry flavor! Freeze dried strawberries provide great strawberry taste and a subtle natural pink color. The dough is quick to mix together and doesn't spread when baked, so it's perfect for cutout shapes. An easy glaze adds an extra bit of sweetness and decoration.

I love baking with freeze dried fruit. I've used the powder from strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to make flavored buttercream frostings for family birthday cakes. And these mango cookies feature bold tropical flavor from freeze dried mangoes. This was a fun experiment to see if I could pack the concentrated flavor of strawberries into a shortbread cookie. (Success!)

Strawberries can be challenging to incorporate into some recipes due to their high water content. Freeze dried strawberries are the perfect workaround, as they contain all of the intense red fruit flavor without any of the water. Give them a quick spin through a food processor and you have strawberry powder.

This strawberry shortbread cookie recipe combines a punchy, sweet strawberry flavor with the buttery crumb of a delicious shortbread cookie.

Shortbread cookies are so versatile as both a standalone dessert and as a base for additional ingredients. I used a shortbread base in these caramel pecan shortbread bars and these lemon rhubarb bars. For more fun shortbread recipe, check out these bright lemon shortbread cookies and these vibrant blood orange cornmeal shortbread cookies.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Recipe tips
• 📖 Recipe
• More strawberry recipes
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Ingredients

* See recipe card for detailed list of ingredients and quantities.

For the strawberry shortbread cookies

• Unsalted butter - At room temperature. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the total quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand.
• Powdered sugar - Powdered sugar adds sweetness while providing a more delicate texture. Sift your powdered sugar to avoid lumps.
• Kosher salt - for enhanced flavor.
• Vanilla extract - for additional flavor.
• Freeze dried strawberries - I purchase my freeze dried strawberries in packs at Trader Joe's. Make sure they are not simply dried, but freeze dried. For optional decoration to top the glazed cookies, buy an extra package. You can also purchase powdered freeze dried strawberries if you prefer to skip the grinding step or don't have a food processor.
• All purpose flour - Flour binds the dough together and provides structure. If you have a scale, I encourage you to weigh your flour for best results.

For the powdered sugar glaze

• Powdered sugar - Powdered sugar is used to make the glaze. Be sure to sift your powdered sugar well to avoid lumps.
• Whole milk - The glaze is fairly thin. You'll allow the excess to run back off into the bowl. If you prefer a thicker glaze, start with only 1 Tablespoon of milk and add the remainder in small amounts until you reach desired consistency.

Instructions

The photographs and instructions below will walk you through the steps of how to make these strawberry shortbread cookies.

Step 1: Add the whole freeze dried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor. Process for 60 seconds, until uniformly fine and powdery. Pass the powder through a very fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.

Step 2: To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter. Cream for 30 seconds at medium speed. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract and freeze dried strawberry powder.

Step 3: Mix on low until dry ingredients are fully incorporated and no lumps of butter remain. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Step 4: Add flour and mix on low until dough resembles coarse sand.

Step 5: Turn mixer to medium and mix just until ingredients come together.

Step 6: Gather dough into a ball and turn out onto a rectangle of parchment paper. Place an additional piece of parchment paper on top, and roll the shortbread dough to a thickness of ½ inch (1.27 cm). Remove top layer of parchment.

Step 7: Cut out dough using desired cookie cutter (mine was a 2 inch / 5 cm heart). Place cookies 1 inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Roll scraps and cut out additional cookies as needed to make use of all dough. Chill cutouts in refrigerator for 20 minutes prior to baking. (The below image shows chilled dough, prior to baking).

Hint: When removing the dough from the cookie cutter, press the dough out of the cookie cutter from the bottom and then place each cutout right side up onto the baking sheet. This way, you won't leave visible finger indentations on the cookies.

Step 8: Bake for 24 minutes, until cookies are set, pale pink, and just slightly golden on the foot. Cookies will continue to harden as they cool. Cool fully on cookie sheet prior to glazing.

Step 9: To glaze, add the powdered sugar and milk to a cereal bowl (large enough for dipping cookies). Whisk gently to fully blend the ingredients and avoid incorporating air bubbles.

Dip each cooled cookie into the glaze, letting the extra glaze drip back into the bowl. If desired, sprinkle a few bits of freeze dried strawberries on top of wet glaze. Place glazed strawberry cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet to let glaze set.

Variations

Feel free to try these variations if you'd like to mix things up a bit!

• Strawberry crunch - Buy an extra package of freeze dried strawberries and break some into small pieces (but not powder). Incorporate them into the dough when you add the flour for extra strawberry bite. Keep the pieces small so that the cookie cutter easily passes through the dough.
• Citrus flavored glaze - I kept the glaze here very simple in order to let the strawberry flavor in the shortbread shine. If you want to add more layers of flavor, consider substituting lemon juice or orange juice for the milk in the glaze for some citrus flavor. Blood orange juice would make a delightful pink colored glaze (see the blood orange glaze on these cornmeal shortbread for an example).
• Strawberry glaze - Substitute thin strawberry jam for the milk when mixing the glaze. You might need to add a drop or two of milk to reach a dipping consistency. Alternatively, use additional freeze dried strawberry powder to add color and flavor to the glaze.
• Chocolate bits - Chop ¼ to ⅓ cup (1.5-2 oz) good quality chocolate into very fine pieces (much smaller than chocolate chips). Fold the chocolate into the dough after adding the flour.

Equipment

• Food processor - Making the powdered strawberries from whole freeze dried strawberries is easiest in a food processor. If you don't have one, you can certainly try a (clean!) spice grinder. Alternatively, place them in a sealed ziplock bag with the air removed and crush them using a rolling pin. You can also purchase strawberry powder (affiliate link).

• Fine mesh metal sieve - I pass the ground strawberry powder through a fine mesh metal sieve (affiliate link) to sift out the majority of the strawberry seeds. They aren't needed for the recipe and simply add volume and crunch. If that doesn't bother you, feel free to simply skip the sifting step.

• Cookie cutters - I used a 2" heart shaped cookie cutter, but the recipe for these strawberry butter cookies should in no way be limited to Valentine's Day! Choose any shape that your heart (heh) desires. Since they use freeze dried strawberries, you can definitely make them year round.

Storage

Wait for the glaze to fully harden (several hours) before storing these cookies. Stack them in an airtight container with parchment paper separating the layers. They may be stored at room temperature, well sealed, for up to a week.

Can you freeze shortbread? Yes! Sealed in an airtight container, baked shortbread cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Recipe tips

Glazing

Wait until the cookies are fully cooled to glaze them. When glazing the cookies, dip just the top of the cookie into the glaze. Hold the cookie over the glaze bowl and let the extra glaze run off. When the dripping stops, turn the cookie over and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet to set.

If the glaze drips down the sides of the cookies, you're using too much. Dip gently and patiently let the extra run off before flipping over.

Decorating

Be sure to purchase additional freeze dried strawberries if you want to have extra on hand to break into pieces for garnish on top of the glaze. You will need 1.2 ounces (34 grams) of freeze dried strawberries in the cookies. This is the size of a package from Trader Joe's.

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