chocolate strawberry sugar cookies;
Soft strawberry sugar cookies, naturally flavored and colored, using freeze-dried strawberries for their beautiful fragrant flavor and light pink tinge. They can also be made with gluten-free all-purpose flour and they’re delicious! I actually prefer making them gluten-free in this chocolate strawberry sugar cookie recipe.
I made these cookies for the first time for my Pure Barre Studio’s Pink Out Weekend to raise awareness for breast cancer and collect donations for The Step Sisters, a local charity that supports families and patients impacted by breast cancer. So they were thoroughly vetted, and deemed delicious! The strawberry flavor is light but shines through, and the subtle cream cheese icing in the dough, combined with vanilla and almond extracts gives these cookies a beautiful complexity.
I adapted the recipe from Sally’s Raspberry Sugar cookies on Sally’s Bake Blog, but I really wanted to highlight the chocolate and turn these into cute window pane chocolate strawberry sugar cookies! Smear your chocolate ganache between two thinner strawberry sugar cookies and press down lightly to make the sandwiches.
You can never go wrong with chocolate! I used semisweet and ruby chocolate (the pink) to decorate. Or use icing and sprinkles instead.
secret to success
Use whatever chocolate you want! Here I used semisweet and ruby chocolate because of course, I had to play up the pink out theme. But these would still make a lovely cookie with milk chocolate or white chocolate. If you didn’t want to go the chocolate route, you could use icing and sprinkles instead and decorate to your heart’s content! Since you’re using cream cheese icing you already have some on hand, just add sprinkles!
When it comes to chocolate, I have two recommendations. For the center of the sandwich cookies you want thin but not too thin. Thin enough to jiggle and set, but thick enough not to run. For the chocolate drizzle or dip, you’ll want even thinner chocolate.
You need the chocolate to be thin, but not too thin. Thin enough to jiggle and set, but thick enough to not run.
secrets to success
To thin out your chocolate, add a little bit of vegetable shortening or coconut oil and mix vigorously until incorporated. Also, note that a higher quality chocolate like couverture chocolate (as compared to chocolate chips) will be thinner to start. So if you want to dip or drizzle your strawberry sugar cookies, consider using a chopped chocolate bar to melt them instead of chocolate chips.
If you want your chocolate window panes to be perfectly smooth, tap the strawberry sugar cookies to even out the chocolate. You can see the consistency of my ruby chocolate was a bit thinner than the semisweet. But I don’t mind the homemade look of some of these with the swishes and swirls. I promise they were all tasty, of that I can assure you.
The key to window pane sandwich cookies is having cookie cutters that fit together for a polished, pretty look. You want to cut the center small enough to have a robust edge around your cookie, but big enough to showcase that chocolate! You can use any cookie cutter shape you like, or even just cut squares or rectangles with a knife if you don’t have cutters.
I use these heart-shaped cookie cutters and used the largest and the smallest cutters to make the top layer of the sandwich cookies. If you prefer or don’t want to bother with the double-layered cookie, then just use your preferred cookie cutter!
The key to window pane sandwich cookies is to have cookie cutters that fit together to get a polished, pretty look.
secrets to success
If doing a two-layered cookie, I recommend rolling the dough out to roughly ⅛ inch thickness. Because you stack the cookies they end up being 2x the size, so keep that in mind. If doing single cookies, I recommend closer to a ¼” thickness so your strawberry sugar cookies retain that soft, chewy texture.
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other sweet treats? Try these pink and red favorites:
- Need some other tasty heart treats? These red velvet cookies are studded with which chocolate chips for a vibrant, colorful dessert.
- This pink apple rhubarb chocolate tart is a fun twist on a classic strawberry rhubarb pie, infusing apples into the filling but keeping the beautiful pink color and tart flavor.
- If you need a cold treat, try this no churn roasted strawberry ice cream. Roasting the strawberries brings out the natural sweetness of the strawberries, and you don’t even need an ice cream maker!
chocolate strawberry sugar cookies;
Equipment
- Heart cookie cutters
Ingredients
strawberry sugar cookies;
- 2 cups freeze-dried whole strawberries (roughly 56g or a heaping ½ cup freeze-dried strawberry powder)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (all-purpose gluten free flour also works)
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened to room temperature (2 sticks)
- 4 ounces cream cheese frosting (alternatively, sub full fat cream cheese)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
chocolate topping;
- 4 oz chocolate of choice, like chocolate chips or a chopped bar (semisweet, white, or ruby chocolate are all delicious options)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable shortening or coconut oil
Instructions
strawberry sugar cookies;
- If using whole freeze-dried strawberries, use a blender or food processor to process the strawberries into a powder. It should result in a slightly heaping ½ cup of strawberry powder.
- In a large bowl, add together the raspberry powder, 3 cups flour, 1½ tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer using the paddle attachment, add the 1 cup unsalted butter and 4oz cream cheese frosting. Beat together until smooth and creamy, roughly 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup sugar and beat until mixture is fluffy and combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp almond extract. Beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Ensure dough is evenly mixed; scrape down the sides and remix as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Dough should be soft and creamy.
- Separate dough into two halves. Make two disks by rolling each half into a ball and flattening into a cylindrical disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 15 minutes. The ideal texture is stiff to make rolling out the dough easier, but not frozen.
- Remove one disk from the fridge or freezer to work with at a time. Flour your hands and a piece of parchment paper. Press the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to prevent sticking and roll to ⅛" – ¼" thickness. (⅛" is better for window pane cookies, ¼" is better for single cookies)
- Using heart cookie cutters, or whatever shapes you'd like and cut out cookies. If making window pane chocolate cookies, cut two cookies for each sandwich cookie. On one of each pair, cut a smaller heart out of the center to make the window. Either bake the small cutout as a cookie itself, or combine with other scraps. Lay each cookie on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between them.
- Repeat previous step until dough is used up. Repeat with the second disk of dough.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes until just barely beginning to color around the edge. (Note that the smaller cookies will cook faster if you're using the cutout heart centers.) Remove cookies from the oven, and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or counter.
chocolate topping;
- Allow cookies to cool entirely to room temperature before decorating. In a small microwave-safe bowl add the chocolate and heat in 30 second increments, stirring with a spoon or spatula until fully melted.
- If chocolate is too thick, add up to 1 Tbsp of shortening or coconut oil and stir to mix. You want a thick chocolate for the window pane cookies, you want a bit thinner for drizzling. For optional chocolate decorating: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or use the microwave. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted. Dip cooled cookies in the melted chocolate or drizzle each with melted chocolate, then place back onto the baking sheets. Allow chocolate to set in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- To make a chocolate window pane cookie, take the full heart cookie and smear about 1-2 tsp of chocolate in the center of the cookie. Don't get too close to the edges, because topping the window pane cookie will cause the chocolate to spread. Add the window pane cookie and press down lightly. If chocolate does push out the sides, just wipe the sides best you can.Gently shake the cookies to even out the chocolate and allow to set.
- To drizzle or dip, use a slightly thinner chocolate. You can use a fork or spoon to drizzle, or use a small round piping tip or drizzle bottle if you have one available. Alternatively, dip the cookies in any pattern desired.
2 Comments
orange chocolate patties; | Best With Chocolate
December 15, 2023 at 9:15 am
[…] Chocolate strawberry sugar cookies are all-natural, gluten-free soft sugar cookies dressed up with chocolate. The strawberry flavor really shines through and they’re so adorable for gifting! […]
cinnamon swirl snickerdoodles; | Best With Chocolate
March 31, 2024 at 7:40 pm
[…] a sweet, naturally pink cookie, try these strawberry sugar cookies. Double up the cookies and add some chocolate to the sandwich to make them chocolate strawberry […]