I don’t think I have ever made cookies with fresh fruit before. Then my husband came home from the store, so excited that strawberries were on sale 4/$5!!! Whoo hoo… what the hell am I going to do with 4lbs of strawberries before they go bad! LOL
Then I thought, well, my middle daughter, Gabriella loves strawberries, and she is not big on sweets. Yet maybe if I put strawberries in the sweets, she would like them? Plus, we all love cookies… I mean, I don’t think we can be friends if you don’t like cookies! Just saying. So, that is how this all came about. The Strawberry and cream cookie!
What is a Strawberry and Cream cookie?
Well, it is a cookie with fresh strawberries and white chocolate chip which makes you feel like you are eating strawberries with whipped cream! Yum! I also made these with an oatmeal cookie base because I thought the fruit with the oatmeal would be great… and yes, it is! It also helps keep it nice and sturdy even with the juicy strawberries.
What is in a Strawberry and Cream Cookie?
I am so glad you asked? Let me tell you…
Butter- unsalted, always unless a recipes specifically calls for salted butter. This happens, but it is rare
Egg- we only used one egg in here. You can probably swap it out for applesauce if you would like to or need to for allergies
Light Brown Sugar- Again more often than not it will be light brown sugar when baking, but if it is dark the recipe will call it out. Usually I would cut the sugar with granulated, but I did all brown sugar in here
Vanilla Extract- Because I don’t think you can make cookies without it
Quick Cooking Oats- I like the structure and chewy of the oats in this cookie. I also really like the oats with the strawberries
All purpose flour-Because it is just a cookie, nothing fancy needed here
Kosher salt- always, sorry Morton’s… throw the blue can with the girl with the umbrella out. No iodized salt in the kitchen!
Baking Soda- You need soda or powder in baking. Here we used soda and powder
Baking Powder- see above
Fresh Strawberries- Most strawberry cookies are going to call for freeze-dried. That would not have helped my issue with too many strawberries in my house. So, I created this recipe with fresh strawberries. I really love how juicy, yet crispy they come out
White Chocolate Chips- Not only is white chocolate my favorite and Gabriella will eat it! But it is the cream part of these cookies, so gotta have it!
Not like other Strawberry Cream cookies
Most of the Strawberry and Cream cookie recipes you will find out there have cream cheese in them and like I mentioned above, freeze-dried strawberries. Although they are probably delicious, that is more like a strawberry cheesecake cookie. It has it’s place, but these are not that and these are amazing!
Chef’s Tips
Always remember when making cookies, you are going to do most of the mixing at the beginning. What I mean is that you really want to cream your butter and sugar together really well. You want to mix that until it is all nice and fluffy and really creamed together. When you add the egg, mix that well too. Really whip some air into there. Then you relax a bit. Adding the dry and the mix-ins into your cookies… go slow and gentle. Do not over mix at this point and if you fold them in by hand with a rubber spatula, even better. This will produce a nice tender cookie.
Also, this dough does not need to be refrigerated before baking. They will not overly spread and you don’t want them to sit for too long otherwise the strawberries will get too juicy on you. ENJOY!
Storage Tip
I like to store these cookies in an air tight container in the fridge since they have the fresh strawberries in them. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Strawberry and Cream cookies (with fresh strawberries)
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 large egg room temp
- 1 heaping cup fresh strawberries
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if you have it
- 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl if using an electric hand mixer). Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat the oven to 350°F.
- Meanwhile, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Trim and finely chop strawberries until you have 1 cup.
- Add 1 cup packed light brown sugar to the bowl of butter. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and beat until combined, about 2-3 minutes.
- Place oats, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder in a medium bowl and stir to combine. With a rubber spatula, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold gently until just combined.
- Add the strawberries and white chocolate chips to the batter and fold in with rubber spatula until just combined.
- Divide the dough into 16 to 18 (about 3 scant tablespoon) portions. Form into balls and place on the baking sheets, spacing them even apart. You can also use a cookie scoop for this.
- Lightly press down on each dough ball until about 2 inches wide. Bake for 8 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Continue to bake until golden-brown and no longer shiny, about 5-7 minutes more. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and let cool completely. ENJOY!
