These strawberry biscuit cookies are made from real strawberries without the crutch of artificial flavor. Adapted from my biscuits and strawberry shortcake, each buttery cookie is tender and flaky in the centers, packed with juicy strawberries, and topped with a sprinkle of crunchy sugar and sweet icing. A truly unique cookie!
The cookies you see here started out as a major recipe fail—twice. I initially took my blueberry muffin cookies and swapped blueberries for strawberries. Sounds perfectly doable right? Well, I’m sure that could work with frozen chopped strawberries, but fresh strawberries are wet and created a cookie paste, not a cookie dough. I even reduced the added liquid in the recipe, too. Unsurprisingly, the cookies spread horribly.
In the 2nd attempt I reduced the strawberries and left out the milk. There were hardly any strawberries in each cookie. And they tasted dry. Back to the drawing board.
Cookies with Real Strawberry Flavor
As you might remember from my endless strawberry cake recipe testing, it’s difficult to produce strawberry-flavored baked goods made solely from real strawberries. The crutch of artificial strawberry flavor is over-used because recipe creators often lose their minds developing a strawberry tasting recipe without it. (See above!)
You have to get creative. I ditched my entire idea, turned to my homemade biscuits, and created sweet strawberry biscuit cookies. Added fresh chopped strawberries, a sprinkle of coarse crunchy sugar, and drizzled each with sweet icing. It took determined (stubborn?) effort, but now we have cookies with REAL strawberry flavor. 🙂
By the way, if you want to use freeze dried strawberries, you can make strawberry and cream cookies and achieve a perfectly chewy and dense texture. And if you need more warm weather cookie inspiration, today’s cookies join 25+ others on my Summer Cookie Recipes collection page.
Why You’ll Love These Strawberry Biscuit Cookies
- Flaky biscuit-like centers
- Buttery, soft, and cakey
- Crunchy sugared tops
- Juicy strawberries
- No mixer required
- Sweet icing
Like strawberry shortcake or scones in cookie form!
Ingredients You Need
- Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen, make sure they’re chopped and frozen. Do not thaw them prior to adding to the cookie dough. If using fresh, as I usually do, chop them up in the first step instructed in the written recipe below, then blot them with a clean towel to rid excess moisture. Place the chopped strawberries in the freezer as you work on the rest of the ingredients. The colder they are, the easier they are to work with in this dough. Trust me!
- Flour: Like biscuits, one of the main ingredients is all-purpose flour.
- Sugar: These are strawberry biscuit cookies, so they’re sweeter than savory biscuits. Use regular granulated sugar in this cookie recipe.
- Baking Powder: We need quite a bit of leavener to lift this heavy cookie dough.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Cold Butter: Butter adds ALL of the texture. For flaky layers and pockets, use cold butter. When little pieces of butter melt as the biscuit cookies bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air– this makes the cookies flaky on the inside with set edges. (We don’t want this butter to melt or get soft before the dough hits the oven. The colder, the better.)
- Whole Milk: This dough requires liquid. Though my regular biscuits use buttermilk, regular whole milk is great here. You can use nondairy milk if needed.
- Egg: An egg turns these biscuits into cookies, allowing them to hold their shape.
- Optional Coarse Sugar: A sprinkle of coarse sparkling sugar adds delicious crunch on top of the soft and flaky cookies. Talk about a burst of TEXTURE!
How to Make Strawberry Biscuit Cookies
If you’ve made my biscuits or strawberry shortcake before, you’re familiar with this process. It seems complicated, but truly couldn’t be easier if you take the time to read the recipe before you begin. So you understand the process, let me quickly walk through each step.
- Chop, blot, & freeze the strawberries.
- Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Add cold cubed butter. Work the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter. Do not over-think this step—you’re just cutting the butter into smaller pieces that will help coat the flour. This is how we make pie crust and scones, too. (You can use a food processor in this step, but I find it often over-works the cookie dough.)
- Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla together. Pour into the dry ingredients.
- Gently mix together, creating a thick dough.
- Carefully work in the strawberries. Do not over-mix, which will turn the dough slimy. Some strawberries won’t combine into the dough at all and that’s ok. You can add them to the dough balls when you shape the cookies before baking.
- Chill the cookie dough for 45 minutes.
- Portion into 1.5 Tablespoon balls. You can use a Tablespoon measuring spoon (will be a heaping Tablespoon) or a medium cookie scoop. Dot each with excess strawberries that may not have been worked into the cookie dough. Top each with coarse sugar.
- Bake until edges are lightly browned.
Use my step-by-step photos as a visual guide.
Strawberry Icing
Of course you could call it a day now, but who doesn’t love a snazzy little accessory every now and then?! Add icing! Start with regular vanilla icing and add a heaping Tablespoon of strawberry jam. The jam adds a little color and flavor. If you don’t have strawberry jam, don’t worry about it because these strawberry biscuit cookies taste excellent with regular vanilla icing as well.
Flaky, buttery, soft, thick, vanilla-y, juicy, and REAL STRAWBERRIES!
More Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Coconut Macaroons
- Homemade Strawberry Sauce (Dessert Topping)
- Strawberry Shortcake Cake
- White Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
- Strawberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Strawberry Biscuit Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Adapted from my biscuits and strawberry shortcake, these strawberry cookies are tender and flaky in the centers, packed with juicy strawberries, and topped with a sprinkle of crunchy sugar and sweet icing. Chill the dough for at least 45 minutes before shaping and baking.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (120g) chopped strawberries (see note)
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk, cold (dairy or non dairy)
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: coarse sugar for topping
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2–3 Tablespoons (30-45ml) milk or heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 1 heaping Tablespoon strawberry jam
Instructions
- Strawberries: If you’re using fresh strawberries, chop the strawberries into small bite-sized pieces if you haven’t already. Gently blot them with a towel to rid some moisture. (No need to thaw and blot if you’re using frozen strawberries.) The wetter the berries are, the more difficult they are to combine with the dough. Freeze the fresh chopped strawberries as you prepare the other dough ingredients. The colder, the better.
- You can use a food processor for this step, but I encourage you to do it by hand so you don’t accidentally over-work the dough. Overworked dough lends tougher cookies. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl (or pulse together in your food processor). Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form. (Or pulse several times in a food processor.) See photo above for a visual. If you used a food processor in this step, pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour/butter mixture. Using a large spoon or silicone spatula, fold everything together until just about combined. The dough is thick, sticky, and tacky. Avoid overworking the dough.
- Carefully work in the cold strawberries. Do not over-mix, which will turn the dough slimy. Some strawberries won’t combine into the dough at all and that’s ok. You can add them to the dough balls when you shape the cookies before baking.
- Cover the cookie dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes and up to 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Using a Tablespoon measuring spoon or medium cookie scoop, portion/shape dough into balls about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. (If using a Tablespoon measure, it will be a heaping Tablespoon of dough.) Press any strawberries that haven’t stuck to the dough into the tops of the cookie dough balls. Arrange 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If desired for delicious crunch, sprinkle each dough ball with coarse sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- Icing: Using a fork, whisk confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tablespoons (30ml) of milk/heavy cream, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Add 1 more Tablespoon (15ml) of milk/cream to thin out if necessary. (I always add it, especially if using cream.) If desired for light strawberry flavor, whisk in strawberry jam. Drizzle over cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 1 day (see step 5), but you can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking. If it’s too hard/chilled to handle, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. It’s best to thaw these dough balls before baking, then continue with the recipe and bake as instructed. Unglazed or glazed baked cookies freeze well for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Pastry Cutter | Cookie Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Medium Cookie Scoop | Coarse Sugar | Cooling Rack
- Strawberries: If using frozen strawberries, do not thaw. If using fresh strawberries, see step 1 about preparing the berries. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries instead.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or non, in the cookie and icing.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
These were nice and definitely unique. It was fun to have something a little different. I don’t know if I would really call them a cookie, but I knew that going in from your description and the recipes similarity to a biscuit. I will make them again!
Just made this recipe. Used salted butter instead as that was all I had. Omitted the other sale. Used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of the milk in both the batter and icing. Added my homemade strawberry preserves to the icing too! It was AMAZING!!!! Can’t wait to make them again. Easy and spot on with flavor, texture and sweetness. I describe them as a cross between a biscuit and a scone! Thank you so much!!
So good! I chilled the dough for an hour, used frozen strawberries and didn’t make the icing (wish I had) and they still flew off
my counter. Thanks!
Hi Sally,
I don’t have a pastry cutter and I am in Jamaica for the winter season and they don’t carry them here. I do have a blender with a pulse option. Can I put the dry ingredients in the blender with the cold cubed butter and pulse it for a bit. If so, how many pulses.
Thank you.
Hi Debra, you can use a food processor / blender for this step, but we encourage you to do it by hand so you don’t accidentally over-work the dough. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, a fork works wonderfully too. If you do decide to go the food processor route, we’d recommend just a few pulses at a time so that the dough doesn’t get overworked. Use the photos in the blog post as a guide for the texture that you’re looking for. Hope this helps!
Hey! Did something crazy with the dough! Skipped the strawberries and toned down the sugar to 2 Tbsp, subbed “buttermilk” for regular milk, skipped the chill and threw 1/4 of the dough at a time on the waffle press. Made AMAZING waffle biscuits for biscuits and gravy!! All the waffle dimples make delicious pools for the sausage and gravy to hang! Will make every time I need a biscuit on the fly! Serious 10 minutes from weighing the flour to my mouth!!
I followed the recipe exactly as written (fresh strawberries/hand mixed/no food processor) and the dough was in the fridge overnight. Some of the cookies on the pan did not spread much, while others spread a lot. I wonder if I did not mix the dough enough in my effort to not overmix.
In any case, I really liked the flavor and soft texture of these cookies. I would make them again. My batch made 24 cookies so my cookie scoop must have been a little bigger.
Can I substitute buttermilk? TIA!
Oh my goodness my husband I devoured these!! I left mine to cool for 45 minutes before puting them in the oven. It seemed to be plenty of time. And I used frozen strawberries. So good. Thank you!!
I followed your recipe and gave some to my neighbour. When I asked her how did the strawberry biscuits taste, she said “what biscuits? You mean the strawberry cakes?” I was flabbergasted and just nodded my head. She said without a moment’s hesitation “they are too dry.” Huh? I don’t think so. The moisture comes from the fresh strawberries and the 80ml milk. If I added more wet stuff, the dough will become very slimy, isn’t it?
I has to add a bit more milk to get the dough to hang together. It was fine. I didn’t have strawberry jam so I mashed some fresh strawberries and added it to the frosting/drizzle. They were an incredible addition – so fresh tasting. Wanted to lick the plate!!
Think I could use fresh cranberries (ground)?
Yes, chopped cranberries should work. Enjoy!
Is it possible to use raspberries in place of the strawberries to create raspberry cookies?
Hi Chrissy, Sure can!
Really tasty! I always have issues with this sort of dough but it cake through! I used monk fruit sweetner and I appreciate that these were not too sweet (I only added the glaze to half of them). I look forward to trying these with maybe some raspberries or a little lemon zest.
So tasty! I grated my butter because I don’t have a cutter or food processor. My dough chilled overnight. It doesn’t even need the frosting, they’re sweet enough on their own.
These are so delicious! My fiancé and I are officially addicted. I did have one issue, however (which clearly didn’t impact our enjoyment of the final product, but I thought was worth asking about). After briefly freezing the fresh strawberries (45-60 min), AND when I’ve used pre-frozen store bought strawberries, I found that leaving the dough in the fridge to firm up before baking resulted in the frozen strawberries thawing somewhat into the dough, which made the dough a bit wet and slimy. This happened after only refrigerating for about 2 hours.. but I imagine the frozen berries would leech out even more moisture if I refrigerated longer due to longer thawing after being frozen. This made the cookies denser than I think they probably should be. This happened after I used paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible from the fresh berries (multiple rounds of blotting and gently pressing with paper towels until the paper towels came up mostly dry), and still happened with I used frozen berries that were added directly to the dough before refrigerating. Any thoughts on how to truly rid the berries of all moisture before using?
Hi Hana, I’m so glad that you enjoy these biscuit cookies, thank you! A wet dough is totally normal and something I’ve found that helps is to chill the dough, scoop into balls, then press a few strawberries into each dough ball right before baking. (Instead of mixing them all in at once before chilling.) I do that with some of mine if the strawberries are particularly wet.
Hi Sally – I just made these and they turned out pretty flat. The flavor is great though!! I thought (key word thought) I followed the directions exactly – any idea where I went wrong? I would love to try the recipe again.
Hi Rebecca, make sure you’re not overworking the butter into the flour. By doing so you make more of a paste than a dough. Keep everything as cold as possible and don’t go overboard on the strawberries. I hope this helps for next time.
I had an abundance of strawberries and since you’ve never steered me wrong I went straight to your site and did an ingredient search. As always with your recipes, they turned out great! My partner ate two faster than you can say, “strawberry biscuit cookies.”
Great recipe but I’m not sure if I did something wrong as mine are just like little cakes, absolutely no crunch or biscuit texture to them at all 🙁 still delicious though just not what I was expecting. Love your recipes they’re always my go to
Just made these and WOW. So delicious. I would consider them like a little delicious biscuit. We cant stop eating them and I’ll be making more soon!
Hey Sally!
I’m wanting to make these cookies soon, but do you think almond milk would work for this recipe in substitute for whole milk?
Thanks!
That substitution should be fine in a pinch!
Hi Sally,
I’m a newcomer to your blog (thanks ) and I’m enthralled with your recipes, attention to detail, and responsiveness. I made these cookies last night and they are absolutely delicious. This is my 3rd recipe (Cream Cheese Pound Cake and Layered Banana Cake w/Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting) I’ve made off of your blog in 7 days andI can’t wait to try more!
Fairly good tasting but the dough was really wet and hard to handle after the frozen strawberries thawed in the fridge after step 5. I bought frozen strawberries and couldn’t do the blotting step. If I try this recipe again, I will try with blueberries, perhaps there will be less liquid.
I made the strawberry biscuit cookie. There was not enough liquid in the recipe. I had uses 1% milk, I had to has more. I love the taste of the cookies
Thank you
Oh my goodness. I’m going to make these this weekend! Sunday is my Birthday! Could I adapt this to use mini chocolate chips instead of fruit? Almost like a chocolate chip scone made biscuit cookie?!
I don’t see why not. Stick to 3/4 cups of add-ins and have a very happy birthday! 🙂
These are so so good!!!! I make biscuits all the time, but Strawberry Biscuit Cookies are definitely my new favorite, and so addictively good. Hands down amazing!
This was such an awesome recipe, Sally! I made them for a Galentine’s party and they were a huge hit. Putting the strawberries in the freezer was a brilliant move and definitely helped with stirring them into the dough.
Thank you so much for always providing amazingly tasty and festive recipes!
Everyone loved these!! They turned out delicious! I was afraid how they might turn out because the dough wasn’t holding together very well and after adding the strawberries it started to get slimy. I shouldn’t have worried. The exteriors were slightly crunchy and the interior was light and fluffy. Even the next day, they were delightful. This is definitely a keeper!
I baked these this morning. This was a big hit around my apartment complex. I used turbinado sugar on top and I made a half batch of icing. I shared with the office staff. The assistant manager ecstatically asked for the recipe link.
Note: I used very firm strawberries that were a little white on top sprinkled with a tsp of extra sugar. I would skip putting them in the freezer while I prepare the dough next time with this firm of strawberries. The final product has visible strawberry chunks where as Sally’s strawberries have more of a preserves appearance in the finished product.
Truely delicious.
Thank you Sally,
Elicia
I just made these and am currently waiting while they chill in the fridge! A couple questions though:
1. If using frozen strawberries, do I need to chop them still if the ones I have are whole strawberries?
2. When I mixed the wet ingredients into the dry, the dough seemed really dry. I don’t think it was as wet as it should have been, as it didn’t come together and some of the flour was still sitting in the bottom of the bowl. I also had to use my hands to incorporate the strawberries because I could not mix them in with a spoon. Did I do something wrong here? I followed the recipe to the letter – although I did use a food processor to cut the butter in, could that be it?
Thanks Sally!
Hi Megan! So glad you tried these biscuit cookies! Yes, if using frozen strawberries, they’ll need to be chopped. The dough probably wasn’t as moist because you used frozen strawberries (were they chopped already?) and I do recommend making these by hand instead of using a food processor. How did they taste? 🙂
They came out amazing! I was SO happy with how they turned out. They were a huge hit at the Valentine’s Day party I took them to yesterday.
I actually didn’t use frozen strawberries! I was just curious for future batches if I should chop them. Not sure why the dough looked drier than yours in the picture, but in the end they came out perfect, so I’m satisfied! Thanks again Sally!
I made these because I wanted to bake with stuff I had on hand and use a recipe that wasn’t too complicated. Oh my goodness they are GOOD! I used frozen mixed berries since I didn’t have strawberries and it worked perfectly!! They’re so light and fruity I love them! Will 100% make again!
i have been on a baking craze these past couple of weeks. i normally just play it safe with chocolate chip cookies lol but thanks to sally, i have gotten more creative. i made these and they were a huge hit! one batch and nearly almost all of them were devoured. parents loved them. definitely will be making again !! 🙂 thank you sally
Hi Sally!
Quick question, could I freeze the butter and shred it like you do with your scones? And then mix it together? Also, is there any reason I wouldn’t be able to roll the balls in the coarse sugar instead of just sprinkling on top? I’m going to the beach with my mom and sisters next weekend and this will be the perfect treat!!
Hi Sherry! You can definitely freeze and shred the butter as I suggest for scones. It makes no difference in the final taste and texture of these biscuit cookies. The dough is sticky, so rolling the balls in coarse sugar isn’t the easiest method, but you could try if you’d like.