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Soft Strawberry Lemon Cookies – Perfect for Summer Baking

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These Strawberry Lemon Cut-Out Cookies are soft, naturally pink, and hold their shape beautifully which makes them perfect for stamping or decorating with royal icing.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 3/4 cups
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1.2 oz. freeze-dried strawberries (I saw 1.2 oz bags at Trader Joe’s for only $2.99! Buy an extra bag if you want to dip stamps into extra powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup (2 oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg, room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp lemon extract
  • (optional) powdered sugar or a tiny bit of extra flour for dusting

Instructions

  1. Pulverize the freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until they turn into a powder. It’s okay if there are a few chunky bits.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, strawberry powder, salt and baking powder. Whisk it all together and set aside.
  3. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, beat together the butter, cream cheese and sugar. Mix on medium speed until just fluffy and slightly lighter in color. Try not to overmix. Too much air can cause the cookies to spread.
  4. Scrape down the bowl, then mix in the egg, vanilla extract and lemon extract. Mix until everything is nicely combined.
  5. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry mixture. I like to pour in a little of the flour, then turn the mixer on low speed, then slowly and gradually pour in the remaining mixture.
  6. Lightly dust a piece of parchment paper with powdered sugar or flour. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment. I like mine about 5/16″ thick, but you can go thinner or thicker if you want. A rolling pin with guides really helps here!
  7. Slide the parchment-wrapped dough onto a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for about an hour or until completely cold.
  8. Once chilled, cut out your shapes and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a perforated baking mat.
  9. Preheat your oven to 350°F . While the oven heats, place the cut-out cookies in the freezer. This final chill helps them bake with super clean edges.
  10. Once the oven is preheated, bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes (mine baked for 10 minutes), depending on size and thickness. They’re done when the tops lose their shine and look set but not browned.
  11. Let the cookies sit on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  12. Eat as is or decorate with royal icing! Check out my YouTube Shorts for my Royal Icing recipe and stay tuned for the full-length video

Storage: Once completely cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container to keep them fresh up to 5 days

Freezing: You can wrap the dough up in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to a month. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months.

Find it online: https://www.sugarhighscore.com/soft-strawberry-lemon-cookies/