Strawberry Shortcake Biscuit Cookies are soft and tender cookies spiked with fresh strawberries. This is a small batch recipe for shortcake cookies that are similar in texture to buttery biscuits. The cookies are sweet and bright and can be finished with a strawberry whipped cream topping.
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, and as much as I love Winter, I am excited for all the bright and refreshing fruit that will soon grace our grocery stores. And even though I seem to be able to find strawberries in the store any month of the year, they are always more vibrant and fresh during the Spring and Summer.
For this recipe the strawberries in the cookies are indeed fresh. And with the exception of a few frozen strawberries as stand-in’s for photos, I have not tried the cookies with frozen fruit.
These Strawberry Shortcake Biscuit Cookies are a cross between a soft cookie and a biscuit. And we use baking powder in this recipe. What makes these cookies different than say your traditional Buttermilk Biscuit – there is less butter and more sugar. The result is an ultra soft cookie.
So, why do you call it a Shortcake Cookie?
Good question. You may be thinking of shortcake as the little spongy cakes you find in the produce section next to the strawberries. Technically, the term shortcake in baking refers to a biscuit or cake that uses a leavener to make it rise. Pretty simple. And I’m sure there may be some debate on whether a Strawberry Shortcake should be a cake or biscuit. You can guess which side I’m on given my Strawberry Shortcake recipe.
But I have been know to chow down on those little spongy cakes too!
Small Batch Biscuit Cookies
I ‘tested’ several batches of these cookies. You know – to make sure they turned out exactly as I wanted. Yea, right.
These cookies have so few ingredients and are so easy to make, you may want to make several batches just to have them on hand to snack on. Which is what happened here. I didn’t have as much guilt grabbing one every time I went into the kitchen.
Yes, it is a cookie with flour, butter, and sugar. But isn’t a cookie with only 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of butter healthy? Not necessarily, I know. Though it is nice to think that you aren’t devouring something that has 2 cups of sugar in it.
Can the recipe be doubled?
So, you want a bigger batch. While I have not tested it, I don’t see why not. I get a little more skeptical when a recipe involves eggs. Since this recipe has no eggs, I think doubling it would be fine.
What You Need To Make Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Ingredients
- Fresh Strawberries – I used fresh. You could use frozen – I would recommend defrosting them and draining and patting off the liquid.
- Granulated Sugar
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Whipped Topping or Glaze – I topped my cookies with my Strawberry Whipped Coconut Cream. Though, feel free to make a simple glaze or use store-bought whipped cream. The cookies are also delish ‘a natural‘.
Baking Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
Tips For Making Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
- Go fresh – If you can, I would recommend fresh strawberries. I think frozen fruit – while good – looses some of the bright flavor.
- Sugar the strawberries – Strawberries can be a little tart and I find this especially true when they are baked. I recommend giving them a little sugar shower keeps the sweet.
- Start cold – This is one cookie recipe where the butter and cream can (and should be) cold. The butter releases moisture when the cookies bake, which gives them their height and tender texture.
- Mix carefully – When you are mixing the dough, you want to be careful not to break up the strawberries too much. They are so delicate and can be quickly turned to mush with aggressive mixing!
- Dough expectations – This cookie dough will not be your typical sugar cookie dough. It behaves more like a biscuit dough and will be rough and crumbly.
- Cool on a wire rack – Rather than letting the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, transfer them immediately to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the steam from sitting on the pan may cause the cookies to be damp.
- Your choice on topping – Whipped cream is the quintessential topping for strawberry shortcake – which is why I used the Strawberry Whipped Coconut Cream. Though, cookies also go great with a sweet icing.
As they say, Spring has Sprung!
More Small Batch Cookie Recipes
- Healthier Thin Mint Cookies
- Almond Flour and Maple Cookies
- Soft Apple Cookies With Caramel Icing
- Snickerdoodle Cookies (Small Batch)
- Small Batch Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Strawberry Shortcake Biscuit Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ounces fresh strawberries, diced small
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (plus 2 teaspoons to coat the strawberries)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (plus 1 teaspoon to coat the strawberries)
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Strawberry Whipped Coconut Cream (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, add the diced strawberries, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon flour. Mix until the strawberries are coated. Place in the freezer until ready to add to dough.
- In another small bowl, or liquid measuring cup, stir together the cream and vanilla extract.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add in the cold cubed butter and cut the butter into the flour – using your fingers, two forks, or a pastry cutter – until the mixture is coarse.
- Add the prepared strawberries to the flour mixture, and gently stir to incorporate the strawberries. Then add the cream mix and gently stir the dough until no dry streaks remain. The dough will be crumbly. Note – To get all of the flour incorporated, I use a spatula and stir the dough from the bottom of the bowl and flip it over on itself. Almost like kneading dough, but with a spatula. Be careful not to break up the strawberries too much.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop 6 evenly sized cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 22 – 25 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. Transfer the baked cookies immediately to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Top with our Strawberry Whipped Coconut Cream, or any topping you like. Enjoy!
Notes
- Go fresh – If you can, I would recommend fresh strawberries. I think frozen fruit – while good – looses some of the bright flavor.
- Sugar the strawberries – Strawberries can be a little tart and I find this especially true when they are baked. I recommend giving them a little sugar shower keeps the sweet.
- Start cold – This is one cookie recipe where the butter and cream can (and should be) cold. The butter releases moisture when the cookies bake, which gives them their height and tender texture.
- Mix carefully – When you are mixing the dough, you want to be careful not to break up the strawberries too much. They are so delicate and can be quickly turned to mush with aggressive mixing!
- Dough expectations – This cookie dough will not be your typical sugar cookie dough. It behaves more like a biscuit dough and will be rough and crumbly.
- Cool on a wire rack – Rather than letting the cookies cool for a few minutes on the pan, transfer them immediately to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the steam from sitting on the pan may cause the cookies to get damp.