Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

These strawberry shortcake cookies take everything you love about the classic summer treat and packs it into a portable, bite-size dessert. Starting with an easy drop cookie dough, these cookies are packed with fresh strawberries and crunchy bits of wafer.

Juicy strawberries. Crispy, crunchy bits of cookie. A chewy cookie center that might make your eyes roll into the back of your head in pure joy.

Have I said too much? Or just enough to convince you to make these strawberry shortcake cookies?

And if you need even more strawberry shortcake goodness in your life, might I suggest the strawberry shortcake cupcakes or the strawberry crunch cake?

Ingredients

Below are a few tips for key ingredients. A full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card.

• Fresh strawberries: I find firm, fresh strawberries work best for this recipe as frozen often wind up mushy and watery after thawing.
• Unsalted butter: Melting the butter keeps the batter from becoming overmixed and gives them a fudgy texture.
• Egg: To keep the batter from seizing, be sure to start with a room-temperature egg.
• Nilla wafer: Adds an additional layer of texture and flavor.

Step-by-step instructions

First, make the cookie batter.

In a bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar, stirring until there are no clumps of brown sugar. I personally like to use a silicone spatula for this.

Pro tip: If your brown sugar has hardened since the last time you used it, you can soften it back up by putting it in a bowl, placing a damp paper towel over the top, and microwaving it using 10-second increments until it's soft.

Stir in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until the ingredients are just incorporated.

Dice the strawberries and blot them with a paper towel to pick up any excess juice. Too much juice can make the cookies watery.

Fold in the diced strawberries and a half cup of the coarsely crushed Nilla wafers.

Finally, scoop and bake the cookies.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoons, scoop three tablespoon balls of dough and gently roll the tops in the leftover crushed wafers.

Place the cookies onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets leaving about two inches of space between cookies.

Bake at 350F for about 11 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny on top. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.

If you plan on using the freeze-dried strawberries, which I like to add for a little pop of color more than anything else, you'll want to sprinkle those on right after removing the cookies from the oven. Do not add them to the cookies prior to baking as they'll burn.

Storage

These cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or frozen (I like to individually wrap mine in plastic wrap) for up to 6 months.

More strawberry desserts

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