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Strawberry cheesecake cookies recipe

Fans of strawberry cheesecake will love these cookies! Delicious strawberry cheesecake cookies are made from scratch with a few pantry basics. They get their strawberry flavor from freeze-dried strawberry powder – no cake mixes here. The cookies are tossed in sugar before baking for a bit of extra sparkle.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my triple chocolate cookies and my classic sugar cookies recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my cookie recipes in one place.

Strawberry cheesecake cookies on white background.

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Why you should make this recipe

  • Quick & Easy – The recipe is done, from start to finish, in under an hour.
  • Make Ahead – You can make the dough ahead of time and bake them later.
  • Versatile – I’ve included variations at the bottom of the post for ways to change up the recipe.

These cookies are so good! Very easy to make and very tasty! I’ve made these serval times and get the same response from people that eat them, “Best cookies EVER!”

-Reader Sherry

Strawberry cheesecake cookies

These strawberry cream cheese cookies are crispy on the the outside and tender inside – exactly what you want in a cookie.

Strawberry cheesecake cookies on baking sheet with pink tea towel.

Instead of stuffing the cream cheese inside the cookie, I mixed it directly into the dough. This gives the cookies extra flavor and makes for a delightfully tender cookie. They are bursting with strawberry flavor and are the prettiest pale pink color.

Ingredients

To make this strawberry cream cheese sugar cookie recipe, you’ll need some pantry basics.

Ingredients for strawberry cream cheese cookies.
  • Sugar – Regular, granulated sugar adds sweetness to our cookies. I also roll them in sugar before baking for extra sparkle and texture.
  • Butter – Unsalted butter, so you can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
  • Freeze-dried strawberry – I recommend strawberry powder. I tested the recipe with both sliced freeze-dried berries (that I ground into a powder) and freeze-dried strawberry powder. The powder worked much better.
  • Egg – Provides structure and moisture.
  • Cream cheese – Gives the cookies extra flavor, moisture and a bit of tanginess.
  • Baking powder & baking soda – Helps the cookies rise and spread just the right amount.
  • Salt – All baked goods need salt.
  • Vanilla – Provides another layer of flavor for the cookies.
  • All purpose flour – The backbone of the recipe, this gives the strawberry cheesecake cookies structure.
Pook's Pick
Organic Strawberry Freeze Dried Powder
$29.95

This is the strawberry powder that I use in my recipes. It is an intensely-flavored strawberry powder that works really well in baked goods.

I've used it in cookies, muffins and frostings.

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12/06/2024 01:36 pm GMT

How to make

Full of strawberry flavor, these cookies are a mix between a sugar cookie and a cream cheese cookie.

Mixing strawberry cream cheese cookie dough.
  1. First, whisk the dry ingredients together, then set aside.
  2. Next, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Then add the flour mixture to the butter and beat to combine. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and fold a few times to incorporate everything.
  4. Scoop strawberry cheesecake cookie dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet, then cover with plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.
Scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

Using a cookie scoop keeps all of the cookies the same size. This helps them bake at the same rate and maintains a nice shape as well.

Balls of strawberry cheesecake cookie dough on baking sheet.

After the cookies have chilled, toss them in granulated sugar, if you like, and bake until just barely starting to take on color.

Strawberry cheesecake cookies stacked on top of each other.

I didn’t add any food coloring to the dough, so you could see the true color. They are a very pale pink, but if you would like them to have a deeper pink color, add a drop or two of gel color.

For a light pink, I’d go with this pale pink gel paste food color. If you want a deeper pink color, this deep pink gel paste is really pretty and one I use all the time.

Best for home use
Escali Digital Food Scale
$26.95

This is the scale that I own and use daily. It is easy to use, plus it measures in pounds, ounces and grams.

Measuring ingredients by weight, ESPECIALLY in baking, is much more accurate than cup measurement.

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12/06/2024 12:24 pm GMT

Strawberry cheesecake cookies FAQ’s

Why should you rest cookie dough?

Resting cookie dough allows the flour to fully hydrate, plus it allows the flavors to develop. This gives you better tasting cookies.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yep! Store the cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Can I bake the strawberry cheesecake cookie dough straight from the fridge?

Absolutely. Baking chilled dough reduces the spread. When dough is not chilled, it tends to spread more.

How long will these strawberry cheesecake cookies stay fresh?

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days. After that, they start to dry out a little bit.

Variations and substitutions

To make taller, fluffy cookies – omit baking soda and add additional baking powder. See the notes in the recipe card for details.

As you can see, when I was recipe testing these strawberry cheesecake cookies, I used sliced freeze-dried strawberries that I blitzed up in my mini food processor. It worked fine and tasted good, but it didn’t really give the cookies the color I was hoping for.

Comparison of cookies.

I bought freeze-dried powder, added a little baking soda to the mix and got a much different result. The cookies were a lovely shade of pink, had a more pronounced strawberry flavor and had crispy edges.

Do you like a little chocolate with your strawberry cheesecake? Add 1/2 cup of your favorite chips – white, milk or dark chocolate.

Helpful tools and equipment

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Strawberry cheesecake cookies recipe

Cheryl Bennett
Strawberry cheesecake cookies from scratch are a quick, easy and delicious treat.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 54 minutes
Course Cookie recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 30 small cookies
Calories 82 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour // 180g
  • 2/3 cup freeze-dried strawberry powder // 93g
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened // 1 stick // 113g
  • 2 tbsp. full fat cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar // 198g + extra for rolling if desired
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, freeze-dried strawberry powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 – 4 minutes.
  • Add egg and vanilla, then beat until fully combined.
  • Add flour mixture and beat just until combined. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then fold the cookie dough a few times to incorporate everything fully.
  • Using a small cookie scoop, portion dough out into 30 balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F / 325°F with convection / 180°C / Gas mark 4.
  • Place 12 cookie dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12 – 14 minutes. Cookies should barely take on color – do not bake until brown. Rotate pans halfway through baking time to ensure even baking. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
  • Let cookies cool on sheet pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

To make tall, fluffy cookies:

Omit baking soda and increase baking powder to 3/4 tsp.

To use sliced freeze-dried strawberries:

Place sliced berries into a food processor and grind into a fine powder.
*I have made plenty of baked goods doing this, but I've found that the ground berries get sticky and clumpy pretty quickly. If possible, use the strawberry powder instead – it works much better and doesn't get clumped up.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 82kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 59mgSugar: 7g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a delicious day 🙂

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2 Comments

  1. These cookies are so good! Very easy to make and very tasty! I’ve made these serval times and get the same response from people that eat them, “Best cookies EVER!”

    1. Thank you, Sherry!!! That makes me SO HAPPY to hear! I’m thrilled that you like the recipe and they are a hit with your people! 🙂

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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