Sugar cookies are a weakness of mine. I have a few on my blog and these are a riff on one of them but I decided to make them a bit summery by adding crushed freeze dried strawberries to the dough and wow are they delicious! That slight tart sweet strawberry flavor is definitely and unexpected burst of summer in every bite!
These are pretty easy to put together and you can even mix them by hand if you want but I always use a stand mixer. You can find freeze dried strawberries at most grocery stores now and you’ll need to crush them into a powder using a food processor (I used a small mini-prep). The strawberry dust for lack of a better term gives them a slight pink hue as well. These would be great for birthday parties and served with lemonade.
You need to flatten these before baking so use the bottom of a glass. The sugar the cookies are rolled in will prevent them from sticking to the glass. You also need to bake these just until done and no longer if you want chewy cookies. Better to undercook them than overcook them. And make sure to take them off the sheets immediately as the sheet’s heat will continue to cook them even out of the oven. I use parchment so I grab two ends and move them to a cool surface to cool completely.
I’m using cake flour here for a lighter softer texture. If you don’t have it, just add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the bottom of your one cup measuring cup before adding all purpose flour to each cup and leveling it. You basically will be adding 4 more tablespoons of cornstarch to the recipe overall. I sprinkled my cookies with a little more sugar and strawberry dust for presentation purposes but it’s not necessary.
Vegan Sparkling Strawberry Sugar Cookies
18
servings15
minutes9
minutesDelicious sugar cookies with a strawberry flavor and sparkling sugar!
Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup organic vegan cane sugar
1/2 cup organic confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but recommended!)
1/3 cup pulverized freeze dried strawberries
2 1/4 cups cake flour (see notes)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
granulated sugar to roll in
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Using an electric hand or stand mixer (or by hand), cream together both types of sugar and the shortening.
- Add in aquafaba and vanilla and almond extracts. Mix for a couple of minutes until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the freeze dried strawberries, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt together. Slowly add to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Don’t over-mix.
- Using a scoop or spoon, create balls of dough. Roll in sugar or colored sugar and place evenly apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake for about 8-9 minutes and remove before they start to brown. Remove immediately from the sheet by lifting the parchment and placing on a cool surface. Leaving them on the sheet will make them cook longer and be more crispy not soft which we don’t want. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.
Recipe Video
Notes
- If you don’t have cake flour, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the bottom of each cup of all purpose flour then also add the extra tablespoon. You don’t want to just add extra cornstarch, you want it to replace some of the flour. You’ll be using 5 tablespoons overall.
- You can freeze the balls of dough to cook later. Just make sure they come to room temperature before rolling in sugar or sprinkles and flattening.
- To ensure the sugar you use is vegan, buy organic as organic regulations prohibit the use of bone char processing in manufacturing.
- Shortening is preferred here as it keeps the cookies softer and less crisp. Vegan butter could be used but the cookies won’t be the same texture.
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