You know that best bite of strawberry shortcake when the cake has soaked up the cream and the juices of the strawberry explode in your mouth—this cookie is like that bite. A rich shortcake cookie with a slice of strawberry baked on top. Together they combine to make a sweet treat that is so simple to make with only a few ingredients including no eggs.
Shortcakes are sweet biscuits or cookies that have a crumbly texture instead of being crisp, crunchy, or soft. These baked goods achieve that rich melt in your mouth feels from a higher ratio of fat (provided by the butter) to the flour in the cookie. Adding strawberries to the shortcakes is a classic combination. Making the dessert into a handheld strawberry shortcake cookie.
Difference between Shortcake and Shortbread
Historically, shortbread was a hard biscuit made from leftover bread dough. Throughout the years, the expensive and hard to get butter replaced the yeast, and shortbread became something served on special occasions.
Shortcakes evolved from that humble beginning and is a sweet biscuit with many of the same ingredients but differ in how it is made. (Some shortcake recipes also use baking powder or baking soda to give the cake a lift and softer cavelike crumb.) Shortcakes rely on the creaming method, where you cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then add the other ingredients.
Shortbreads, on the other hand, use the biscuit method, where you cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until there are small pieces of butter throughout the mixture and then the remaining wet ingredients are gently added.
Tips for making Great Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
- Cream well. Whip the butter (and in this recipe cream cheese) with the sugar until very light and fluffy. This adds air to the dough and makes it both soft and melt in your mouth.
- Mix correctly. Make sure you don’t overtax when adding the flour, this prevents gluten from forming and the dough from getting tough.
- Don’t overbake. Remove the shortcake from the oven just as the edges begin to change color, this makes the cookie the proper texture and keeps it from becoming dry.
Enjoy these easy to make strawberry shortcake cookies. The beautiful red and white colors combine to make a luscious cookie that is sure to become a favorite at your house.
PrintStrawberry Shortcake Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A shortcake cookie with a slice of strawberry on top. This red and white cookie tastes just like the perfect bite of strawberry shortcake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 small strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
- Cream together softened cream cheese and butter and the 1/2 cup sugar and whip for 3-5 minutes over medium speed until very light and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well.
- Gently stir in flour and salt until just incorporated.
- Using a medium (size 40-50 or 1 tablespoon to 1-1/2 tablespoon) cookie scoop, scoop out dough on a baking sheet.
- Flatten each cookie slightly with fingers.
- Hull and slice strawberries into quarters. Place a strawberry piece, (seed side up) on each cookie and press it lightly into the dough.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until very lightly colored on the edges. cool cookies on racks for 10 minutes.
- Best if enjoyed the same day.
Notes
These cookies don’t need to chill before baking. They also do not spread as they bake so you can space them with just 2″ between each cookie.
Robin Brooksby
Thank you, my friend!
Angie
These are so good! We can’t eat ours all in one day though (trying to lose our quarantine pounds). Would you refrigerate the leftovers?
Chef Lisa
Thanks for the comment and I am right there with you in regards to the quarantine pound dilemma. Refrigerating will help keep them fresh longer.