Strawberry Lemonade Cut-Out Cookie Recipe

It's strawberry season here in Florida! And, because strawberries pair well with the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, I thought it would be a great time to change up my go-to sugar cookie recipe for a fruity variation on a classic.

This strawberry lemonade cut-out cookie recipe has a burst of berry flavor with a bit of lemon, which adds a bright (but not overwhelming), citrusy bite.

The key to the berry and citrus flavor in this recipe is the addition of freeze-dried strawberries and lemon zest. To boost the flavor a little more, I threw in their coordinating extracts for an added punch.

For the freeze-dried strawberries, I crushed mine with a rolling pin, but you could throw them in a food processor until it's a fine/course powder. The small pieces of strawberry leave pretty specks of pink in the dough, which I think is a bonus touch.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ tsp lemon extract
• 1 ½ tsp strawberry extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.8 oz package freeze-dried strawberries (pulverized into powder)
• Zest one lemon
• 3 to 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 drops pink food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Step 1      

In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Mix until fluffy and well incorporated.

Step 2   

Add egg, lemon extract, strawberry extract, salt, baking powder, strawberry powder, lemon zest, and pink food coloring. Mix until it is all well incorporated.

Step 3      

Add flour, mixing a cupful at a time, to the butter/sugar/egg/fruit mixture. Stop adding flour when the dough is non-greasy to the touch, and it should pull cleanly from the sides of the bowl. If it's still a little sticky, add a 1/4 cup of flour.

Step 4      

Roll to desired thickness between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. (I love my Joseph Joseph rolling pin because the guides take the guesswork out of wondering if your cookies are the correct thickness and evenly rolled out.) After rolling, chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  

Step 5      

Once the dough is well chilled and hard to the touch, cut out shapes and place them on a parchment paper-lined, light-colored baking sheet.   

Step 6

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Remove from the oven when the top surface looks matte with no shine. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Step 7

Remove cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula and place on a cooling rack to cool before decorating.

For decorating purposes, these cookies pair well with lemon-flavored royal icing. You can use the lemon juice left over from the zested lemon in this recipe, or add lemon extract to flavor the icing.

Alternatively, if lemon isn't your thing, feel free to leave it out of this recipe all together. You'll be left with a delicious strawberry cookie instead.

Celebrate Valentine's Day in style with these decadent cookies! Now you just have to select from our favorite cookie cutters to make this delicious recipe even sweeter.