A recipe for simple drop cookies with the fresh flavor of lemon and strawberry, all topped with a tart strawberry lemon frosting.
Sometimes you need a sweet springtime dessert and you want something easy and portable like cookies. And these are easy to make, like any other sugar cookie, but they combine the fresh flavors of lemon and strawberry. Sweet, tart, cute, and bursting with spring!
Strawberry flavored gelatin powder is a key ingredient for beautiful color and berry flavor. You can leave it out, but your cookies will be more lemon than berry and the color won’t be pink.
(Berry lovers will also love strawberry whoopie pies, which are big soft versions of these cookies with a marshmallow cream filling!)
Ingredients
For the chopped strawberry mixture
- 3/4 cup chopped strawberries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the cookies
- 1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening or unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
To make the icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Step by step cookies
Make the cookie Dough
If you’ve ever made cookies before this is pretty standard stuff, with one big exception. Before we start we’re going to make a yummy strawberry mixture and set it aside to get nice and juicy. Later, we’ll add the strawberries to the cookies and the their juice will form the base of the cookie glaze.
But first we have to get them mixed up. It’s just 3/4 cup of chopped strawberries, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix them up and set them aside.
Now we proceed with normal cookie stuff: beat the shortening, sugar, egg, and lemon juice and lemon zest until they are nice and fluffy. Mix up the dry ingredients (including the gelatin powder) separately and then add them in, beating on low until they are just combined.
You might notice that the dough is dry and crumbly. That’s normal. When you add the strawberries in, some of the moisture from them will help the dough come together.
Adding berries and baking
Now let’s add those berries in! Strain strawberries from step one and add the berries, but not the strawberry liquid. Keep beating until the dough loses its “crumbliness” and becomes like a normal cookie dough. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, start preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
Scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment lined (or sprayed) baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
frosting cookies
Let the cookies totally cool before you frost them.
Remember that yummy strawberry juice we saved? It’s going to form the base of our icing. It will give it sweetness and a beautiful naturally pink color. All we need to add is powdered sugar. You want the icing very thick, so that you can spread it but not pour it.
Do a test cookie! If the icing starts to run off, add more sugar. Then eat the cookie.
Print it here
Strawberry Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
For the chopped strawberry mixture
- 3/4 cup chopped strawberries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the cookies
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening or unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons strawberry flavored gelatin powder
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
To make the icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make chopped strawberry mixture by combining strawberries, lemon, and 1 tablespoon sugar in small bowl and set aside.
- Beat shortening, sugar, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and beat into to the butter and sugar mixture on low. Dough will seem very crumbly but do not add water .Strain strawberries from step one and add the berries, but not the strawberry liquid. The moisture in the berries will help the cookies come together. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 while the dough chills. Scoop out 1-2 tablespoons bake for 10-12 minutes depending on cookie size. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, mix powdered sugar into reserved strawberry juice. Icing should be thick: spreadable but not pourable. Add more lemon juice or powdered sugar as needed. Test a cookie to make sure the glaze stays on before frosting the rest. Store at room temperate for 1 day or refrigerate for longer storage.
Notes
Nutrition
Although these were pretty good they actually tasted like a cupcake in cookie form..I was hoping for a sugar cookie texture which I have made before.. but I’m sure the grandkids will still love them!!