White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies
Updated: Jul 21, 2022
A romance between white chocolate dipped strawberries and chewy, caramelized oatmeal cookies is born. Unusually, the caramelization comes from fresh strawberry juice this time, a truly special delight!
Active Time: 30 Minutes, Total Time: 1 Hour
Fresh fruit cookies have become increasingly popular - at first I turned my nose at them - many recipes appeared more like a scone than a cookie.
While I have always been a fan of cookies with dried fruit, I didn't think a chewy, American style cookie could be created with so much moisture content seeping in from the berries.
I proved myself wrong today, and I'm so glad I did!
A pint of strawberries couldn't sit in the fridge any longer.
Sweet dough was already rising for sour cherry babka, olive oil cake was
being frosted and decorated with golden berries; peanut butter cookies and toffee cookies chilled in the fridge awaiting their turn in the oven. Many of the bases were already covered, so it was time to recipe test, and on a whim I experimented with this cookie.
The secret: a long bake (with a lowered bake time halfway through) to caramelize the liquid from each strawberry, transforming the berry into a gorgeous jammy gem, reminiscent of the laborious pate de fruit.
White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies
12 large servings
Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter - softened
1 large egg - room temperature
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries* (8oz/226g)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100g)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (60g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats (85g)
1/2 cup fine almond flour (48g)
1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 4oz bar of white chocolate, chopped & divided*
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350F and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Prepare the strawberries, slicing into small (pea size) chunks, let sit dispersed on a paper towel or tea towel to drain some liquid while the dough is formed.
In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy - add both sugars and beat for at least 2 minutes more, until well combined and airy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for an additional minute to emulsify.
Weigh your dry ingredients directly on top of the wet ingredients, beat on medium speed for 15 seconds to combine, then switch to a flexible spatula.
Fold in sliced strawberries and half of the chopped white chocolate as efficiently as possible, the less you mix the better, try not to smash the strawberries!
The dough will be slightly wetter than a normal cookie dough, it is best to use a spring loaded scoop (2.66oz size) or two large spoons to scrap the balls onto cookie sheets. Scoop 12 large cookie dough balls, arranging 6 on each sheet.
Sprinkle the rest of the chopped white chocolate on top of the cookies, pressing it in slightly.
Bake for 16 minutes, alternating trays from top to bottom and back to front halfway through. Remove from the oven - with the back of a metal spoon, scoot the edges of the cookies in, to make them rounder and more evenly shaped. Lower the oven temperature to 330F, return the cookies to the oven for 10-15 more minutes, until golden brown and no longer gooey.
Let cool on pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Sometimes the bottoms get a bit sticky from all that strawberry juice! Make sure you use a sturdy spatula to release them from the parchment or silicone.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
*It is very important to wash your strawberries many hours prior to baking these cookies, to avoid additional moisture content, or leave them to dry at room temperature for at least 1 hour before slicing.
*If you don't have a bar of white chocolate, you can use white chocolate chips instead!
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Signed,
The Mellow Baker