Raspberry Sugar Cookies (Actual Taste)

These raspberry sugar cookies are like common cut-out sugar cookies, however with two main upgrades within the dough: tangy cream cheese and freeze-dried raspberries. Naturally coloured, these fairly pink cookies are stunning proper out of the oven, however be at liberty to garnish with melted chocolate or every other really helpful toppings. You’ll love these for Valentine’s Day or any event the place you crave a enjoyable, berry-flavored cookie.

I initially revealed this recipe in 2021 and have since added new pictures and useful success ideas.

Have you ever ever baked my common sugar cookies earlier than? They’re a conventional sugar cookie with comfortable facilities and barely crisp edges—undoubtedly a favourite round right here, particularly once I make Valentine’s Day cookies, Easter cookies, and Christmas sugar cookies (identical dough recipe). A recipe with year-round versatility!

It’s considered one of my most-used recipes, proper together with chocolate chip cookies and pie crust. I even have a printed recipe for cream cheese cut-out cookies with Nutella glaze, which takes sugar cookies to the subsequent stage. The cream cheese gives a creamy-like texture and slight tang in every chew. I’d even choose them over common sugar cookies!

I took the identical cream cheese sugar cookie dough and experimented with freeze-dried raspberries. The end result was an additional tender berry-flavored cookie with probably the most beautiful (and pure!) pink/magenta shade.

Inform Me About These Raspberry Sugar Cookies

• Texture: Cream cheese makes the dough further comfortable and creamy, which I like in so many cookie recipes, like apricot cream cheese thumbprints and maple walnut tassies.
• Taste: For those who’re ever craving FLAVOR in your sugar cookies, begin right here. We now have a slight tang from the cream cheese, however a lot of the taste comes from raspberries. I respect that we’re utilizing actual berries which were freeze-dried, not synthetic raspberry flavoring. Almond extract is totally optionally available, however it provides one other stage of taste.
• Ease: Cookie cutter sugar cookies, of any selection and taste, aren’t fairly as simple as drop cookies. Nevertheless, for those who’re comfy utilizing a rolling pin and cookie cutters, the method received’t appear arduous. This recipe requires an additional step however it’s fairly easy: grind the freeze-dried berries into powder earlier than utilizing.
• Time: The cookie dough comes collectively shortly. Roll it out, then chill it within the fridge for at the least 2 hours. With out chilling, the cookies will utterly lose their form. After that, lower the dough into shapes, then bake. Put aside a couple of hours to finish this recipe.

Freeze-Dried Raspberries Are the Secret

I like utilizing freeze-dried berries in frostings. Have you ever tried this strawberry buttercream earlier than? While you grind freeze-dried strawberries right into a powder, you’ll be able to simply use it in frosting. Freeze-dried berry powder—or “mud”—is ideal as a result of it’s not moist and, subsequently, doesn’t mess with the consistency of frosting. Actual berry taste with out compromising texture. We additionally apply it to the coating of chocolate raspberry crinkle cookies. And, because it seems, you are able to do the identical factor with sugar cookie dough, so long as you don’t go overboard with amount. 2 cups (about 56g) of freeze-dried raspberries grinds down into 1/2 cup of powder, which is the right quantity for this sugar cookie dough.

• The place to purchase freeze-dried raspberries: I often discover them in my common grocery retailer within the dried fruit aisle. Maintain your eyes peeled—they’re extra widespread than you suppose. Dealer Joe’s and Goal carry them too. You can too buy them on-line and here’s a model we’ve examined earlier than. (They’re much cheaper in shops if you’ll find them!) You want 2 cups, which is a bit more than one customary 1.2-ounce bag.
• Can I do that with one other sort of freeze-dried fruit? Sure, completely. I’ve examined this sugar cookie dough with freeze-dried strawberries, blueberries, and mango. The mango taste wasn’t as intense because the berries, although. Use the identical quantity—1/2 cup of the bottom powder.
• Can I do that with common dried fruit or frozen fruit? No, don’t use chewy/gummy dried fruit and don’t use frozen fruit. You want freeze-dried raspberries, that are raspberries with all the moisture eliminated—that approach they’ll grind right into a powder.

Overview: Making Raspberry Sugar Cookies

• Grind freeze-dried raspberries into powder.
• Make sugar cookie dough. The recipe directions beneath embody creaming the butter and cream cheese collectively earlier than including sugar. You additionally want 1 egg and vanilla extract. Almond extract is optionally available, however a tasty addition you probably have some readily available. The dry elements embody flour, the raspberry powder, baking powder, and salt.
• Divide into 2 items.
• Roll out cookie dough. Roll every bit of dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Have further flour readily available as a result of the dough is sticky.
• Chill rolled-out dough for at the least 2 hours.
• Reduce into shapes. Re-roll all of your scraps—you’ll be stunned what number of cookies you get from this quantity of dough. I like these heart-shaped cookie cutters, however you should utilize no matter form you’d like.
• Bake & cool. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets earlier than adorning.

The Trick Is the Order of Steps

Discover how I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it within the fridge? Let me clarify why. To forestall the cookies from over-spreading, the cookie dough should chill within the fridge. Roll out the dough proper after you put together it, then chill the rolled-out dough. (At this level the dough is just too comfortable to chop into shapes.) Don’t chill the cookie dough after which attempt to roll it out as a result of it will likely be too chilly and troublesome to work with. Divide the dough in half earlier than rolling it out as a result of smaller sections of dough are merely extra manageable.

I comply with this identical order of steps when making brown sugar cut-out cookies.

After chilling, lower into shapes, organize on lined baking sheets, bake, after which cool.

Ornament & Topping Concepts

I like utilizing royal icing on common sugar cookies. That icing would undoubtedly work right here (and right here’s my learn how to adorn sugar cookies tutorial if you wish to achieve this!), however I didn’t need the tangy raspberry and cream cheese flavors to be overpowered by super-sweet icing. So as a substitute I dipped them in melted darkish chocolate and drizzled with melted white chocolate. So easy, so scrumptious. Listed below are some choices:

Garnish the chocolate or icing with sprinkles or leftover freeze-dried raspberry powder:

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