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 lovely proper out of the oven, however be at liberty to garnish with melted chocolate or every other really useful 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 photographs and useful success suggestions.

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 after I make Valentine’s Day cookies, Easter cookies, and Christmas sugar cookies (similar dough recipe). A recipe with year-round versatility!

It’s certainly 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 favor them over common sugar cookies!

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

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: If you happen to’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 recognize that we’re utilizing actual berries which have been freeze-dried, not synthetic raspberry flavoring. Almond extract is totally optionally available, but it surely 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, in the event you’re comfy utilizing a rolling pin and cookie cutters, the method received’t appear arduous. This recipe requires an additional step but it surely’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 no less than 2 hours. With out chilling, the cookies will fully lose their form. After that, lower the dough into shapes, then bake. Put aside a number 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 may 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 normally discover them in my common grocery retailer within the dried fruit aisle. Maintain your eyes peeled—they’re extra frequent than you assume. 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 normal 1.2-ounce bag.
• Can I do that with one other kind 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 manner 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 under embrace 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 in case you have some available. The dry substances embrace flour, the raspberry powder, baking powder, and salt.
• Divide into 2 items.
• Roll out cookie dough. Roll each bit of dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Have further flour available as a result of the dough is sticky.
• Chill rolled-out dough for no less than 2 hours.
• Lower into shapes. Re-roll all of your scraps—you’ll be shocked what number of cookies you get from this quantity of dough. I like these heart-shaped cookie cutters, however you should use 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 simply too comfortable to chop into shapes.) Don’t chill the cookie dough after which attempt to roll it out as a result of will probably be too chilly and tough 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 similar 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 the way to beautify sugar cookies tutorial if you wish to accomplish that!), however I didn’t need the tangy raspberry and cream cheese flavors to be overpowered by super-sweet icing. So as an alternative 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:

Print

Raspberry Sugar Cookies

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  Creator: Sally
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  Prep Time: 2 hours, half-hour
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  Prepare dinner Time: 13 minutes
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  Whole Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
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  Yield: 36 3-inch cookies
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  Class: Desserts
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  Methodology: Baking
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  Delicacies: American

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Description

Floor freeze-dried raspberries add coloration and taste to this cream cheese sugar cookie dough. You’ll be able to go away the cookies plain, however we love them garnished with melted chocolate.

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Non-compulsory Chocolate Topping

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Directions

1. Utilizing a blender or meals processor, course of the freeze-dried raspberries right into a powder. You’ll have round 1/2 cup. Be happy to grind further and use as garnish in step 9.
2. Whisk the raspberry powder, flour, baking powder, and salt collectively in a big bowl. Put aside.
3. In a big bowl utilizing a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese collectively on medium-high velocity till fully clean and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat till combination is fluffy and mixed, about 1 minute. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if utilizing), and beat on excessive velocity till mixed, about 1 minute. Scrape down the edges and up the underside of the bowl and beat once more as wanted to mix.
4. Add the dry substances to the moist substances and blend on low velocity till mixed. Dough can be very comfortable and creamy.
5. Generously flour your fingers and rolling pin. Divide the dough into 2 equal items. Roll every portion out on a calmly floured piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat to about 1/4-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough will be any form, so long as it’s evenly 1/4 inch thick.
6. Calmly mud one of many rolled-out dough parts with flour. Place a chunk of parchment on prime. (This prevents sticking.) Place the second rolled-out dough on prime. Cowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for no less than 2 hours and as much as 2 days.
7. As soon as chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line massive baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Rigorously take away the highest dough piece from the fridge. If it’s sticking to the parchment, run your hand beneath it to assist take away it. Utilizing a cookie cutter, lower the dough into shapes. (I like these coronary heart cookie cutters.) Re-roll the remaining dough and proceed slicing till all is used. Repeat with second piece of dough. Notice: It doesn’t look like loads of dough, however you get loads of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.
8. Prepare cookies on baking sheets 3 inches aside. Bake for 12–13 minutes till very calmly browned across the edges. In case your oven has sizzling spots, rotate the baking sheet(s) midway by means of bake time. Enable cookies to chill on the baking sheet for five minutes, then switch to a cooling rack to chill fully earlier than adorning.
9. For optionally available chocolate adorning: Soften the chopped chocolate in a double boiler, or use the microwave. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring after every till fully melted. Dip cooled cookies within the melted chocolate and/or drizzle with melted chocolate, then place again onto the lined baking sheets. I dipped the pictured cookies in melted semi-sweet chocolate after which drizzled melted white chocolate on prime. If desired, sprinkle with further freeze-dried raspberry powder (or sprinkles). Enable chocolate to set within the fridge (about 20–half-hour) or at room temperature.
10. Cookies keep contemporary tightly lined at room temperature for as much as 3 days or within the fridge for as much as 1 week.

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Notes

1. Freezing Directions: Plain or embellished sugar cookies freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Look forward to the chocolate/icing to set fully earlier than layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. Thaw within the fridge or at room temperature. You can too freeze the cookie dough for as much as 3 months earlier than rolling it out. Put together the dough by means of step 4, divide in half, flatten each halves into discs as we do with pie crust, wrap every disc in plastic wrap, then freeze. Thaw the discs within the fridge, then carry to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 5, then chill rolled-out dough within the fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour earlier than slicing into shapes and baking. See this publish on the way to freeze cookie dough for a video tutorial.
2. Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Meals Processor | Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin | Coronary heart Cookie Cutter | Freeze-Dried Raspberries | Cooling Rack | Double Boiler (optionally available) 
3. Cream Cheese: Wish to omit the cream cheese? Use this common sugar cookies recipe and add 1/2 cup of the raspberry powder to that cookie dough. Whisk it in with the dry substances, simply as you do right here.
4. Freeze-dried raspberries: I at all times discover them in my common grocery retailer within the dried fruit aisle. 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 an ordinary 1.2-ounce bag.
5. Can I do that with one other kind of freeze-dried fruit? Sure, completely. I’ve examined this sugar cookie dough with freeze-dried strawberries, blueberries, and mango. The freeze-dried raspberries gave essentially the most potent taste. Use the identical quantity—1/2 cup of the bottom powder.
6. 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 manner they’ll grind right into a powder.
7. Different Toppings: See Ornament & Topping Concepts in weblog publish above.
8. You’ll want to take a look at my prime 5 cookie baking success suggestions AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking instruments.