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 some other beneficial 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 standard sugar cookie with gentle 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 one in all 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 supplies a creamy-like texture and slight tang in every chunk. I would even favor 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 essentially the most attractive (and pure!) pink/magenta colour.

One reader, Tierney, commented: “Thanks, Sally, for one more superior recipe! I used to be so pleasantly shocked at how a lot raspberry taste these cookies had. I drizzled melted white chocolate on them and so they had been good. I’ll undoubtedly be making them once more. ★★★★★”

One other reader, Kathryn, commented: “These cookies are spectacular. I’m posting this late, having made them final Valentine’s Day, however I can not get them out of my thoughts. I took them to a particular dinner and everybody beloved them and so they had been so impressed. The stability is ideal for somebody who prefers much less candy cookies. I dipped and drizzled some with darkish chocolate (my desire) and a few with white chocolate for many who favor a barely sweeter cookie. ★★★★★“

Inform Me About These Raspberry Sugar Cookies

• Texture: Cream cheese makes the dough additional gentle and creamy, which I like in so many cookie recipes, like apricot cream cheese thumbprints and maple walnut tassies.
• Taste: In the event you’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 were freeze-dried, not synthetic raspberry flavoring. Almond extract is totally non-obligatory, nevertheless 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. Nonetheless, should you’re snug utilizing a rolling pin and cookie cutters, the method gained’t appear arduous. This recipe requires an additional step nevertheless 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 no less than 2 hours. With out chilling, the cookies will utterly lose their form. After that, minimize 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? Whenever you grind freeze-dried strawberries right into a powder, you possibly can 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. Preserve your eyes peeled—they’re extra frequent than you suppose. Dealer Joe’s and Goal carry them too. You may as well buy them on-line and here’s a model we’ve examined earlier than. (They’re much cheaper in shops if you will discover 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 the entire moisture eliminated—that approach they will 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 non-obligatory, however a tasty addition if in case you have some readily available. The dry elements 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 additional flour readily available as a result of the dough is sticky.
• Chill rolled-out dough for no less than 2 hours.
• Minimize 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 need to 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 gentle 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 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 identical order of steps when making brown sugar cut-out cookies.

After chilling, minimize 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 how you can embellish 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 here are some choices:

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

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