Strawberry Sandwich Cookies

These delicious strawberry sandwich cookies are a hit during strawberry season or year-round, really! The cookies are firm yet tender, making them a perfect base for this recipe. Unlike other cookie sandwiches you may see online, these ones contain more than *just* frosting. Bite into them for a flavor burst of strawberry and cream cheese frosting and a juicy roasted strawberry filling that you can easily make at home! 🍓

From strawberry filled cupcakes to strawberry sugar cookies and a strawberry apple crumble, my love for this berry runs deep.

Particularly when roasted like they are here, strawberries adds a uniquely rich and deep flavor.

📋 Ingredients for Vanilla Sandwich Cookies

This easy sandwich cookie recipe comes together with just a handful of simple ingredients, and I'm spotlighting a few of the key ones here. All the details are further down in the recipe card.

• Fresh strawberry filling – By roasting strawberries, we soften their texture and release some of their water, leaving us with lots of pure strawberry flavor. But if you have another strawberry filling you'd prefer to use - like a store-bought jelly or jam - that works, too.
• Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste – In an online baking class I took once, Christina Tosi of Milk Bar taught us that you don’t need expensive vanilla extract for good flavor. So the extract from your local grocery store is perfectly fine for this recipe. I never taste much difference between pricier extracts and more basic ones.
• Freeze dried strawberries – Freeze-dried strawberries have a concentrated, more intense flavor than fresh or even dried fruits. They work well in frosting because they don’t add any excess moisture. Be sure to grind them into a fine powder before incorporating them into the frosting. This yields a smoother, more uniform distribution of flavor.

📖 Step-by-Step Instructions for Baking Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350°F and dive into the steps below.

Step 1: Cream melted unsalted butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together in your mixing bowl for 3 minutes.

Step 2: Stop the electric mixer and add salt, baking powder, and baking soda as well as half of your room temperature eggs and flour.

Step 3: Mix for about 45 seconds on medium speed before stopping the mixer to add the remaining egg and flour, beating again for 30 seconds.

Step 4: With an ice cream or cookie scoop, create small (about ⅔ the size of a golf ball) round balls of your cookie dough, placing them onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between the cookie dough balls on your pan.

Step 5: Bake for 14-15 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack after they’ve sat on the cookie sheets 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle.  

Note that you may want to use parchment paper or nonstick silpat mats if your baking sheets are old and/or don't conduct heat as well as they once did. Otherwise, these cookies can bake directly on a cookie sheet.

🍓 Instructions for the Roasted Strawberry Filling

I am so obsessed with this delicious, homemade strawberry filling! I use it in my strawberry chocolate cake as well as my strawberry filled vanilla cake. Roasted strawberries never get old.

Preheat oven to 375°F and follow the below steps.

Step 1: Toss fresh strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a bowl.

Step 2: Spread berries out onto an aluminum or metal pan to bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping berries halfway through.

Step 3: Once berries have a soft, syrupy consistency, remove from oven.

Step 4: Transfer roasted strawberries to a heatproof bowl and let cool in refrigerator.

Note that bake time varies depending on the pan and how it conducts heat. For instance, strawberries in a metal dish will bake faster than ones in glass.

Instructions for Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

These strawberry-filled cookies get an extra flavor boost from the strawberry buttercream, which also has a bit of cream cheese in it for tanginess.

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment -- or in a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer -- beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and mix for another 1 minute or until fully combined.

Step 2: Next, turn off your mixer and add salt, powdered sugar, and almond and vanilla extracts to bowl. Mix on low setting to slowly incorporate powdered sugar before increasing to high speed for another 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice if needed to cut sweetness (personal preference).

Step 3: Add finely ground freeze dried strawberries to mixing bowl and mix until well-combined. 

Step 4: Put frosting into a piping bag, fitted with a decorating tip of your choice.

Assembling Strawberry Cream Sandwich Cookies

Once you've made your filling, cookies, and frosting, set out half of your cookies. Match them into pairs based on their size, and set them out on a clear workspace.

On the flat side of half of all of your cookies, pipe a thick circle of strawberry cream cheese frosting that reaches the edge of the cookie. Place 1-3 teaspoons of your roasted strawberry in the middle.

Put matching cookie on top to form the sandwich, with the filling and frosting inside. 

💭 FAQ and Troubleshooting

💡Recipe Variations

While I love strawberries, you could easily take this recipe in another direction.

Use a raspberry jam or filling and pair it with my pretty in pink cream cheese raspberry frosting.

If you're more of a blueberry fan, this blueberry buttercream frosting with cream cheese would also work. Sub in your favorite blueberry jam.

Or mix and match fruit frostings with different fillings of your choice!

Cookie Storage

These easy strawberry cookies will still taste fresh for 2-3 days at room temperature in an air-tight container.

Alternatively, one of my favorite things to do is make all of this dough at once. This cookie dough freezes well, so you can store it in an airtight container in the freezer and bring them out to bake them whenever your sweet tooth strikes!

You can also keep already-baked cookies in your freezer for up to 3 months.

More Related Recipes

Strawberry Sandwich Cookies

Pin Recipe

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

This easy recipe for strawberry sandwich cookies uses a juicy roasted strawberry filling and a tangy strawberry buttercream frosting.

• Author: Susan
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Frosting Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 75 minutes
• Yield: 18 small cookie sandwiches 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Cookie Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 12 T butter (170 grams) unsalted butter, melted 
• ½ cup (120 grams) white sugar
• ¾ cup (115 grams) firmly packed (either light or dark) brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs (about 50g), straight from the fridge

Strawberry Filling Ingredients

• 8 oz fresh strawberries, diced into small pieces
• 3 T granulated sugar
• 1 T lemon juice, bottled or fresh
• Pinch of salt

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting 

• ¾ stick (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups (420 grams) of powdered sugar
• ½ block (115 grams) cream cheese
• 1 ⅓ cup (1 oz/30 grams) freeze dried strawberries, finely ground into a powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: A few drops of lemon or lime juice (or white vinegar) to cut sweetness; add to your preference

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Baking the Cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Cream butter, vanilla extract, and sugars together in your mixing bowl for 3 minutes.
3. Stop the mixer and add salt, baking powder, and baking soda as well as half of your eggs and flour. Mix for about 45 seconds on medium speed before stopping the mixer to add the remaining egg and flour, beating again for 30 seconds.
4. Scoop small (about ⅔ the size of a golf ball) round portions of your cookie dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets, with about 2 inches between each of them. Bake for 14-15 minutes. Transfer them to cooling racks after they’ve sat on the baking sheets 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle. 

Making the Strawberry Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Toss berries, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a bowl before spreading them out into a dish or pan to bake for about 20 minutes, flipping berries halfway through. Use an aluminum tray or dish. Bake time may vary depending on the baking vessel and how it conducts heat - metal will be faster than glass, for instance. 
3. Once they have a syrupy consistency, remove from oven and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool in refrigerator. I like to do this step on one day and assemble cookie sandwiches the following.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment — or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer — beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and mix for another 1 minute or until fully combined.
2. Turn off mixer and add salt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to bowl. Mix on low setting to slowly incorporate powdered sugar before increasing to high setting for another 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice if needed to cut sweetness (personal preference).
3. Add finely ground freeze dried strawberries to mixing bowl and mix until well-combined.
4. Put strawberry frosting into a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice (2D forever!).

Assembling your cookie sandwiches

1. Match your cookies in pairs based on their size and set them out on a clear space in front of you.
2. On the flat side of half of all of your cookies, pipe a thick circle of strawberry cream cheese frosting that reaches the edge of the cookie. Depending on the size of your cookies, place 1-3 teaspoons of your roasted strawberry in the middle.
3. Put matching cookie on top to form the sandwich, with the filling and frosting inside. 

Notes

The nutritional values are approximate and can vary based on specific ingredient brands and measurements.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cookie sandwich
• Calories: 407.6 kcal
• Sugar: 43.8 g
• Sodium: 31.7 mg
• Fat: 14.3 g
• Saturated Fat: 8.8 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 5.5 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 65.6 g
• Fiber: 1.5 g
• Protein: 3.1 g
• Cholesterol: 64.7 mg