Vegan Strawberries & Cream Chewy Cookies

Soft, chewy and speckled with strawberries and vegan white chocolate chips. So easy, no chilling required, and can be made even before strawberry season. The secret to the bursts of strawberry flavor (without soggy cookies) is that we use freeze-dried strawberries in this recipe. Paired with the creamy sweetness from white chocolate, these vegan cookies are a delicious treat!

The reason I chose freeze-dried strawberries is that they don’t contribute any moisture to the cookies. Fresh strawberries will release their juices once they start heating up in the oven and the cookies will end up with soggy bits. Not what we’re after! The freeze-dried strawberries have a really intense strawberry flavor, so a little goes a long way. After all, the only thing they are missing is their water – everything else has been preserved including their amazing flavor.

Now the second star ingredient – the white chocolate. Vegan white chocolate can be found in many grocery stores now, and online. It tastes and acts just like the dairy kinds. For this recipe I ended up going with vegan white chocolate chips. I had tried using white chocolate chunks, but found that it led to overspreading of the cookies while they baked and the cookies tasted much sweeter. This is likely because when chopped into chunks, you’re getting lots of tiny pieces or white chocolate dust in addition to the bigger chunks. The little bits and chocolate dust distribute evenly through the dough, and because they are made with fat, it melts creating more opportunity for spreading. The chips worked much better both in terms of flavor and eggless cookie structure.

As mentioned, there’s no chilling required! Once the dough is made, measure 2 tablespoons per cookie and roll the dough into balls. Flatten gently with the palm of your hand, and bake!

Tips for Perfect Vegan Strawberries & Cream Chewy Cookies:

Have your vegan butter and plant-based milk at room temperature. This ensures even blending.

Use vegan butter baking sticks. Tub-style vegan butter has more water in it and melts at a lower temperature. Coconut oil-based baking sticks may work but I have not tested them in this recipe. Coconut oil also melts at a lower temperature than vegan butter baking sticks. The problem with the other 2 types of vegan butter is that the dough may then need to be chilled before baking. And even if it is chilled, the cookies may still spread too much and be thin. I plan on testing using different vegan butter styles, and will edit this post when I do.

Measure your flour correctly. The most accurate way is to weigh the flour. I used 192 grams in this recipe. If you don’t have a reliable kitchen scale, scoop the flour with a spoon into a dry measuring cup (not a liquid measuring cup with a spout), and then level off the flour with a knife. Scooping flour with a measuring cup creates a lot of variability in the amount of flour used. Too much, and the cookies will be less chewy and perhaps even tough and crumbly, and too little the cookies spread too much and will be really thin and delicate.

Don’t skip the cornstarch. I use it for 2 reasons: it helps bind the cookie dough where we aren’t using eggs. Second, it helps create a lovely soft, chewy texture in these cookies.

Don’t reduce or substitute the sugar. It is key in the spreading and chewy texture.

Use freeze-dried strawberries, not fresh ones. See my comments earlier in this post about the water in fresh strawberries. Freeze-dried strawberries are available year round and have an amazing, intense taste.

Dairy-free white chocolate chips can be found in many stores and pharmacies, as well as online for similar pricing as the dairy versions.

Don’t over-mix the dough. Over-mixing once the flour is added can result in tough cookies.

Bake the cookies just until the sides and bottoms are golden. The centers will look soft and not yet golden. If the cookies are left to bake until they are all golden, they will be crunchy. and over-baked.

If you need to use 2 baking trays, bake one at a time. Baking them both at once will result in uneven baking.

If you make these vegan Strawberries & Cream Chewy Cookies, please give them a rating in the recipe card and leave a comment below! Follow along on Instagram where you can tag me in your creations using my recipes! You can also follow me on Pinterest for vegan recipe inspiration and on Facebook. Thank you for reading

The Nutrition Information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the Nutrition Information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.

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