Strawberry Jam Cookies
These Strawberry Jam Cookies have little pockets of fruity jam and bursts of bright lemon in every bite. The perfect chewy, melt in your mouth cookie with all the Spring flavors.
Why You’ll Love Strawberry Jam Cookies
- A taste of spring. I love making these cookies right before the season changes. It gives me hope for warmth and longer days to come, as silly as that sounds.
- No eggs needed. If you’re already vegan, no need to worry. But if you are part of the crowd that is suffering from the current price of eggs, consider this method a fun alternative to traditional cookie recipes.
- Make it your way. Try this with different fruit alternatives to help change it up and keep these cookies exciting to you.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter: My preferred butter to use for cookies like these are either Miyoko’s Salted Cultured Butter or Country Crock’s Salted Plant Based Butter (the avocado oil based one is great).
- Sugar: I used a combination of both granulated sugar and light brown sugar.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon is needed for the zest.
- Yogurt: I tested this recipe with both a soy (Silk) and cashew (Forager Project) based yogurt. When choosing a yogurt, try to go for varieties that are plain! Flavored yogurts will alter the taste and sweetness of these cookies.
- Flour: I used unbleached, all-purpose flour. Try to stick to this recommendation as I have not tested this recipe using other flour alternatives.
- Preserves or Jam: I used some strawberry preserves for these cookies, but you can try this with a variety of different jam flavors that you love. For example, a blueberry version of these cookies is absolutely delicious.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: These can be optional if you don’t have them available to you. Feel free to use a different fruit variety if changing the type of jam you use. For example, if you use an apricot jam, feel free to dice up some dried apricots to add into the cookie dough.
- Baking Soda: We are using baking soda for our cookies as the brown sugar is acidic and will react with our leavening agent.
How to Make Strawberry Jam Cookies
To a mixing bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest then rub them together with your fingers until fragrant and well combined.
Add in the brown sugar and butter then cream them together using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix with the hand mixer for 1-2 mins.
To a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda, and salt, then whisk together to combine.
Pour the flour into the bowl of wet ingredients, and with a rubber spatula mix until just combined.
Add the freeze-dried strawberries and carefully fold into the batter. Scatter about 3 tablespoons of the jam over the dough, then use your spatula to cut it into the dough a few times to incorporate (do not over mix). Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 2 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F. Scoop the dough using a large cookie scoop (1.5 oz scoop) and place on a parchment lined baking tray, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie.
Bake in the oven for 11-13 mins or until the edges are slightly golden.
Carefully smack the tray against the counter 1-3 times. Allow the cookies to cool and firm up before enjoying.
Expert Tips
- Chill your dough. This will help control the spread and also help develop a deeper flavor to your cookie. Chilling the dough in the fridge for 2 hours is ideal, but in the very least try for 30 minutes if you feel you can’t wait.
- Avoid over mixing. Over mixing will lead to a tough cookie. Just fold your ingredients together enough that the flour is incorporated.
- Change up the fruit flavor. Feel free to try this with different jams, freeze-dried fruits, or dried fruits. There are a number of different combos that can work here based on what is available to you.
- Use a kitchen scale. For best results, use a kitchen scale to measure your sugars, flours, etc. This will help prevent you from measuring too much or too little of an ingredient, which can impact the final result of your cookie. For example, if you use too much flour, your cookie may not spread and will also likely be drier and denser in texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
When the cookies come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter or mug that can fit around the cookie and swirl it around the edges of the cookies a few times. Since the cookie is still soft and warm, the edges of the cookie should still be easy to reshape into a perfect circle.
Chilling your dough does two important things. One, it helps to firm up the dough, which helps control the spread of your cookies. Two, it helps the flour in the dough time to hydrate, which leads to a chewier and tastier cookie.
Yes! You can either scoop and roll your dough balls on to a small plate and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe bag, remove as much excess air as you can, then leave in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also bake off the cookies and freeze. I freeze the cookies on a small baking tray or plate after they cool, then transfer to a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Currently, I have not tested this cookie using a gluten-free flour. However, cookies can generally be forgiving when it comes to swapping with appropriate flours. If you do want to make these gluten-free, I would recommend using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour. My recommended brands for this would be King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill. If using different brands, make sure that your flour includes a xanthan gum in the ingredient list as this helps to bind everything in your recipe together.
Make It Balanced
It is okay to enjoy a treat as a treat without overthinking it. However, if you are trying to enjoy a treat without spiking your blood glucose out of control, consider pairing that cookie with any of the following:
- Protein: Tear the cookie into chunks and serve over some higher protein plant-based yogurt like Kite Hills Greek Style yogurt or Silk’s soy based yogurt. The protein helps to improve blood sugar control.
- Fiber: This may help to further slow down digestion, which can help improve blood sugar control. This can look like a handful of berries.
- Movement: If you are physically able to, try walking after your snack or meal. This study and this study show the benefits of walking to help better control blood sugar after a meal.
More Sweet Plant-Based Treats
- Apple Streusel Galette
- Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Hotteok Cookies
- Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
- Homemade Vegan Nutella
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
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Strawberry Jam Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chill Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 33 minutes
- Yield: 9 cookies 1x
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Strawberry Jam Cookies have little pockets of fruity jam and bursts of bright lemon in every bite. The perfect chewy, melt in your mouth cookie with all the Spring flavors.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (51g)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar (77g)
- 1/2 cup plant-based butter (room temperature), 1 stick (113g)
- 3 tbsp plain plant-based yogurt (40g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (177g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup freeze-dried strawberries, crushed
- 3–4 tbsp strawberry jam/preserves
Instructions
- To a mixing bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest then rub them together with your fingers until fragrant and well combined.
- Add in the brown sugar and butter then cream them together using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix with the hand mixer for 1-2 mins.
- To a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda, and salt, then whisk together to combine.
- Pour the flour into the bowl of wet ingredients, and with a rubber spatula mix until just combined.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries and carefully fold into the batter. Scatter about 3 tablespoons of the jam over the dough, then use your spatula to cut it into the dough a few times to incorporate (do not over mix). Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F. Scoop the dough using a large cookie scoop (1.5 oz scoop) and place on a parchment lined baking tray, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Bake in the oven for 11-13 mins or until the edges are slightly golden.
- Carefully smack the tray against the counter 1-3 times. Allow the cookies to cool and firm up before enjoying.
Notes
Chill your dough. This will help control the spread and also help develop a deeper flavor to your cookie. Chilling the dough in the fridge for 2 hours is ideal, but in the very least try for 30 minutes if you feel you can’t wait.
Avoid over mixing. Over mixing will lead to a tough cookie. Just fold your ingredients together enough that the flour is incorporated.
Change up the fruit flavor. Feel free to try this with different jams, freeze-dried fruits, or dried fruits. There are a number of different combos that can work here based on what is available to you.
Use a kitchen scale. For best results, use a kitchen scale to measure your sugars, flours, etc. This will help prevent you from measuring too much or too little of an ingredient, which can impact the final result of your cookie. For example, if you use too much flour, your cookie may not spread and will also likely be drier and denser in texture.
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