Adorable, not too sweet, soft, & chewy pink strawberry sugar cookies decorated with melted chocolate. The cookie dough is made with freeze dried strawberry powder, which takes plain sugar cookies to the next level!

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About these strawberry bear cookies
FAQ
- Can you make these vegan?
- Can I skip the strawberry powder?
Tips for baking and decorating
Storing the cookies

About these strawberry bear cookies

This recipe is based off my Kirby sugar cookies, just in a different shape! You’ll get about 16 strawBEARy cookies, all of which are perfect for your friends and family this upcoming Valentine’s Day. 🙂

Depending on how long you bake them, you can either get super soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, or cookies with a slight chew to them. For these, I opted for soft cookies, so I baked them just until the edges were set. If you want them chewier, bake them 1-3 minutes longer.

PS. If you want that kitchen scale in my video all the way below, you can buy it here. It’s one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment.

If you’re interested in other kawaii cookie recipes I have, check out these recipes!: Bunny Sugar Cookies, Teddy Bear Chocolate Chip Cookies, Keroppi Matcha Sugar Cookies, Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, Soft, Less Sweet Ube Sugar Cookie Bears (Dairy-Free!), Pig-Shaped Snickerdoodles (Vegan), Cat-Shaped Black Cocoa Cookies (Vegan), and Chick-Shaped Lemon Cookies.

Pink strawberry bear cookies on a wire rack

FAQ

Can you make these vegan?

Yes, you can!

Instead of regular butter, you can swap in high quality vegan butter made for baking. Make sure to use a good brand—some brands are very high in water content and melt at lower temperatures, yielding very flat cookies. I recommend brands like Miyokos and Country Crock.

You can also omit the egg. First, follow the recipe up until you add the flour, baking powder/soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients in. If the dough seems too crumbly, add a tablespoon of alternative milk at a time (2-4 tbsp total), until the dough comes together. The finished dough should be thick, but scoopable.

Lastly, you can replace the chocolate for a vegan brand, like Pascha chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.

Can I skip the strawberry powder?

Yes! If you don’t want to use the freeze dried strawberry powder, feel free to omit it entirely and bake as usual.

Still add in pink food coloring if you want pink bears! 🙂

Tips for baking and decorating

Properly measure the flour

I always like to measure my ingredients with a kitchen scale for consistent, accurate results. But if you’re measuring with cups, make sure you follow this tip: gently spoon in the flour into the cup until it’s full, then scrape the excess off using the back of a knife or offset spatula.

If you scoop the cup directly into the flour bag or container, the flour may get compacted, and you will be adding in more flour than necessary. On the other hand, if your flour is clumpy, you could be adding in chunks of flour into the cup with gaps in between them, possibly adding less flour than required. These instances can cause tougher or even really flat cookies, since the proper ratio of dry:wet ingredients isn’t met.

So, for best results, use a scale. If you don’t have one, gently spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup!

Coloring the dough

Although the freeze dried strawberry powder will give the cookies some pink color, it will be pretty lackluster. I recommend adding pink food coloring when mixing the cookie dough to enhance it.

After making the dough, cover it in plastic wrap. Then, leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the dough hardens up a bit. This will make shaping easier.

Shaping the dough

For each bear, you’ll want to use a small cookie scoop, or gather about 1 ½ tbsp of dough. Shape it into a ball, roll it into granulated sugar, and place it onto your lined baking tray. Repeat for about 16 cookies, making sure you have some left over for the ears.

For the ears, take about 1 tsp of dough, and split it into two equally sized pieces. Roll into balls and place on the tops of the bears’ heads.

Decorating with melted chocolate

You can use a piping bag, cookie scribe, or toothpick to add on the details. I used a toothpick.

First, use the melted white chocolate to add the snouts and ears. Reserve the leftover white chocolate for the blush.

Then, use dark or milk chocolate to add the eyes and nose.

When dying white chocolate pink or red for the blush, you’ll want to use oil-based food coloring or the chocolate will seize up and become lumpy. However, if you don’t have oil-based food coloring, you can try mixing in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time! The chocolate should come back together. Maaagic.

Storing the cookies

Store these pink cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week!

I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these strawberry cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy! 🙂

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4.67 from 9 votes

StrawBEARy Sugar Cookies

Course Dessert

Keyword animal cookie, bear cookie, bear cookies, bear shaped cookies, character cookie, character cookies, cookie, cookies, gourmet cookie, kirby, kirby cookie, Strawberry cookie, strawberry cookies, strawberry sugar cookie, strawberry sugar cookies, sugar cookie, sugar cookies, teddy bear cookie, teddy cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 11

Resting time 30

Total Time 1 1

Servings cookies

Author Bites by Bianca

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (180g)
3 tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder (18g)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
food coloring (pink)

Wet ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 stick butter/8 tbsp)
¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
¼ cup light or dark brown sugar (50g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

For rolling:

2 tbsp granulated sugar (25g)

Decoration for face:

1 tbsp melted milk or dark chocolate
3 tbsp melted white chocolate
oil-based food coloring, see steps (pink/red)

Instructions

For the cookie dough:

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, freeze dried strawberry powder, baking powder baking soda, and salt.
In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (can alternatively use hand mixer or whisk), mix the butter and sugars on medium speed until combined. Scrape bottom of bowl. Add vanilla and egg and mix again. Mix in pink food coloring.
Dump in all of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add more pink food coloring as needed.
Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. This will let the flour hydrate and let the butter firm up again, yielding chewier cookies. The dough will also be easier to work with. 🙂
Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a small bowl, add granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
Use small cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½ tablespoon each). Shape into a ball and roll in granulated sugar. Place onto lined baking tray. Repeat for about 15 more cookies, making sure you have some left over for the ears. Place cookies about 3 inches apart.
For the ears, take about 1 tsp of dough, and split it into two equally sized pieces. Roll into balls and place on the tops of the bears’ heads.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. For soft cookies, bake them until the edges are set and firm. For chewier ones, bake for 1-3 more minutes.
Let cool on pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack. Let cool completely.

For the bear faces:

You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used a toothpick.
Use melted white chocolate to draw on the snouts and ears. Dye the leftover chocolate pink or red for the blush.
If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
Use melted milk or dark chocolate for the eyes and noses.
Enjoy!

Notes

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
To make it vegan, swap in a high quality vegan butter and vegan chocolate (suggestions listed in this blog post). Omit the egg. Follow the recipe accordingly up until you add in the dries. If the dough seems crumbly, add in a tbsp of alternative milk (2-4 tbsp total) at a time until the dough comes together. It should be thick, but scoopable. In addition, you can use a vegan chocolate brand like Pascha Chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.