These Chocolate Strawberry Cookies take everything I love about chocolate-covered strawberries and turn it into one giant bakery-style cookie. Rich chocolate and sweet, slightly tart strawberries just belong together, so naturally I had to see what would happen when I combined them in one of my extra-large cookies.
They start with a rich chocolate cookie dough filled with semi-sweet chocolate chips and pieces of freeze-dried strawberries. Then I tuck a frozen strawberry chocolate truffle right into the middle.
Once they’re baked, I drizzle them with even more chocolate because, at that point, why stop?
The result is a thick, soft chocolate cookie with little bursts of real strawberry and a creamy chocolate-strawberry truffle hiding inside.
Why Freeze-Dried Strawberries Work So Well
For these Chocolate Strawberry Cookies, I use freeze-dried strawberries instead of fresh strawberries because fresh berries add quite a bit of moisture to cookie dough.
Freeze-dried strawberries give me concentrated strawberry flavor without changing the texture of the cookie. I like to roughly chop them instead of turning them into powder so there are little pockets of tart strawberry throughout the chocolate dough. If you’re new to using freeze-dried fruit, King Arthur Baking has a helpful guide to baking with freeze-dried fruit that explains some of the different ways you can use it.
They also add pretty pops of red against the dark chocolate cookie, which makes these especially fun for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, or anytime you’re craving chocolate and strawberries.
The Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Center
This might be my favorite part of the whole cookie.
The center is a simple chocolate ganache made with semi-sweet chocolate, heavy cream, vanilla, and strawberry extract. Once the ganache has chilled enough to scoop, I roll it into little balls and freeze them.
Freezing the truffle centers makes them much easier to wrap inside the cookie dough and helps keep that gooey chocolate center where it belongs while the cookies bake.
Strawberry extract can vary quite a bit from one brand to another, so I recommend starting with a little and tasting as you go. I want the center to taste like chocolate and strawberry, not strawberry candy.
Chocolate Strawberry Cookies Recipe
Yield: Approximately 24–27 extra-large 5-ounce cookies
Bake Temperature: 325°F at higher altitude
Bake Time: Approximately 16–18 minutes
Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Centers
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¾ tsp strawberry extract, or to taste
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Chocolate Strawberry Cookie Dough
- 3 cups packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup margarine, melted and slightly cooled
- 5 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tsp strawberry extract, to taste
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp salt
- 1½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5½–7 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, more if needed
- 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1½–2 cups freeze-dried strawberries, roughly chopped
For Topping
- Additional semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Additional freeze-dried strawberry pieces, optional
- Melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate, for drizzling
- Fresh strawberries for serving, optional
Instructions
- Make the strawberry truffle centers. Place the finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate in a heat-safe bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream until hot and steaming, but don’t let it boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for about 2 minutes.
- Gently stir until the chocolate has completely melted and the ganache is smooth. Let it cool slightly, then stir in the strawberry extract, vanilla, and salt. Taste and add a little more strawberry extract if needed.
- Refrigerate the ganache for approximately 30–60 minutes, or until firm enough to scoop.
- Scoop the ganache into approximately 2-teaspoon portions and roll into balls. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet or plate and freeze for at least 30 minutes, or until very firm.
- Make the cookie dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, melted margarine, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and well combined.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons strawberry extract. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and 5½ cups flour. Mix until a soft chocolate dough begins to form.
- Gradually add additional flour as needed until the dough is soft but no longer sticky. You may not need the full 7 cups. If the dough becomes too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- Taste a small amount of dough. If you’d like a stronger strawberry flavor, add the remaining teaspoon of strawberry extract.
- Gently fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips and roughly chopped freeze-dried strawberries.
- Portion enough dough to make approximately a 5-ounce finished cookie. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place one frozen strawberry chocolate truffle in the center.
- Bring the dough completely around the truffle and seal it well. Make sure none of the ganache is exposed.
- Shape into a thick cookie and press additional chocolate chips and a few pieces of freeze-dried strawberry into the top, if desired.
- Bake one test cookie first. At my higher altitude, I bake these at 325°F for approximately 16–18 minutes. The edges should be set while the center still looks slightly soft.
- Let the test cookie rest on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Check the texture and adjust the flour or baking time if needed before baking the rest of the batch.
- Bake the remaining cookies and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies have cooled slightly, drizzle the tops with melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate.
Wendy’s Tips & Notes
Use freeze-dried strawberries, not fresh. Fresh strawberries release too much moisture into the cookie dough. I save the fresh strawberries for serving or making the finished cookies look extra pretty.
Don’t pulverize the strawberries. Roughly chopped pieces give you those little bursts of real strawberry flavor throughout the chocolate cookie.
Keep the truffle centers frozen. Leave them in the freezer until you’re ready to stuff the cookies. They’re much easier to completely enclose when they’re firm.
Start with the lower amount of flour. I start with 5½ cups and add more only until the dough is soft but no longer sticky. If you accidentally add too much and the dough becomes dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
Bake one test cookie. I always recommend doing this with my extra-large cookies, and it’s especially helpful with a stuffed cookie. You can adjust the flour or baking time before committing to the whole batch.
Don’t overbake them. Chocolate cookies can be difficult to judge by color, so watch the edges instead. The centers should still be soft when they come out of the oven and will continue setting as they cool.
If you freeze the finished cookies, place a frozen cookie in a cool oven, turn the oven to 350°F, and warm it for about 8–12 minutes. It brings back that soft cookie texture and wonderfully gooey truffle center.
These Chocolate Strawberry Cookies have everything I was hoping for when I started playing around with this idea: rich chocolate, tart pieces of real strawberry, melty chocolate chips, and a surprise strawberry chocolate truffle tucked right into the middle.
Basically, it’s a chocolate-covered strawberry in giant cookie form.
Making every house feel a little more like home.
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