These scrumptious strawberry cheesecake sourdough cookies are one of the best ways to use up freeze-dried strawberries! The cookies are sweet and chewy, and they’re filled with a soft, semi-sweet cheesecake filling that is sure to satisfy your cheesecake cravings! It’s the perfect blend of tartness, sweetness, and creaminess, all in one delicious bite.

Supplies

Ingredients

For the Filling:

8oz cream cheese, softened (226g)
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar (150g)

For the Cookie Dough:

1 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed (290g)
1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature (113g)
1/2 cup sourdough starter discard, stirred down (150g)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract (10g)
1/2 tsp. sea salt (3g)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (210g)
1 tsp. baking soda (6g)
1oz package of freeze dried strawberries (28g)
Optional topping: vanilla wafers (I like these organic vanilla wafers)

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Use a small cook i e scoop to divide into 12 equal scoops on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place them in the freezer and move on to the next steps.

In a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer, cream the brown sugar and soft butter together until smooth. Add the sourdough starter discard, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt, and beat well to combine.

Add the all-purpose flour, and slowly mix until almost combined. Sprinkle in the baking soda and stir just until combined (be careful not to over-mix the dough).

Lightly crush the freeze dried strawberries in the package, and then add them in. Stir to distribute, being careful not to over-mix.

Using the large dough scoop, divide dough into 12 equal scoops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and use a small spoon to create a divot in the center of each ball of dough. Then, refrigerate the pan for at least 30 minutes to firm up the dough.

While it’s chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Once the cookie dough is firm enough to work with, take your cream cheese balls out of the freezer, and place one cream cheese ball in the center of each cookie dough divot.

Working quickly, use your hands to spread the dough around the cream cheese ball, so that the cream cheese is completely inside each ball of dough.

Evenly space 6 of the cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet (dough will spread when it’s baked). Top with crushed vanilla wafers (if using).

Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until the edges are slightly crisp and the center is cooked but still soft. You may choose to bake a little longer for a crunchier cookie.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for about 8 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. You can enjoy immediately, or my personal favorite is to refrigerate until chilled through and serve cold! That provides the best cheesecake flavor and texture in my opinion. Enjoy!

Substitutions

You can substitute dark brown sugar for the light brown sugar if that is what you have on hand.
If you only have unsalted butter, you can use it in place of the salted butter, and then just add 1/4 tsp. additional salt to the recipe.
If all you have is active sourdough starter, you can use it in the recipe! Just make sure to stir it down before measuring.
You can experiment with other freeze-dried berries for this, such as blueberries, raspberries, or cherries! These will all offer different versions of the strawberry cheesecake sourdough cookies.

Can I freeze cookie dough?

Yes! You can freeze unbaked dough for strawberry cheesecake sourdough cookies for later use. To bake straight from the freezer, add 1-2 additional minutes to the bake time. Alternatively, it would be best to let the dough come to fridge temperature before baking.

How to Make Long Fermented Sourdough Cookies

In order to have a long-fermented sourdough cookie, you will need to make the dough in advance. Simply follow the cookie dough directions including shaping the dough into scoops with the divot, but then cover and refrigerate the scoops of dough for 3-4 days to allow enough time for the sourdough starter to ferment or “sour” the grains. This provides both flavor and health benefits!

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, remove the long-fermented dough from the fridge, and continue with the steps of placing the cream cheese balls inside the dough, topping with wafers, and baking.