Strawberry Horchata Cookies (Summer in a Bite)
I often say that my horchata cookie recipe is my favorite recipe I’ve ever developed, but this one gives it a run for its money — and it’s super easy!
This recipe simply builds on the OG by adding crushed freeze-dried strawberries into both the cookie and the frosting, and the result is a cookie that perfectly embodies summer and tastes like a (much fresher) mash-up of Brown Sugar Cinnamon and Strawberry Pop-Tarts!
Yield: 16-18 cookies with frosting
Ingredients
Cookies:
2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar*
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. milk**
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. malted milk powder
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 c. freeze-dried strawberries, crushed
Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, browned
4 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. freeze-dried strawberries, crushed
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream the room-temperature butter with the white and brown sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then, add the vanilla extract, milk, and eggs, making sure to add the eggs one at a time for the best emulsion.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, brown rice flour, malted milk powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Then, stir it into the wet mixture in two batches to prevent the dry ingredients from puffing out of your bowl.
4. Finally, stir in the freeze-dried strawberries that you’ve crushed in a plastic bag or blitzed in the food processor.
5. Using a 1.5-ounce cookie scoop, deposit the cookie dough onto your lined cookie sheet, leaving at least an inch of room between each scoop. I find that 6 scoops are perfect for my 17” x 11.5” pan.
6. Using your hands or the bottom of a glass lightly spritzed with nonstick cooking spray, press the scooped dough down to form even circles. This dough isn’t designed to spread a lot, so you’re helping shape them before they go in the oven. I aim for about half an inch in thickness, but a little more or less won’t hurt.
7. Once each dough scoop has been pressed down, bake for 10-12 minutes until they’re just set. A finger pressed gently on the middle of the cookies should show that they’re soft but not doughy. These are cakier cookies, and you don’t want them to get too hard.
8. While your cookies bake, you can make the brown butter frosting. To start, put your butter in a small sauce pot or pan over medium heat. Then, wait for it to melt, stirring occasionally to ensure the milk solids don’t settle on the bottom of the vessel and burn. After about 5 minutes, you should have delicious brown butter. When it’s done, pour it into a mixing bowl and set it aside to cool.
9. When your brown butter is completely cool (it should begin to turn solid again, like softened room-temperature butter), add half of the powdered sugar and whisk it together with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Once thick and combined, incorporate the vanilla, cinnamon, and milk. Finally, mix in the remaining powdered sugar.
10. Once luscious and silky, stir in the pulverized freeze-dried strawberries. Your frosting will turn slightly pink.
11. When your cookies are completely cool, frost them however you’d like. Piped or spread with a butter knife, it will be a delightful treat that reminds you of warm summer days with refreshing horchata.
*I use homemade brown sugar, though store-bought works just as well. Full instructions for making homemade brown sugar here.
**I bake with oat milk, but other dairy and non-dairy milks work, too.
