Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cups Recipe

These easy strawberry shortcake cookie cups combine two of the best summer picnic staples into one heavenly bite.

Chewy, refined sugar free cookie cups filled with homemade whipped cream and finished with bright, fresh strawberries. Sounds like a dream come true, right? If you only make one recipe for this month’s #SummerFruitDesserts baking challenge, this is it. This Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cups recipe is not only quick and easy to prepare, but the final result will magically transport you to sunny summer picnics in the park.

Even if, like me, you’re currently staring out the window at gale force winds and buckets of rain.

Seriously, London, what is up with that?

What are cookie cups?

Cookie cups cleverly combine two desserts into one: a chewy, crispy-edged cookie filled with whatever other dessert you’re craving. Simply make your favourite cookie base – for these Strawberry Shortcake Cookie cups, I chose simple vanilla sugar cookies, but you could do chocolate chip, double chocolate, cake batter, anything goes! – and fill with a flavoured filling of choice.

I don’t know why I’ve never thought to make these before! They’re portable, a breeze to make, don’t require any chilling, and you get to eat two desserts in one go. I don’t know how these could get any better.

How to make sugar cookie cups

While it might look finicky, I assure you that making cookie cups is simple and quick. You’ll need a muffin tray, your favourite refined sugar free cookie dough, and a round tablespoon measure or small jar. Here’s how to do it:

1. Spray the cavities of your muffin tray with a non-stick oil spray. I use a rapeseed oil spritz.
2. Plop 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough into each cavity and press it down to fill the hole, ensuring a smooth top.
3. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops and sides are a light golden brown.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and press the tablespoon measure into the centre of each cookie to create a well.
5. Leave the cookie cups to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before you remove them to a wire rack and fill.

Tips for making these strawberry shortcake cookie cups

While this cookie cups recipe is fairly straight-forward and easy, there’s a couple of tricks I learned while baking the first few test batches that I want to share with you. That way, we can all achieve Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cup happiness!

While this dough won’t need any chilling time (hooray!), you will need to make sure your ingredients are at the optimum temperature. That means butter that isn’t too soft or too hard – it should be squeezable, but not liquidy. (I demonstrate this in my Baking How-To’s Instagram highlight, if you need a visual reference.)

Similarly, ensure your eggs are at room temperature before adding them to the batter or the dough will curdle.

Make sure you grease your muffin tin cavities liberally. I had one batch that stuck so horribly that the bottoms ripped off when I turned them out. Doh!

Don’t over or under-fill the tin; 2 tablespoons of dough is perfect. If you overfill the cavities, the centre of the cookies won’t cook at all. While the centres of the cups should be underdone when you take them out of the oven (this helps achieve a chewy cookie), they shouldn’t be completely raw.

As always with refined sugar free baking, have a piece of aluminum foil on hand while they’re in the oven. Natural sugars will burn more easily than refined sugar. In all of my tests, these cookie cups started to go a little too dark on top for my liking around the 8-minute mark. Chucking a layer of foil over top at that point guaranteed they stayed a light brown.

One you’ve pressed your wells into the cookie cups, leave them in the tin for at least 10 minutes to cool. Do not touch them! This part is vital to ensuring the cookie cups keep their shape once turned out.

Use fresh, local strawberries for the best flavour. You’re only using a couple of basic ingredients for the filling here, so you might as well be using the best! Also, this is a fresh fruit series, so why wouldn’t you take advantage of the beautiful summer produce while you can?!

How to enter the #SummerFruitDesserts month giveaway – CLOSED

If you missed last week’s Apricot Upside Down Cake post, I’m holding a baking challenge this month to celebrate the advent of summer fruit. You can bake one (or all four!) of the recipes I publish this month and be entered for a chance to win a £/$50 Amazon gift card!

These Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cups are the second recipe in this series. Complete contest details are available here.

I hope you love this cookie cups recipe as much as I do. They taste surprisingly similar to a traditional strawberry shortcake but are much easier to bake and bring to a summer party or barbecue!

Happy weekending, friends!

Looking for more easy refined sugar free desserts?

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Parfaits
• Cookie Dough Protein Truffles
• Honey & Lemon Shortbread Bars
• Frozen Margarita Tart

5 from 2 votes

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Strawberry Shortcake Cookie Cups

This easy strawberry shortcake cookie cups recipe combines a chewy refined sugar free cookie, fresh strawberries, and homemade whipped cream into one heavenly bite.

Category Cookies

Keyword cookie cups recipe

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Serves 20

Author Amanda | Naturally Sweet Kitchen

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Cups

• 350 g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 226 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 140 g unpasteurised honey
• 100 g raw cane sugar
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Whipped Cream

• 500 ml double cream
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 10-12 fresh strawberries sliced in half lengthwise

Method

Sugar Cookie Cups

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and liberally grease a 12-cup muffin tray with non-stick spray or butter.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, honey, and sugar together on a medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the egg and vanilla and reduce the mixing speed to medium, beating to incorporate well.
5. Shuffle in the dry ingredients in two parts, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Drop 2 tablespoon size balls of dough into each muffin tray cavity and press down to level the tops. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges and top. Keep a layer of aluminum foil on hand and check they aren’t browning too much around the 8-minute mark. If they are, cover with foil to avoid burning.
7. Remove the muffin tray to a wire rack and use a rounded tablespoon measure to press wells into the centre of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool in the tray for at least 10 minutes before flipping them out onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

Whipped Cream

1. Pour the cream, vanilla extract, and agave nectar into a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand whisk on medium-high until firm peaks form.
2. Ladle the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle (I used M1).
3. Once your cookie cups have cooled completely, pipe the whipped cream into each of the cup cavities and top each with a half a strawberry. Serve immediately.

Notes

• Cookie cup recipe adapted from Liv for Cake.
• These cookie cups are best served the day they are made.
• If left unfilled, the cookie cups will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.