A fun and playful spin on blossom cookies for the summer, these Strawberry Ice Cream Blossom Cookies are bursting with flavor and the perfect cookie for the summertime. This recipe includes 3 different flavors for a Neapolitan style treat but can also be made in any combination instead.
So, this recipe started as an idea after my mom showed me a blossom cookie made with strawberry Hershey’s Kisses. I wasn’t familiar with them, but sure enough they started showing up in the stores a week or two later as a limited time summer release. I bought some and tried 1-2 to see how they tasted and what I could come up with for a cookie idea. The original idea started easy enough and kept getting more ambitious until I ended up with 3 different cookies from one batter. They went over really well at work though, so now I’m sharing the recipe with everyone.
The base of the recipe uses my Easter cream cheese blossom recipe, which is split into 3 batters and turned into a vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry version of the cookie. All 3 versions have crushed waffle cones and white sanding sugar as well, and are topped with the strawberry ice cream Kisses, but you can use regular Kisses as well if you have trouble finding the strawberry ones.
Ingredients for Strawberry Ice Cream Blossoms
The recipe makes 3 different flavors of cookies, but I’ll also include instructions for making just a single flavor as well. The strawberry ice cream Hershey’s Kisses are used here, but feel free to use any flavor you like for a year-round version.
Flour – All-purpose flour for the base of the cookie.
Baking Powder – Just a bit for a slight rise and added tenderness.
Butter – Unsalted butter at room temperature. If you use salted, omit the salt in the directions.
Cream Cheese – A little bit at room temperature in place of more butter, adds a tang and creaminess to the finished cookies.
Sugar – White granulated sugar as well as brown sugar (light or dark) for added moisture.
Egg – 1 large egg at room temperature.
Vanilla & Almond Extract – You can omit the almond if you don’t care for it, but it does give just a little more flavor, especially to the vanilla ones.
Freeze-Dried Strawberries – Adds a huge punch of strawberry flavor without the added liquid that fresh or frozen strawberries provide. A typical bag contains 1oz, so half the bag will do.
Cocoa Powder – Regular, not Dutch-processed for the chocolate cookies.
Waffle Cones – Cones or bowls will work; you’ll crush some by hand and fold them into the dough.
Sanding Sugar – I used white sanding sugar to roll the dough in before baking. Sanding sugar has slightly larger crystals and it doesn’t melt while baking, which I found gave the cookies an appearance that reminds me of frozen, scooped ice cream. You could also just use regular, granulated sugar though. The picture below shows the difference between white sanding sugar and granulated white sugar on all 3 cookies, with the sanding sugar on the top 3 cookies.
How to Make Strawberry Ice Cream Blossom Cookies
Start by taking a ½ oz of freeze-dried strawberries (about ½ a standard 1oz bag) and pulsing them in a food processor or coffee/spice grinder until reduced to powder and set aside. (You can do this by hand, if necessary, but it will take more work getting them all broken up.) Then take 4-6 waffle cones and crush with a rolling pin or meat pounder (anything heavy will work) until you have around 1 cup worth of crumbs and set aside. Basically, you want the strawberries to be powder, but the waffle cone to be small pieces.
In a mixing bowl with a hand-mixer, or in the bowl of a stand-mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the butter and continue beating on med-high until well combined, about a minute or two more. Add the white and brown sugars and cream on med speed until you have a light and fluffy mixture, about 2 minutes. Finally, add the egg, ½ teaspoon of almond extract, and 1 ½ teaspoons of the divided vanilla extract. Beat in slowly until the egg is incorporated, turning the speed up higher until fully mixed, about 1 minute. Set the wet mixture aside.
Using 3 separate mixing bowls (or any large bowls you have), divide the flour into 1 cup in each bowl, then remove about 2 tablespoons of flour from two of the bowls and add it to the 3rd bowl (this will be your vanilla batter). Add a ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ a teaspoon of baking powder into each bowl. Add the strawberry powder to one of the bowls, and the cocoa powder to the other (these should both be bowls you removed a little flour from) and then whisk each bowl until everything is well combined.
Fully whipped, you should have roughly 3 cups worth of the wet mixture, split that into 3 1-cup portions. Working with one batch at a time, add one of the bowls of dry mixture to 1 cup of the wet mixture and mix on low then med speed until well combined. For the vanilla batter, add the divided ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once all 3 cookie doughs have been mixed, fold in the waffle cone pieces with a rubber spatula in each of the bowls. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes to an hour.
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Add your sanding sugar to a bowl and set aside.
Using a 1 tablespoon measure or cookie scoop, scoop the dough and shape into a smooth ball in your hand. Roll the cookie dough in your sugar and place on the baking sheet. The cookies won’t spread much at all, so you should be able to fit 15-20 cookies on a sheet. Once the baking sheet is full, use a glass or measuring cup and press down on the tops of the cookies. You don’t need to smush them, just flatten the top and bottom slightly. This will help the cookies retain their shape and they’re less likely to crack when you press the Kisses into them.
Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. They don’t gain much color, so you may want to make a small test batch to see how long they take in your oven first. Normally I’m a fan of placing the Kisses into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, but since the strawberry ice cream Kisses melt more easily, I recommend letting them cool at least 4-5 minutes first and transferring to a cooling rack.
How to Make a Single Flavor Alternative
Almost everything you do will be the same process, but you don’t need to divide the dry and wet mixtures into 3 bowls.
Vanilla – When you add the egg and extracts, use the whole 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of dividing it.
Chocolate – Up the cocoa powder from a ¼ cup to a ½ cup. Remove ⅓ cup of flour from the 3 cups called for as well.
Strawberry – Use and turn the entire 1oz package of freeze-dried strawberries into powder. Remove ⅓ cup of flour from the 3 cups called for also. The strawberry flavor is very pronounced, so if you’d rather keep it to a “hint” of strawberry, use only ½ the 1oz bag.
How to Store Strawberry Ice Cream Blossom Cookies
The cookies will keep at room temperature and covered for 4-5 days.
Once cooled completely, you can also transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2-3 months before they start losing flavor.
📋 Recipe
Strawberry Ice Cream Blossom Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese (block type), at room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, divided
- ½ oz freeze-dried strawberries, (half a standard 1oz bag), crushed into powder
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 4-6 waffle cones, (about 1 cup total), crushed into pieces
- 1 bag Strawberry Ice Cream Kisses
- White sanding sugar, for rolling in
Directions
- Start by taking a ½ oz of freeze-dried strawberries (about ½ a standard 1oz bag) and pulsing them in a food processor or coffee/spice grinder until reduced to powder and set aside. (You can do this by hand, if necessary, but it will take more work getting them all broken up.) Then take 4-6 waffle cones and crush with a rolling pin or meat pounder (anything heavy will work) until you have around 1 cup worth of crumbs and set aside. Basically, you want the strawberries to be powder, but the waffle cone to be small pieces.
- In a mixing bowl with a hand-mixer, or in the bowl of a stand-mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the butter and continue beating on med-high until well combined, about a minute or two more. Add the white and brown sugars and cream on med speed until you have a light and fluffy mixture, about 2 minutes. Finally, add the egg, ½ teaspoon of almond extract, and 1 ½ teaspoons of the divided vanilla extract. Beat in slowly until the egg is incorporated, turning the speed up higher until fully mixed, about 1 minute. Set the wet mixture aside.
- Using 3 separate mixing bowls (or any large bowls you have), divide the flour into 1 cup in each bowl, then remove about 2 tablespoons of flour from two of the bowls and add it to the 3rd bowl (this will be your vanilla batter). Add a ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ a teaspoon of baking powder into each bowl. Add the strawberry powder to one of the bowls, and the cocoa powder to the other (these should both be bowls you removed a little flour from) and then whisk each bowl until everything is well combined.
- Fully whipped, you should have roughly 3 cups worth of the wet mixture, split that into 3 1-cup portions. Working with one batch at a time, add one of the bowls of dry mixture to 1 cup of the wet mixture and mix on low then med speed until well combined. For the vanilla batter, add the divided ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once all 3 cookie doughs have been mixed, fold in the waffle cone pieces with a rubber spatula in each of the bowls. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Add your sanding sugar to a bowl and set aside.
- Using a 1 tablespoon measure or cookie scoop, scoop the dough and shape into a smooth ball in your hand. Roll the cookie dough in your sugar and place on the baking sheet. The cookies won’t spread much at all, so you should be able to fit 15-20 cookies on a sheet. Once the baking sheet is full, use a glass or measuring cup and press down on the tops of the cookies. You don’t need to smush them, just flatten the top and bottom slightly. This will help the cookies retain their shape and they’re less likely to crack when you press the Kisses into them.
- Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. They don’t gain much color, so you may want to make a small test batch to see how long they take in your oven first. Normally I’m a fan of placing the Kisses into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven, but since the strawberry ice cream Kisses melt more easily, I recommend letting them cool at least 4-5 minutes first and transferring to a cooling rack.
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