Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

These strawberry rose snickerdoodles are your favorite snickerdoodles, but with a unique twist! The cookies are inspired by Middle Eastern desserts and flavors. First, the buttery snickerdoodle cookie dough is flavored with delicate, floral rosewater. Then, to match the rosewater, each cookie is then rolled in strawberry sugar! Instead of using traditional cinnamon sugar, make strawberry sugar by blitzing freeze-dried strawberries and granulated sugar together in a food processor. Although these cookies are the perfect Valentine’s Day treat, they can be easily customized for any occasion. Learn more in the blog post!

What is a snickerdoodle?

But hold the phone. What even are snickerdoodles, anyway?

Traditionally, snickerdoodles are sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar gives the cookies their distinct flavor, texture, and appearance. Some food historians argue that sugar cookies recipes use baking powder to leaven the cookies, while snickerdoodles recipes use cream of tartar instead.

You can see more traditional versions with My Best Snickerdoodle Recipe and this Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream of Tartar. But today we’re flavoring these snickerdoodles with strawberry and rose!  

What do strawberry rose snickerdoodles taste like?

First, let’s rewind: a classic snickerdoodle should taste like a sugar cookie. However, it’s a little bit tangier—this is thanks to the cream of tartar in the dough.

And typically, snickerdoodle cookies are flavored with cinnamon sugar. But because we’re using different flavors like freeze-dried strawberries and rose water, these snickerdoodles taste like strawberry and rose. And because both those flavors are delicate, these strawberry rose snickerdoodles are fairly subtle in flavor.

Why You Should Make Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

Here are all the reasons to make these strawberry rose snickerdoodles:

These strawberry rose snickerdoodles are a unique twist on a classic cookie recipe.

Traditional snickerdoodles are flavored with cinnamon and nothing else. But I’ll be honest—cinnamon has never been my favorite flavor in the spice rack. It usually works best when it’s paired with other spices, too (I mean, think about it—”pumpkin spice flavor” is technically cinnamon plus loads of other spices, right?!).

So when developing the snickerdoodle recipe for my cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I had the brilliant idea to swap out the cinnamon for other spices. In my book, you’ll find other snickerdoodle flavors like “black sesame snickerdoodles”, “matcha snickerdoodles”, and my personal favorite, “raspberry sumac snickerdoodles” (they’re pink!!!). Heck, even on this blog I have recipes for raspberry lemon snickerdoodles (also pink!), black halva snickerdoodles, and now, these strawberry rose snickerdoodles. Moral of this story? If you’re not a fan of cinnamon, don’t be afraid to swap out the cinnamon in the recipe for your favorite spice and/or other flavors!

Despite sounding fancy, these strawberry rose snickerdoodles come together really quickly.

I don’t know why, but when I think of strawberries and roses, I immediately think: FANCY. It’s probably just years of Valentine’s Day advertising hammered into my brain, lol. But despite sounding fancy, these strawberry rose snickerdoodles are actually no different from an everyday, easy-to-make-at-home cookie recipe! The dough comes together in just 20 minutes. The cookies bake fairly fast too; each sheet pan only needs 10 minutes in the oven.

This strawberry rose snickerdoodle recipe is easily customizeable.

As I was developing the recipe for these strawberry rose snickerdoodles, I showed off a bunch of variations on my Instagram account. I showed a sparkling white version with lots of rose water and barely any strawberries. I also tried a vibrant pink version with food coloring and freeze-dried raspberries instead of strawberries.

Because that’s right! If strawberry doesn’t appeal to you, you can go ahead and replace it with whatever freeze-dried fruit you prefer. I personally recommend freeze-dried raspberries or blueberries in its place! Learn more in the FAQ section below.

These strawberry rose snickerdoodles store well.

I love making buttery snickerdoodles. Why? Their high butter ratio means that they keep well for days. Furthermore, the snickerdoodle absorbs a lot of flavors from its coating over time, making it more flavorful as it sits!

Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodle Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make these strawberry rose snickerdoodles, here’s your shopping list for the recipe:

Shopping List For Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

• freeze-dried strawberries
• granulated sugar
• all-purpose flour
• cream of tartar
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• unsalted butter
• large eggs
• rose water
• edible rose petals

And let’s talk about some key ingredients and their potential substitutions:

Freeze-Dried Strawberries

You need ¼ cup of freeze-dried strawberries to make strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

What are freeze-dried strawberries?

Freeze-dried strawberries are fresh strawberries that have been frozen in a low-pressure vacuum. These conditions cause the moisture in the fruit to first turn into ice, then into water vapor very, very quickly. In general, freeze-drying fruit removes water much more efficiently than traditional drying methods. You can read more about the process, as well as all the different methods for freeze-drying fruits.

Freeze-drying fruit helps preserve its nutrients and concentrates the fruit’s flavor. After the fruit has been freeze-dried, they look like smaller, shrunken, and dry version of themselves. You can see what freeze-dried strawberries look like in this blog post—they are the strawberries in the small white bowl. Some of the fruit will have a crunchy texture; others, a little bit spongey. If stored properly, freeze-dried fruit has a shelf-life of several years. In baking, using freeze-dried fruit is a great way to add a lot of flavor and the sweetness of fruit without any of its moisture.

Where do you buy freeze-dried strawberries?

In the US, more and more supermarkets are starting to carry freeze-dried fruit. Both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market offer a variety of different freeze-dried fruits in their dried fruit and nut aisle. Most recently, I saw Target offer freeze-dried strawberries as part of their new Good & Gather brand. However, you can also buy freeze-dried strawberries online on Amazon. I recommend the Natierra brand.

Do I have to use freeze-dried strawberries in these strawberry rose snickerdoodles? Can I use fresh or traditionally frozen strawberries instead?

No, please don’t! Dessert recipes typically use freeze-dried strawberries instead of fruit when they need the fruit’s flavor but NOT its liquid. This is the case with the strawberry sugar needed for these cookies! Unfortunately, if you combine fresh or frozen strawberries to granulated sugar, you get a wet jam-like substance that you can’t roll the dough in.

Can I use other freeze-dried fruit in these strawberry rose snickerdoodles?

Yes! Feel free to substitute out the freeze-dried strawberries with any other freeze-dried fruit you prefer. Use ½ cup of whatever fruit you prefer (I personally recommend raspberries with the rosewater). The substitution will be 1:1 in terms of volume, but not necessarily in terms of weight. That’s because 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries is slightly heavier than 1 cup of freeze-dried blueberries and raspberries, whereas 1 cup of freeze-dried bananas weighs slightly more, and so on.

Also note that, if you swap out the strawberries with another fruit, your cookies will no longer taste like strawberry rose water. Instead, it will taste like the fruit you chose combined with the rose water. I know that seems obvious, but you should see some of the questions and comments I get!

All-Purpose Flour

You need 2 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour to make strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

Does a 1-1 gluten-free all-purpose flour work in this strawberry rose snickerdoodle recipe?

I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I rarely bake with those types of flour replacements because they’re expensive and my household is fortunate not to have any gluten restrictions. However, if you replace the flour in this recipe with any gluten-free alternatives, please leave a comment so I can update this post accordingly!

Cream of Tartar

You need 2 teaspoons cream of tartar to make these strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

Why is cream of tartar used in snickerdoodles?

So according to Stella Parks of Serious Eats fame, the earliest recipes for snickerdoodles actually called for baking powder! Snickerdoodle recipes were used in national advertisements for Cleveland Baking Powder as early as 1891. But baking powder wasn’t readily available back then. As a result, enterprising home cooks substituted the baking powder with a mix of cream of tartar and baking soda. This substitution gave us the more “traditional” snickerdoodle recipe I’m referencing for my own recipe today. 

What is cream of tartar?

Cream of tartar is an acidic by-product of fermenting grapes into wine; bakers primarily use it to stabilize meringues and whipped creams. Although not many modern recipes call for cream of tartar, it’s worth keeping around because it lasts forever and when you need it, you really need it. Store cream of tartar in a cool, dry place and always give it a quick look and a sniff before using it. It should be white in color with no major clumps, and it will smell mildly acidic.

Do snickerdoodles need cream of tartar?

Yes. I am of the opinion that yes, snickerdoodle recipes need cream of tartar. I like the tangy flavor that the cream of tartar gives this pretty classic recipe. In addition to flavor, using cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their signature appearance with pronounced cracks and crags on the surface of each cookie. 

How much would it change the taste of these snickerdoodles if I left out the cream of tartar?

Cream of tartar is more acidic than baking powder and baking soda, which gives the cookies an added tanginess it wouldn’t otherwise have if I’d used baking powder. It’s worth sourcing the stuff (it’s available at most supermarkets in the herbs section), especially since it pretty much keeps indefinitely in the pantry.

In addition to having an effect on flavor, skipping the cream of tartar would also result in different textured cookies. The cream of tartar is what causes the cookies to puff and rise—without it, your cookies might spread too much and/or be completely flat.

I don’t have cream of tartar. Can I substitute it with something else?

Yes, but with reservations. In theory, you can substitute the cream of tartar with other ingredients like baking powder, lemon, and vinegar. This article has a good list of common cream of tartar substitutions. However, I can’t personally vouch for any of them since I haven’t tried them myself.

That being said, I did have a handful of Instagram followers who substituted the cream of tartar with its equivalent in lemon juice and/or vinegar in this snickerdoodle recipe of mine. Both reported back that they needed to up the flour in the recipe since the dough became very wet after doing so. Unfortunately, I don’t have exact amounts—both readers eyeballed the amount. One approximates that she used an amount that was between 2 to 4 tablespoons.

And finally, if you insist on making the snickerdoodles without cream of tartar, check out this recipe of mine without it! The cookie dough uses baking powder in place of both cream of tartar and baking soda. You can swap out the cinnamon sugar topping for the strawberry sugar topping in this recipe.

Eggs

You need 2 large eggs to make these strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

I don’t eat egg because of allergies and/or my diet. What can I use instead of egg?

I’m sorry, but I don’t 100% know. In general, my specialty lies in creating baking recipes with conventional ingredients.

That being said, if you’ve used egg replaces in other cookie recipes with success, it’ll also likely work in this recipe. Why? The snickerdoodles are made with a pretty standard cookie recipe that’ll probably be pretty similar to what you’ve made in the past with the replacers.

However, since I’ve never tried the substitutions myself, I cannot 100% guarantee the results. So if you replace the egg in this recipe with any of the options I provided, please leave a comment so I can update this post accordingly!

Rose Water

You need 1 Tablespoon rose water to make these strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

What is rose water?

Rose water is flavored water made by either steeping rose petals in water or distilling them in steam. It has a strong floral aroma of roses. Rose water has many applications and is a frequent ingredient in beauty products as well as cooking recipes. It works well in both savory and sweet recipes as it is neutral in flavor.

Note that there are many types of rose products. In addition to rose water, you can also get rose essence, rose oil, and rose extract. All these products are made differently, and yield varying amounts of rose.

Typically, rose essence and rose oil are not used for culinary purposes. I advise you to stick to using either rose water or rose extract when making these snickerdoodles. However, it’s important to note that there’s a difference between rose water and rose extract.

Rose Water versus Rose Extract for Baking

On Amazon, searching for “rose water” yields both “rose water” and “rose extract” products. Rose extract is more concentrated than rose water and is made with a different process. This process is more similar to that of making vanilla extract: alcohol is infused with crushed rose petals to flavor it.

I used rose water in this strawberry rose snickerdoodle cookie recipe because rose water is typically more commonly available than rose extract. You can buy rose water in most major supermarkets in the United States (more on that below). However, you need to typically go to a specialty food or baking store to buy rose extract.

That being said, if you have rose extract on hand, feel free to use it in this recipe! Your cookies will be extra flavorful and delicious. Because rose extract is stronger than rose water, I recommend reducing the recipe quantity from 1 Tablespoon rose water to 2 teaspoons rose extract.

Where To Buy Rose Water

Rose water is typically available in most major supermarkets in the United States. However, you’ll need to do some digging. Some supermarkets store it near the alcohol and seltzers since it’s an ingredient commonly used for cocktails. Other supermarkets store it in the “international” aisle, typically by the “Middle Eastern” foods.

The most common rose water brand I’ve seen is Cortas Rose Water. It is also one of my favorite brands because it is good quality, and relatively cheap (you get a lot of rose water per bottle). If you want an upgrade, I also recommend Nielsen-Massey’s Rose Water. Just note that it significantly more expensive than Cortas!

I still can’t find rose water. What can I substitute it with?

Unfortunately, since this recipe is for strawberry ROSE snickerdoodles, the rose water/extract is essential to the recipe! I highly suggest finding another snickerdoodle recipe that doesn’t use rose flavors from my collection. I also suggest checking out this post I wrote about recipe substitutions.

But if you insist, you can technically substitute out the 1 Tablespoon of rose water with 2 teaspoons of more commonly available pure vanilla extract. However, note that your snickerdoodles will no longer be strawberry rose snickerdoodles—they will just be strawberry sugar ones!

Can you make rose water at home?

Technically yes, but I haven’t ever tried it myself. As a result, I don’t recommend doing so for this recipe!

But that being said, here’s what you need to make rose water at home: 1 cup organic rose petals (This is important! You don’t want fertilizers and pesticides in your food, right?) and distilled water.

Submerge the rose petals in just enough distilled water to cover them. Simmer on low with the lid on until the petals have lost their color, 15 to 30 minutes. Then turn the heat off, leave the lid on, and let cool completely. Once the mixture has cooled, strain through a fine mesh sieve. Et voilà! Homemade rose water.

Edible Dried Rose Petals

You need edible dried rose petals to garnish the strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

Where To Buy Edible Dried Rose Petals

Edible dried rose petals are available online on Amazon. You can buy them in dried rose bud form, or petals. Either works in this recipe, though I prefer petals since they are easier to sprinkle and don’t affect the texture of the cookies too much. If you want a specific recommendation, I used these Suncore Rose Petals. I love them and sometimes steep them with my Earl Grey tea to make it more flavorful.

With either option, just make sure that the roses are “food grade.” Non-food grade rose petals will contain harmful fertilizers and pesticides that will leech into your cookies.

I still can’t find edible rose petals. Do I need to use them at all?

In a pinch, you can skip the edible rose petals. They are purely there for garnish. Thanks to the rose water in the dough, the snickerdoodles will still taste like rose without them.

Can I use fresh rose petals instead?

Yes! In a pinch, you can garnish the cookies with fresh rose petals. You may want to cut them up since fresh rose petals are significantly bigger than dried. And again, this bears repeating: use organic roses. Non-organic roses will contain chemicals and pesticides that aren’t suited for eating.

How To Make Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

Here are the basic steps to make strawberry rose snickerdoodles from scratch:

First, prep the ingredients for the strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

1. Prep the ingredients. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
   Thankfully, prep for this recipe is fairly easy. Simply measure out all the ingredients and make sure they are at the temperatures specified in the recipe. That’s it!

Next, make the different components for the strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

1. Make the strawberry sugar. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   Use a food processor to pulse the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder. Then, add the sugar and pulse to combine. Although you can skip a step by just pulsing the strawberries and sugar together, I don’t recommend it. The strawberries need to be finely ground for the cookies and pulse better on their own first! Learn more in the Baker’s Tips below.
   
   
2. Make the snickerdoodle cookie dough. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
   This snickerdoodle cookie recipe follows most standard cookie recipes and comes together quickly. First, cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, rose water, and dry ingredients. That’s it!

Then, assemble the strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

1. Form the cookie dough into balls. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Each cookie will need to be rolled in the strawberry sugar before baking. To make things more efficient, I create a “snickerdoodle cookie assembly line” that starts with using a cookie dough scoop to portion the dough into even cookie dough balls.
   
   
2. Roll the cookie dough balls in the snickerdoodle topping. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Once the cookie dough balls have been formed, roll each one in a shallow bowl filled with the strawberry sugar. Toss and coat every single dough ball completely.

Finally, bake the snickerdoodles.

1. Bake the strawberry rose snickerdoodles. (Bake Time: 10 minutes)
   The snickerdoodles need 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 400℉. Snickerdoodle cookies are baked at a higher temperature than most other drop cookie recipes. Most cookie recipes are baked at 350℉, but snickerdoodles are typically baked between 375℉ and 400℉. 
   
   Why?
   
   This higher temperature encourages the baking powder to activate quickly, puffing the centers of the cookies as they bake. When pulled out of the oven, the centers then fall, giving each snickerdoodle cookie its signature crispy edges. 
   
   
2. Garnish the strawberry rose snickerdoodles. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   When the snickerdoodles are done, set the tray of cookies on a wire rack and immediately garnish with the rose petals. The rose petals will stick to the fresh cookies, and glue themselves naturally to the cookies as they cool and set.

Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles: Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

FAQ: Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodle Recipe Techniques

How to Bake Snickerdoodles That Stay Soft

For soft snickerdoodles, it’s better to pull them out when they’re underdone. Specifically, bake only until the edges are set, but the centers are still gooey. Immediately transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes. The residual heat from the pan will continue to bake the cookies to the perfect texture. Don’t wait to pull them out when they’re set and crispy! The pan will continue to bake them even after you pull them out of the oven, leading to hard and overdone cookies. 

FAQ: Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodle Results

Why are my snickerdoodles flat?

Snickerdoodles can come out flat if 1) the leaveners you used (for this recipe, it’s both the baking soda and the cream of tartar) are on the old side and no longer work, and 2) if you baked them at a lower temperature. 

First, figure out if it’s your leavener. First, test the cream of tartar by adding a pinch to a bowl of hot water. If the water slightly fizzes, that’s a good thing! It’s still fresh and good to go. Then add the baking soda. If it really fizzes, you’re all set. But if the water stays flat, then you’ve got a problem. Figure out if it’s your baking soda by pinching a small amount into a bowl and adding a splash of vinegar. If it doesn’t fizz, your baking soda has gone bad.

Next, double check your oven. In Weeknight Baking, I always insist that people get an external oven thermometer. Hang the thermometer on one of the center oven racks to monitor the temperature inside. Although most modern ovens come with their own thermometers, these internal thermometers degrade over time, giving you inaccurate readings. To wit—many years ago, when I still lived in San Francisco, I rented an apartment with a faulty oven. Although its internal thermometer always read 350℉, I burned almost everything I made. When I finally shelled out for an external thermometer, I discovered that the inside of the oven was actually a full 100 degrees hotter, despite the oven telling me that it was at the perfect temperature! No wonder I burned everything.

This can go the other way too. If your cookies are coming out flat, it’s likely that your oven is too cool, baking the cookies at a lower temperature, and causing them to come out flat. 

Help! I have the opposite problem. Instead, my snickerdoodles came out too puffy and didn’t flatten like yours. What did I do wrong?

Okay, there are several things that could be responsible for overly puffy cookies.

Possibility #1: You altered the quantities of the ingredients in the recipe.

First things first: did you make the recipe with the ingredients exactly as written? That is, you didn’t increase decrease the amount of sugar (a lot of folks do this because they are worried about their health or think that the recipe will be too sweet) or use an egg substitute?

Because if you did, bad news: doing so likely affected the texture of these cookies. Sugar and eggs are what give the cookies their signature look, taste, and texture. Specifically—sugar helps baked goods spread and brown properly. If you reduce the sugar, the cookies won’t spread in the same way and will stay puffy.

Possibility #2: You didn’t measure the ingredients properly.

You swear you followed the recipe exactly as written. But your cookies still came out puffy! What gives? Okay, another question for you: did you use measuring cups?

If you used cup measures as opposed to weight measures, there’s a larger chance your cookies will come out puffy. Why? As weird as this sounds, there’s a LOT of variation in how people use measuring cups. Like, somebody who scoops ingredients into a measuring cup and packs it down as they go will have a cup that has way more ingredients than somebody who simply scoops the flour into a cup and levels it off as its filled. This is why bakers love measuring by weight with a digital scale. It’s much more reliable and completely eliminates any inconsistencies.

While these variations aren’t a big deal for many recipes, they can be a big deal for cookies. Specifically: if you pack a heavy cup of flour, your cookies will come out too puffy. They won’t fall and sink in the same way as mine did.

So the correct way to fill a measuring cup is this: set the measuring cup on a flat, level surface like your kitchen counter. Spoon the ingredient you’re measuring into the measuring cup until it forms a small mound within the cup. Use a butter knife or bench scraper to level off the mound so that the ingredient is flush with the top edges of the measuring cup. If you’re measuring a dry ingredient that has a tendency to clump or get packed down (like flour, confectioners’ sugar, or cocoa powder), give them a quick whisk in their bags or containers first before scooping into the measuring cup.

I told you a digital scale was easier, right?

FAQ: Storing Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

How To Store Strawberry Rose Snickerdoodles

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze strawberry rose snickerdoodles?

Yes! You can freeze the snickerdoodles in two ways:

Freeze the unbaked snickerdoodle cookie dough.

After portioning the dough into balls, place the balls on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze for 30 minutes, or until the dough is hard enough to handle without being sticky. Transfer to a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Note that the dough will be frozen WITHOUT the snickerdoodle topping. When ready to bake, you’ll need to roll the cookie dough balls in the snickerdoodle topping. There’s no need to thaw the cookie dough balls before baking. Follow the instructions for baking in the recipe, but increase the Bake Time to 14 minutes. 

Freeze the baked strawberry rose snickerdoodles.

First, scrape off any rose petals—they don’t freeze well. Individually wrap any leftover cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave before serving.

More Snickerdoodle Recipes

• Black Halva Snickerdoodles
• My Best Snickerdoodle Recipe
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Raspberry Lemon Snickerdoodles
• Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream of Tartar

More Freeze-Dried Strawberry Recipes

• Chocolate Strawberry Snack Cake
• Neapolitan Cookies
• Strawberry Yellow Sheet Cake

More Unique Cookie Recipes

• Buttered Rum Shortbread Cookies
• Brown Butter Chai Crinkle Cookies
• Lavender Earl Grey Cookies
• Spring Flower Sugar Cookies
• Raspberry Lemon Lofthouse Cookies
• Ube Crinkle Cookies