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Adorable, not too sweet, soft Kirby sugar cookies decorated with melted chocolate. The dough is made with freeze dried strawberry powder, which takes plain sugar cookies to the next level!
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- About these Strawberry Kirby Sugar cookies
- Can you make these vegan?
- Tips for baking and decorating
- Coloring the dough
- Shaping the dough
- Decorating with melted chocolate
- Storing the cookies
About these Strawberry Kirby Sugar cookies
Two weeks ago, I made some strawberry cheesecake Kirby macarons. A follower asked for a simpler version, since macarons are pretty finicky. So, I came up with these strawberry sugar cookies. You’ll get about a dozen Kirby bbs out of this recipe. I decided to make 10 and then a few tiny Kirby babies, pictured below.
Depending on how long you bake them, you can either get super soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, or cookies with a slight chew to them. For these, I opted for soft cookies, so I baked them just until the edges were set. If you want them chewier, bake them 1-3 minutes longer.
PS. If you want that kitchen scale, you can buy it here. It’s one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment.
If you’re interested in other kawaii cookie recipes I have, check out these recipes!: Bunny Sugar Cookies, Teddy Bear Chocolate Chip Cookies, Keroppi Matcha Sugar Cookies,Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, Soft, Less Sweet Ube Sugar Cookie Bears (Dairy-Free!),Pig-Shaped Snickerdoodles (Vegan),Cat-Shaped Black Cocoa Cookies (Vegan), andChick-Shaped Lemon Cookies.
Can you make these vegan?
Yes, you can!
Instead of regular butter, you can swap in high quality vegan butter made for baking. Make sure to use a good brand—some brands are very high in water content and melt at lower temperatures, yielding very flat cookies. I recommend brands like Miyokos and Country Crock.
You can also omit the egg. First, follow the recipe up until you add the flour, baking powder/soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients in. If the dough seems too crumbly, add a tablespoon of alternative milk at a time (2-4 tbsp total), until the dough comes together. The finished dough should be thick, but scoopable.
Lastly, you can replace the chocolate for a vegan brand, like Pascha chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.
Tips for baking and decorating
Coloring the dough
Although the freeze dried strawberry powder will give the cookies some pink color, it will be pretty lackluster. I recommend adding pink food coloring when mixing the cookie dough to enhance it.
Once you have your mixed cookie dough, reserve ~40g (about 2 tbsp dough) to the side. Add red food coloring to it. This will be for Kirby’s feet.
Cover the doughs in plastic wrap, then leave them in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the dough hardens up a bit. This will make shaping easier.
Shaping the dough
For each Kirby, you’ll want to use a small cookie scoop, or gather about 1 ½ tbsp of dough. Shape it into a ball, roll it into granulated sugar, and place it onto your lined baking tray. Repeat for about 10-12 cookies, making sure you have some left over for the arms.
For the arms, take about 1 tsp of dough, and split it into two equally sized pieces. Roll into balls and place on the sides of Kirby’s body.
To make the feet, scoop about1tsp of red dough and equally split it into two balls. Then, place them at the bottoms of each Kirby.
Decorating with melted chocolate
You can use a piping bag, cookie scribe, or toothpick to add on the details. I used a toothpick.
First, use the melted milk or dark chocolate to add the smile and eyes. Then, use the white chocolate to add the whites of Kirby’s eyes.
Then, use dyed white chocolate to add the blues of Kirby’s eyes, and pink/red for Kirby’s blush.
When dying white chocolate, you’ll want to use oil-based food coloring or the chocolate will seize up and become lumpy. However, if you don’t have oil-based food coloring, you can try mixing in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time! The chocolate should come back together. Maaagic.
Storing the cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week!
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these Kirby cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at#bitesbybianca/@bitesbybiancaon Instagram. Enjoy! 🙂
If you’re interested in other kawaii cookie recipes I have, check out these recipes!: Bunny Sugar Cookies, Teddy Bear Chocolate Chip Cookies, Keroppi Matcha Sugar Cookies,Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, Soft, Less Sweet Ube Sugar Cookie Bears (Dairy-Free!),Pig-Shaped Snickerdoodles (Vegan),Cat-Shaped Black Cocoa Cookies (Vegan), andChick-Shaped Lemon Cookies.
Strawberry Kirby Sugar Cookies
Bites by Bianca
Adorable, not too sweet, soft Kirby sugar cookies decorated with melted chocolate. The dough is made with freeze dried strawberry powder, which takes these sugar cookies to the next level *chefs kiss*!
4.74 from 19 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 11 minutes mins
Resting time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 1 minute min
Course Dessert
Servings 14 cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (180g)
- 3 tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder (18g)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- food coloring (pink)
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 stick butter/8 tbsp)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar (50g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
For rolling:
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar (25g)
Decoration for face:
- 1 tbsp melted milk or dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp melted white chocolate
- oil-based food coloring, see steps (blue, pink/red)
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, freeze dried strawberry powder, baking powder baking soda, and salt.
In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (can alternatively use hand mixer or whisk), mix the butter and sugars on medium speed until combined. Scrape bottom of bowl. Add vanilla and egg and mix again. Mix in pink food coloring.
Dump in all of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add more pink food coloring as needed.
Take about 2 tbsp of dough and add to another bowl. Mix in red food coloring. This will be for Kirby's feet.
Cover the doughs and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. This will let the flour hydrate and let the butter cool, yielding chewier cookies. The dough will also be easier to work with. 🙂
Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a small bowl, add granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
Use small cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½ tablespoon each). Shape into a ball and roll in granulated sugar. Place onto lined baking tray. This will be Kirby's body. Repeat for about 10-12 cookies, making sure you have some left over for the arms.
For the arms, take about 1 tsp of dough, and split it into two equally sized pieces. Roll into balls and place on the sides of Kirby's body.
To make the feet, scoop about1tsp of red dough and equally split it into two balls. Then, place them at the bottoms of each Kirby.
Place Kirby cookies about 3-4 inches apart.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. For soft cookies, bake them until the edges are set and firm. For chewier ones, bake for 1-3 more minutes.
If the Kirby's aren't perfect circles, you can use a rubber spatula, spoon, or knife to gently push the edges of the cookie to your liking! Make sure to do this while the cookies are still warm.
Let cool on pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack. Let cool completely.
For the Kirby faces:
You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used a toothpick.
Use melted milk or dark chocolate to create the eyes, and mouth. Let eyes dry before continuing.
Use melted white chocolate to add the whites of Kirby's eyes. Split half of the melted white chocolate into another bowl, since you will dying the white chocolate half blue and the other half pink/red.
Add oil-based blue food coloring to the melted white chocolate. If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again. Use this to add the blue details to Kirby's eyes.
To the rest of the white chocolate, add oil-based pink/red food coloring. Use this to draw on the blush.
Enjoy!
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- To make it vegan, swap in a high quality vegan butter and vegan chocolate (suggestions listed in this blog post). Omit the egg. Follow the recipe accordingly up until you add in the dries. If the dough seems crumbly, add in a tbsp of alternative milk (2-4 tbsp total) at a time until the dough comes together. It should be thick, but scoopable. In addition, you can use a vegan chocolate brand like Pascha Chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.
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