Seriously, Try These Strawberry and Feta Cookies

Sometimes, when a new food comes along, I have a jaded reaction. Especially when it’s a viral recipe, like these Strawberry Feta Cookies, which is sometimes too mediocre to warrant the hype, if I’m keeping it honest. Popular cookies sometimes crumble, and another take on a chocolate chip isn’t gonna fly in this expensive egg economy.

Enter a recent food fad: Carolina Galen’s Chocolate Feta Cookies, which were panned and praised by commenters in equal parts, and baked by bloggers all around the web. Sometimes I get ahead of my palate and grimace at the unknown — knocking it and not trying it, so to speak. Instead of doing that, I listened to the voice in my head that said “Shhhh, that’s a brilliant recipe.”

I quickly got to work testing, but considering how yummy those two flavours are in other recipes, it was predetermined to be delicious.

Before you grab the bowl, here are some important tips:

• Crunch up the strawberries extra fine for maximum flavour and minimal changes to cookie texture.
• Don’t even think about using fresh strawberries or jam; they add too much moisture.
• Overbaking is not your friend — the strawberry will brown immediately if you take it too far.
• Freeze-dried strawberry is the ticket to intense flavour and colour, and using pre-crumbled cow feta lends a mild, creamy, and slightly funky flavour that becomes an iconic pairing when baked up.

Strawberry Feta Cookies recipe (makes 28 medium-sized cookies)

What you need to make these strawberry feta cookies recipe:

• 1 ¾ cups flour spooned and levelled
• 1 cup sugar, plus about ¼ cup more for dusting
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 140 g freeze-dried strawberries, packaging unopened
• 115 g crumbled feta
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• ½ cup butter (one stick), room temperature

Directions to make these strawberry feta cookies recipe:

1. Squish the unopened bag of freeze-dried strawberries, until it becomes a fine powder. (Alternatively, you can use a food processor.)
2. Sift the dry ingredients together, except sugar, then stir in 115 g of strawberry powder.
3. Mix the remaining strawberries with ¼ cup granulated white sugar and set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Add the egg and vanilla, then set it to the lowest speed and slowly add the dry ingredients until just mixed.
6. Get brave and fold in the crumbled feta, taking care to not overmix or stir too much.
7. Chill in the bowl for 30 minutes.
8. Roll or scoop into 1 1/2-inch balls, toss in the remaining pink sugar, and then chill the dough again for 30 minutes.
9. Bake for 12 minutes at 180°C on a sheet of parchment or silicone baking mat, but keep a close eye during the last 2 minutes, to avoid browning the strawberry dust, and rotate halfway through the baking time if your oven isn’t known for even heat.
10. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the tray, then finish on a rack, which is not a frivolous step; it allows the sugar to crystallize properly, making for a crunchy outside while leaving some internal chew.

Serve and blow people’s minds with this unique, fun, and Strawberry Feta Cookies recipe. Because these are both a novelty and really rich, I ended up freezing half of the cookie balls to entertain, or entertain boredom, and baked 15 of them on a single cookie sheet with a silicone mat, which was a mistake. You want to really make sure they have room to spread, so stick to 12 max per large cookie sheet.

Don’t be afraid to run with Galen’s feta spark as I did; another freeze-dried berry could be delicious here, and someone’s gotta find a way to make a watermelon cookie that doesn’t taste like a vape or Starburst. Use funkier feta from sheep to be more adventurous, or press a few extra crumbs on top for decorative flair. Play around with it, just as the original cookie creator did. You might end up creating the next viral dessert sensation.