Strawberries are incredibly delicious, but baking with them is sometimes a bit difficult. Fresh strawberries often release too much moisture into a bake and can therefore be a little problematic. That’s why these Espresso Strawberry Brownie Cookies are made with freeze-dried strawberries. Not only are they available all year round, they are also more flavorful… Let’s be honest, that never hurts. ;P
Fresh strawberries are great! Every year, when the little red fellas are available from local farms, we are very happy! The prices are typically a bit high at the beginning of the season, but that usually improves as the summer progresses. A summer without strawberries just wouldn’t be a real summer, right?
Even though strawberries are actually best when fresh, they are not always ideal for baking. Always great for decorations, but not that great when used in a dough/batter, for example. If you’re not careful, fresh strawberries in cake batter can turn the cake into a soggy mess, when they are releasing too much moisture during baking. You normally don’t want this to happen. ;P
Because of this, no fresh strawberries were used for these brownie cookies. Brownies are generally a little more moist (I don’t care if you don’t like the word, that’s what it is called) – with additional fresh strawberries, this whole thing would have probably been a moist overload. ;P Fortunately, there exists a freeze-dried version of the fruit. ;P
We often have freeze-dried berries* https://amzn.to/3YJcmku at home. These dried berries are ideal for smoothies or muesli, but they are also great for baking. They keep for quite a long time when stored correctly. However, once the package is opened and air gets to the berries, they become softer. You can still use them, but for some purposes they are simply no longer perfect.
For this very reason, we recommend buying a smaller quantity whenever you want to use this type of product. Some suppliers offer bulk packs of these freeze-dried berries, but what are you going to do with half a kilo when you only need a few grams per recipe? If you mix them into your muesli every day – great! If it’s only for baking recipes once in a blue moon… better to get smaller packs. They might be a bit more expensive, but (hopefully) nothing will go bad. ;P
If you got some freeze-dried berries/fruit at home and don’t know what to do with them… no problem! We have a lot of recipes for that. Freeze-dried berries are great for decorating, for example. Chop them and roll some Chocolate Truffles in it, and they will look awesome. The berries also add a lot of flavor!
Have you ever tried Palmiers? These little puff pastry hearts look wonderful when they are decorated with something red – chopped freeze-dried strawberries are just perfect for this ;)
Oh, and one more thing, because the question keeps coming up: yes, you can get rid of the espresso powder. If you’re baking for children, you might not want it in there. The powder is primarily there to highlight the chocolate flavor, but the cookies don’t taste any less bad without it. ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(16-18 cookies)
6.3 oz. (180g) semi-sweet chocolate (72%), chopped
5 oz. (140g) butter
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
2 medium eggs
5.3 oz. (150g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1.8 oz. (50g) semi-sweet chocolate (72%), chopped (plus more)
0.5 oz. (15g) freeze-dried strawberries, chopped coarsely (plus more)
(16-18 Cookies)
180g Zartbitterschokolade (72 %), gehackt
140g Butter
1 TL Instant Espresso-Pulver
100g Zucker
100g brauner Zucker
2 Eier (M)
150g Mehl (Type 405)
1 TL Backpulver
1/2 TL Salz
50g Zartbitterschokolade (72 %), gehackt (plus etwas mehr)
15g gefriergetrocknete Erdbeeren, grob gehackt (plus etwas mehr)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. Add the chopped chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder to a microwave-safe bowl and heat up in the microwave (in 30sec intervals) until you got a smooth chocolate sauce. Set aside and let cool down a bit.
3. Add both sugars and the eggs to a large bowl and mix for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks pale and doubled in volume. Add the cooled chocolate sauce and mix in. Next, combine flour, baking powder, and salt, sift it into the bowl and fold in. Add the additional chopped chocolate and the freeze-dried strawberries and fold in. Use a large cookie scoop* and place dough portions with enough space in between on the prepared baking sheet – the cookies spread a lot. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes.
4. Take the cookies out of the oven, bring them back into shape if they spread too much (by swirling them inside a large round cookie cutter), and press some additional chopped chocolate and/or freeze-dried strawberries into the cookies (optional). Let the cookies cool down for some time on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack so they can cool down completely. Repeat with leftover cookie dough.
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen.
2. Gehackte Schokolade, Butter und Espresso-Pulver in eine mikrowellengeeignete Schüssel geben und in der Mikrowelle (in 30 sek Intervallen) erhitzen und schmelzen, bis eine glatte Schokoladensoße entstanden ist. Zur Seite stellen und ein wenig abkühlen lassen.
3. Beide Zuckersorten und die Eier in einer großen Schüssel für etwa 2 Minuten hell und luftig aufschlagen. Die abgekühlte Schokoladensauce dazugeben und unterrühren. Mehl, Backpulver und Salz vermischen, in die Schüssel sieben und unterheben. Die zusätzliche, gehackte Schokolade und die gefriergetrockneten Erdbeeren dazugeben und unterheben. Mit einem großen Keksportionierer* Teigportionen mit genügend Abstand zueinander auf das vorbereitete Backblech setzen. Der Teig läuft etwas auseinander. Die Cookies für etwa 13-15 Minuten backen.
4. Die Cookies aus dem Ofen nehmen und ggf. noch einmal in Form bringen, wenn sie irgendwo stark auseinander gelaufen sind (z.B. in einem großen runden Ausstecher herumwirbeln, bis sie wieder rund sind). Wer mag, kann hier noch etwas zusätzliche gehackte Schokolade und gefriergetrocknete Erdbeeren in den Teig drücken (optional). Die Cookies einige Zeit auf dem Blech abkühlen lassen, dann auf ein Kuchengitter setzen und komplett auskühlen lassen. Den kompletten Prozess mit verbliebenem Teig wiederholen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
Espresso Strawberry Brownie Cookies
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:15
- Total Time: 01:00
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
You want something with strawberries, but they are not in season right now? Try these Espresso Strawberry Brownie Cookies with freeze-dried strawberries. ;)
Ingredients
6.3 oz. (180g) semi-sweet chocolate (72%), chopped
5 oz. (140g) butter
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
2 medium eggs
5.3 oz. (150g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1.8 oz. (50g) semi-sweet chocolate (72%), chopped (plus more)
0.5 oz. (15g) freeze-dried strawberries, chopped coarsely (plus more)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. Add the chopped chocolate, butter, and instant espresso powder to a microwave-safe bowl and heat up in the microwave (in 30sec intervals) until you got a smooth chocolate sauce. Set aside and let cool down a bit.
3. Add both sugars and the eggs to a large bowl and mix for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks pale and doubled in volume. Add the cooled chocolate sauce and mix in. Next, combine flour, baking powder, and salt, sift it into the bowl and fold in. Add the additional chopped chocolate and the freeze-dried strawberries and fold in. Use a large cookie scoop* and place dough portions with enough space in between on the prepared baking sheet – the cookies spread a lot. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes.
4. Take the cookies out of the oven, bring them back into shape if they spread too much (by swirling them inside a large round cookie cutter), and press some additional chopped chocolate and/or freeze-dried strawberries into the cookies (optional). Let the cookies cool down for some time on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack so they can cool down completely. Repeat with leftover cookie dough.
Notes
Let’s get baking!
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