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Fresh Blueberry Cookies |  |
Homestyle Cookies, Made from Scratch with a Full Two Cups of Fresh Blueberries. Real Food, Fast & Family-Approved. Just One Bowl. A New Summer Classic. Budget Friendly, No Hard-to-Find Ingredients. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Potluck & Party Friendly. Vegetarian.
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COMPLIMENTS!
- "I like it! It's like a little blueberry crumpet." ~ One of the twin grandsons, age 14
- "Oh! Those cookies!" ~ Party guests on the 4th of July
- "I've never had a blueberry cookie. Yum!" ~ A neighbor who's happy to accept sweet treats.
It's county fair time in my hometown in northern Minnesota, that means now's the time to head out into the best berry patches, braving mosquitoes as big as bears if not bears themselves.
Or, for the rest of us, it's time to forage for fresh blueberries at the local grocery, braving exactly nothing except dizzying fruit 'n' veggie choices.
For me, blueberry season is like Christmas: one for the drive home, one for the fridge. Heaven knows, some years it takes weeks before I do more than gobble them up and pour unseemly numbers across morning bowls of Rice Krispies. My last meal? Definitely calls for blueberries.
So call me surprised-but-not-shocked that it's taken more than twenty years for my blueberry recipes to take on the challenge of a blueberry cookie.
Truth is, I've been working on this recipe for four years. It's nothing hard, except getting it exactly right.
Did I mention that you're in for a real treat?!
About This Recipe
- Fresh Blueberry Cookies are a simple drop cookie studded with whole fresh blueberries that turn juicy in the oven. The cookies are soft and tender but, when rolled in raw sugar, have a sweet, crisp crust.
- Distinctive Ingredients = fresh blueberries + lemon (zest & extract)
- Full Ingredient List = all the above + butter + sugar + brown sugar + baking powder + table salt + 1 egg + flour + sour cream + raw sugar for rolling
- Mix and bake Fresh Blueberry Cookies in an hour!
- Fresh Blueberry Cookies have a dramatic but natural appearance, it's really obvious, blueberries are in these cookies!
- This is a pantry-friendly recipe: if you're a baker and have blueberries, you can probably fire up the mixer this very instant!
- This is a budget-friendly recipe, no fancy flours, no specialty store stops.
- As written, the recipe yields five dozen small cookies or two dozen large cookies. The cookies start to soften and turn cakey after a couple of days, consider that when beginning to bake. I haven't yet tried baking a sheetful or two then freezing the rest of the dough, already shaped. But I do think this would totally work.
- If like me you love the idea of fresh fruit in cookies, check out my Fresh Cranberry Drop Cookies, bright with fresh cranberry, sweet orange and toasty pecans and Fresh Cranberry Bars, chewy almost-blondie molasses and spice bars with bursts of juicy cranberry, topped with a scattering of sugar "snow".
What's In Fresh Blueberry Cookies? Fresh Blueberries + Pantry Ingredients!
In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. Usually I'm a big fan of substitutes, in this case, I recommend sticking with the recipe, it just works.
- All the Usual Wet Ingredients butter + sugar + brown sugar + egg
- All the Usual Dry Ingredients flour + baking powder + salt
- Bright Lemon Flavor lemon zest + lemon extract
- For Tenderness sour cream
- Blueberry Goodness fresh blueberries for the dough + more for the top
- For a Sugary Crust raw sugar
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- BUTTER I always bake with salted butter but if you prefer unsalted butter, no problem, just double the salt. Be sure to let the butter warm to room temperature before mixing, that's about an hour on the counter if left whole, less if diced up.
- SUGAR The recipe calls for two sugars for the cookie dough, white and brown. My "house" sugars are white sugar (cane sugar) and brown sugar (dark brown sugar). I don't have experience using other sweeteners in baking so if any one knows of a good substitute, please do chime in!
- LEMON ZEST This makes such a difference in this cookie, I recommend "don't skip it". There's only one trick to creating light and fluffy zest, it's an inexpensive tool called a "microplane". Believe it or not, the microplane origin story is as a wood rasp, used by woodworkers! For a long while though, home cooks have purchased culinary microplanes, I have two microplanes (affiliate link) but there are soooo many size and shape choices anymore.
- BAKING POWDER Out of baking powder? It happens. I have good luck making my own baking powder substitute. The formula is 1 teaspoon baking powder = 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. So for this recipe, which calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder, just double that.
- SALT I use table salt for baking. A fine sea salt is a good substitute.
- EGGS My recipes always call for large eggs. For an egg-free substitute, some people have luck mixing ground flax and water to match the baking properties from eggs. However, I don't have experience with so-called flax eggs, just google it for more advice ...
- LEMON EXTRACT Lemon extract bumps up the lemon-y-ness that works so well with blueberries. But if you don't have any, substitute vanilla or better yet, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla plus 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, that's such a lovely combination.
- FLOUR I mostly bake with all-purpose flour, a good brand like either General Mills or Pillsbury. I think this cookie would do fine with an equal amount of white whole-wheat flour.
- SOUR CREAM I use full-fat and low-fat sour cream equally well in baking, it just doesn't make much difference most times, including in this recipe. A good substitute for sour cream is Greek yogurt, full-fat, low-fat and non-fat. I do not recommend non-fat sour cream but interestingly, non-fat Greek yogurt is quite good and would work fine here.
- BLUEBERRIES The recipe calls for fresh blueberries, that's what makes this recipe so special. Could you use frozen blueberries? I suppose. But these are summer cookies, fresh it should be, for seasonal cooks, anyway. I've only made these cookies with large supermarket-style blueberries vs wild, hand-picked berries. I live a long ways from a blueberry patch anymore but think these would be wonderful with wild berries!
- RAW SUGAR What's raw sugar? Some times raw sugar is called "turbinado" but it's easy to identify, the sugar crystals are much larger than white granulated sugar and sport a pretty light brown color, thanks to a touch of molasses. Raw sugar is slightly less processed than white and brown sugar but really, is no healthier. I love to use raw sugar as a finishing sugar, because just a thin sprinkle creates a crispy crust in the oven. In these cookies, roll the cookie dough balls in raw sugar before baking so they come out of the oven with a compelling crispy "bite".
How to Make Fresh Blueberry Cookies
The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in three easy steps. You can definitely do this!
- MIX THE DOUGH For these cookies, a stand mixer works well but so does a hand mixer, it's my usual choice for something simple like cookies.
- SCOOP & ROLL IN RAW SUGAR Use a cookie scoop (either small or large) to measure out the cookies. For small cookies, drop the scoops one at a time into raw sugar to coat; this is optional for large cookies. For small cookies, add a blueberry to the top of each ball of cookie dough; this is optional for large cookies.
- BAKE the cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment at 375F/190C for about 15 minutes (small cookies) or 18 minutes (large cookies). Let them cool right on the cookie sheet.
What Makes This Recipe Special
Why would anyone go to the trouble of making Fresh Blueberry Cookies from scratch? Here are a few reasons. Why do you make it? Let me know in the comments!
- Have you ever had a blueberry cookie before?! They're wonderful!
- It's a new way to love on summer's best blueberries.
- They're a bit like blueberry muffins, but cookies!
- Cookies with blueberries come as such a sweet surprise.
- Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!
Bookmark! PIN! Share!
How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe for a fun summer cookie inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...
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FRESH BLUEBERRY COOKIES
Time-to-table: 1 hour
Makes about 5 dozen small cookies or 2 dozen large cookies
-
COOKIE DOUGH
- 8 tablespoons (112g, 1/2 cup, usually 1 stick) salted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar (see ALANNA's TIPS)
- zest of 1 lemon (don't skip)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt (more if using unsalted butter)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract (see TIPS)
- 2-2/3 cups (333g) all-purpose flour, a third at a time
- 1/2 cup (112g) sour cream, half at a time
- 2 cups (250g) fresh blueberries (see TIPS)
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FOR BAKING
- Raw sugar, for rolling small cookies and (optionally) large cookies
- For small cookies and (optionally) for large cookies, extra blueberries
PREP Heat oven to 375F/190C. Line baking sheets with parchment.
MIX THE COOKIE DOUGH In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugars until completely mixed and light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, baking powder and salt, mix until combined.
Add the egg and lemon extract, mix until well-combined.
Combining well after each addition, add 1/3 the flour, then 1/2 the sour cream, then 1/3 the flour, then the remaining sour cream and flour.
Switch to mixing by hand with a large spatula or spoon. Gently stir in the blueberries, doing your best to distribute the berries evenly throughout the dough without smashing the berries.
FOR SMALL COOKIES Use a small cookie scoop to form the cookie balls about 15g each, making sure each scoop includes at least one blueberry. The dough is quite sticky so gently drop each scoop right into a small bowl with raw sugar; then gently roll it to cover all sides (shaping into a ball); gently lift the sugared ball and arrange on a baking sheet, a standard half-sheetpan easily holds 20 cookies in 4 x 5 rows. Gently press a blueberry in the center of each ball, flattening it just a bit. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool right on the hot cookie sheet, this helps the centers firm up.
FOR LARGE COOKIES Use a large cookie scoop to form the cookie balls about 45g each, doing your best to evenly distribute the berries. If you like, roll each ball in raw sugar for a delightful sweet crust but with the large cookies, it's also fine to skip the raw sugar; if you do, the dough is quite sticky so gently drop each scoop right into a bowl holding raw sugar; then gently scoop sugar all over the dough, then gently roll it to cover all sides (shaping into a ball); gently lift the sugared ball and arrange on a baking sheet, a standard half-sheetpan holds 12 cookies in 4 x 3 rows. If you like, press one or two blueberries in the center of the cookie balls without obvious blueberries, be aware that these cookies will spread more. Bake until golden, about 18 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool right on the hot cookie sheet, this helps the centers firm up.
TIMING TIP The sugary crust is most crispy on the first day, especially if you can keep the cookies uncovered. Once they're stored in a cookie tin, the crust begins to soften. It's still sweet, just not as soft. Good news, the taste doesn't change after a day or two, the cookies just get softer.
LEFTOVERS The cookies keep for four to five days but become increasingly moist and cakey. It helps to store the cookies in the fridge but even then, they definitely become softer. I think the dough would freeze well in dough balls, that's one way to bake only what you'll eat in a couple of days while the cookies are still crisp.
Be sure to work out any small lumps that can form in brown sugar. Just press the lumps against the side of the mixing bowl with the back of a spoon. Lemon extract really brightens the light lemon flavor in the cookies but I've also used 3/4 teaspoon vanilla plus 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. No lemon extract or almond extract? No problem. Just use 1 teaspoon vanilla. The dough will be quite sticky. When rolling the balls, it helps to keep a bit of flour nearby to dust your hands. No raw sugar? No problem. Regular white sugar works as well but the cookies don't turn the pretty golden color. I like to add an extra berry to the small cookies to ensure that each and every cookie has at least one (and usually more) blueberry. This step isn't really necessary for the large cookies since more dough means more blueberries but sure, go ahead, the more blueberries the better!
HELPFUL TOOLS I was slow to embrace parchment for baking cookies. It was just a pain, measuring and cutting the unwieldy paper. Then. Wow. Pre-cut parchment (affiliate link) that fits a sheetpan / rimmed baking sheet. No more measuring! No more cutting! Plus this parchment is much lighter, I find myself using it to line baskets to carry cookies and bars as close as the summer porch or as far as a potluck.
For small cookies, I use this small scoop (affiliate link) that holds about a tablespoon of cookie dough. For large cookies, I use this larger cookie scoop (affiliate link) that holds almost 3 tablespoons of dough. No cookie scoop? No problem. Just use two spoons, one to scoop, one to scrape, doing your best to keep the scoops about the same weight. A kitchen scale (affiliate link) can help with that, you'll be surprised how often you nail the exact weight.
FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more.
If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2023/07/fresh-blueberry-cookies.html .
Seasonal Eating During the Height of Summer Across the Years
Tomato Soup Vegetable Salad Baked Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Berry Sauce Two Quick Refrigerator Pickles Beef Tacos with Avocado, Cucumber, Mango Salsa Blueberry Salsa Easy-Easy Marinated Flank Steak Cold-Brewed Coffee (<< saves me every summer) Cantaloupe-Tomato Gazpacho Favorite Summer Soup Recipes Garden Pasta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette Master Recipe: Rustic Fruit Ice Cream Blueberry Cake How to Keep Green Onions Fresh for Weeks How to Sweeten Lemonade with Fruit Not Sugar Southwestern Chicken Taco Salad Plates
- THE RECIPE Cornmeal Pancakes with Warm Blueberries Simple but sumptuous for a special breakfast or supper.
- ANOTHER TAKE Summer Corn Bread with Fresh Blueberries Warm corn bread studded with fresh blueberries.
- THE RECIPE Blueberry Sour Cream Pie Berries puffed in light, sweet cream.
- ANOTHER TAKE Blueberry Cheesecake Pie Cheesecake topped with homemade blueberry pie filling. No bake!
- THE RECIPE Blueberry Cake Simple and rustic, topped with jammy blueberries.
- ANOTHER TAKE Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake A family favorite, for good reasons.
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~ lemon recipes ~
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.
Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.
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2023
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna