Sometimes, when a new food comes along, I have a jaded reaction. Especially when it’s a viral cookie recipe, 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. It’s no particular chef or baker’s fault. Cookie experimentation is at a max-out, and it needs a new wave of creativity that, in today’s times, usually comes from social media.
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.”
After all, why would someone who adores cheese tea boba (me) frown at a feta cookie (also me)? Sweet and salty is a sacred duo. Since chocolate and feta didn’t speak to me like dark roast Assam black tea with salted cheese foam and tapioca pearls does, my brain started drifting to other feta pairings that could work. Feta and fruit is a proven perfect pairing—you can find it in a watermelon salad or an apricot tart—so it’s high time the two ingredients danced together in cookie form. Remembering some really fun experiments with freeze-dried strawberries, the lightbulb went off!
Convinced that someone had already done this combo, I was shocked to find out it’s either a brand new recipe, or one that has been buried in salad SEO due to a glut of strawberry and feta side dishes. I quickly got to work testing, but considering how yummy those two flavors are in other recipes, it was predetermined to be delicious.
After making a few versions, the resulting cookie is something really special, both visually and in taste. Embedded in a simple sugar cookie base, the flavors are bold and take center stage, where richer cookie bases could overcomplicate things. Strawberry runs warm, and using brown sugar or browned butter might result in an “overheating” of flavors, striking a minerally note that runs overly hot. Sugar cookie’s butter and sweetener ratios have softer aromas, making space for creamy, salty cheese, and sharp, sweet berries.
All in all, these taste like strawberry cheesecake in a cookie’s body—luscious and slightly savory. Freeze-dried strawberry is the ticket to intense flavor and color, and using a pre-crumbled cow feta lends a mild, creamy, and slightly funky flavor that becomes an iconic pairing when baked up.
For the foodies, the aroma of the warm, just-baked cookie mimics a perfect margherita pizza—not with an oregano and sauce note, but it’s similar to the pure sweetness of fresh crushed tomatoes and milky mozzarella on top of a wood- or coal-fired pie. If you don’t wanna freak out the cheese squeamish, go with the more approachable comparison to cheesecake.
Before you grab the bowl, here are some important tips:
Crunch up the strawberries extra fine for maximum flavor 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.Strawberry Feta Cookies (makes 28 medium-sized cookies)
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour spooned and leveled1 cup sugar, plus about ¼ cup more for dusting½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda¼ teaspoon salt5 ounces freeze dried strawberries, packaging unopened4 ounces crumbled feta 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg, room temperature ½ cup butter (one stick), room temperatureSquish the unopened bag of freeze dried strawberries, until it becomes a fine powder. (Alternatively, you can use a food processor.)
Sift the dry ingredients together, except sugar, then stir in 4 ounces of strawberry powder.
Mix the remaining strawberries with ¼ cup granulated white sugar and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla, then set it to the lowest speed and slowly add the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Get brave and fold in the crumbled feta, taking care to not overmix or stir too much.
Chill in the bowl for 30 minutes.
Roll or scoop into 1 1/2-inch balls, toss in the remaining pink sugar, and then chill the dough again for 30 minutes.
Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F 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.
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.
Photo: Danielle Guercio
Serve and blow people’s minds with this unique, fun, and summery cookie combo. 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.
