Bake

Soft Yogurt Cookies with Raspberry Glaze

by:
April 19, 2021
4
18 Ratings
Photo by Molly Yeh
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 18 minutes
  • Makes 18 cookies
Author Notes

Meet the hip younger sibling of the black and white cookie: the pink yogurt cookie! She’s got the familiar rounded shape and cakey quality of a black and white cookie, but she has more sass since her batter has been enriched with yogurt (in the place of black and white’s buttermilk). Plus, her glaze is also yogurt-based—and pink, thanks to some freeze-dried raspberry dust. (Even her ingredients have cool names.) These cookies have got the sour tang of yogurt, the warmth of vanilla, and the fruitiness of raspberry backed up by a hint of almond. They come together so easily and are some of the softest and prettiest cookies in all the land.

Reprinted with permission from Short Stack Editions Vol. 32: "Yogurt," by Molly Yeh (shortstackeditions.com). —molly yeh

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Ingredients
  • For the cookies
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • For the glaze
  • 1/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 3 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 handful rainbow sprinkles and/or crushed toasted pistachios, for decorating
Directions
  1. Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350° F and place racks in the upper third and lower third positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Add the yogurt and dry ingredients in two or three alternating batches and mix until just combined.
  3. Scoop out 2-inch blobs of the batter and place them on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the bottoms are just beginning to brown (begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes). Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Make the glaze: Crush the raspberries in a mortar and pestle until they become a very fine powder. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, yogurt, salt, almond extract, and raspberry powder. If the glaze is too thick to spread, add additional yogurt a tiny bit at a time until it's spreadable. Spread the glaze onto the rounded side of the cookies and top with sprinkles and/or crushed pistachios. Enjoy!

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molly yeh recently moved from brooklyn to a farm outside of grand forks, north dakota, where her husband is a fifth generation farmer. she writes the blog my name is yeh.

33 Reviews

bhg May 15, 2023
I made these with whole milk yogurt and fresh lemon zest. They were easy to make and baked to a nice golden color on the bottom in 18-20 minutes. The texture was very cakey, but not too dense or dry. I didn't have the dried raspberries, so I cooked 3 oz of fresh blackberries with some sugar and a bit of water, strained the thickened mixture, and added it to the frosting in lieu of the ground, dried raspberries. I found the powdered sugar flavor overpowering, so I added ~2 TBL of cream cheese to the frosting before glazing the cookies. They were lovely and enjoyed by all.
AJoy April 9, 2022
I've tried these twice, once with goat yogurt and once with greek yogurt. Both times, fantastic and tasty! Something different and really decadent, a grown up flavor that probably everyone will love, even kids. I couldn't find the dehydrated raspberries so I used strawberry and it was so good, going to try next time with the raspberry as I will be making these again, for sure!
Margaret M. May 25, 2021
I just made these recently and they are definitely on the sweet side. I wonder if I could make the cookies lemon flavored, I think that would add a nice tang to go with the super sweet icing. They were a hit with my family!
Änneken March 28, 2020
I loved the tang of the raspberry glaze but tasted too much baking powder in the cookie :(
HopeD July 9, 2023
Try an aluminum-free baking powder, like Bob’s Red Mill. Some people have this sensitivity, including me!
ifjuly January 15, 2020
For me these came out surprising, in appearance and crumb texture more like cathead biscuits or homemade shaggy scones than the usual glazed spongy-crumb cookie specimen one finds in supermarket bakeries, BUT in a way that made them more deliciously homemade-tasting if surprising. And the frosting was a hit; something biscuit-like with concentrated berry flavored frosting sounds kinda weird, but the people I shared them with really dug it while simultaneously agreeing they were like biscuits with potently berry flavored frosting. I will make them again as they were surprisingly easy once you've procured the freeze-dried fruit, and satisfying in a unique way.
cupcakemuffin December 10, 2019
Great recipe! I skipped the raspberries in the frosting and just colored it with food coloring (wanted to use what I had at home) and they turned out really well.
Anna G. July 22, 2019
I've tried cooking those and that is just amazing!
I have decided not to add that much confectioners’ sugar to the glaze, so it turned out a bit transparent and thin, still amazing taste and texture!
I would love to make them quite often (and eat them every day), but I won't! I will make that a "special occasion" treat due to it's astonoshing taste and look!
macfadden May 24, 2019
Nice cookies with a pleasant tang. The dough is very soft, and the cookies turn out quite cake-like. I strained the seeds from the crushed raspberries before making the frosting.
NCdana February 13, 2021
Thanks for the seed sifting idea!
Alex J. May 2, 2019
Just made these last night. They are pretty good! Dough turned out perfectly, once cooked the cookies looked just like the picture. I would make sure that you're using whole milk yogurt. I purchased 2 plain Siggi yogurts - the 4.4 oz, squatty looking containers (this is important because the smaller skinnier container is non fat). My cookies cooked at 350 and I noticed a brown crust forming around 13 minutes. I took them out and put them on a cooling rack.
As for the glaze, I didn't have a mortar and pestle for the freeze dried raspberries (purchased from Target) so I used a spoon and a bowl and later, a coffee cup and a plate. After a few minutes of smashing I was still left with seeds that weren't going to get any smaller, so I scrapped the seeds and saved the powder. I then smashed another round of freeze dried berries. This turned out just fine. The almond extract flavor is a little strong to me, so I would suggest using a little less than 1/8 tsp. I also needed to add additional yogurt to the glaze about 1/2 tsp. My only advice for that would be to make sure you don't make it too runny.
Bottom line: I think these cookies are a hit! I will definitely make the batter again and I can't wait to try out new berry combinations and nut toppings.
Jim D. August 3, 2018
Wow, I just made these, and they are by far the best new baking recipe that I have made this year. I eat gluten-free, and the only change I made was to use GF flour with 1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum, and they turned out perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
Claire S. May 9, 2018
These were SO good and immensely popular at the cookie swap I took them too (also got high praises at work with the leftovers). I used Greek yogurt - one of the small containers of Fage worked perfectly (I think I added a bit more water to the frosting). The batter was pretty loose and sticky so I used a cookie scoop to get it on the tray because rolling wouldn't work and spooning was hard because it was so sticky, but they flattened out uniformly in the oven. I only had freeze-dried strawberries and those worked fine.
Ute April 20, 2018
These turned out great!
I did use half the sugar and that was sufficient.
Will try adding freeze dried raspberries to the dough next time,
and maybe in that case 3/4 the sugar.
Little P. April 4, 2018
Just baked these. I agree they didn't spread as much as in the pictures. I left my first batch go to 18 minutes and the bottoms were pretty dark brown. I also have a very accurate oven therm. in my oven so I can always check the temperature. It was at 350 the entire time. Bleh.
Gingey April 1, 2018
I know where to get freeze dried berries, but I want to make these now and I don’t have any on hand. I have fresh raspberries and frozen. How can I use what I have in this recipe?
Susan March 26, 2018
Sighhh. In this day and age, why are there still no ingredient weights for recipes???
Little P. April 5, 2018
I agree Susan....
Catherine S. March 23, 2018
Any thoughts on what to use to make diffeeent color glaze for Easter? Thinking yellows and maybe greens?
Lisa March 28, 2018
trader joes (And I'm sure others, but that's where I am most :) sells a lovely variety of freeze dried fruits. Not sure about green, but they do have crunchy mango and dried blueberry that would definitely be beautiful prepared this way!
Ute April 20, 2018
Love the idea of blueberries. Thanks!!!
Jess March 22, 2018
What about storing these cookies? How long do they keep (assuming they aren't immediately eaten!), and what about the yogurt glaze?
Maryann March 22, 2018
I'm pretty sure freeze-dried raspberries will be hard, nay impossible, to find in my burg; what can I use as a substitution?
Michelle G. March 23, 2018
Go to Amazon.com...they got em!
Sharon March 23, 2018
Target too, presumably orthers. Don’t let Amazon always be the answer, or someday they will be the only answer!
Maryann March 23, 2018
Thanks, Michelle and Sharon! Since I live in Canada (no Target), I'll probably get it from Amazon, though I agree with you Sharon!!!
melissapage March 24, 2018
Whole Foods sells them
Maryann March 25, 2018
Thank you! I'll check for it there!
Steve K. March 16, 2018
Something I never thought about, do you measure Yogurt like a wet ingredient or a dry ingredient?
Eileen June 11, 2018
Since yogurt holds peaks like a solid and does not self-level like a liquid, I measure it like a solid, so I can level off the top of the measuring cup with a knife.
Holland T. March 14, 2018
Just tried this recipe, I feel like my cookies came out much puffier and drier than they should have. Any thoughts on what I can adjust?
Also tried it with blueberries/almonds instead of raspberries/pistachios and it worked well!
Michelle G. March 23, 2018
Your oven may be baking at a higher temp...check after 15 minutes!