Cream Cheese Cookies Recipe: How to Make Soft Cookies
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 13, 2023 • 2 min read
Cream cheese cookies are sugar cookies made soft, puffy, and pillowy by including cream cheese in the dough.
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What Are Cream Cheese Cookies?
Cream cheese cookies, also known as cheesecake cookies, are sugar cookies that use cream cheese to achieve a soft, chewy, pillowy texture. Often made as holiday cookies or Christmas cookies, these confections are dusted with powdered sugar or rolled in cinnamon sugar (you can also frost the cookies with cream cheese frosting).
Cream cheese cookies are typically plain, but you can also add white chocolate chips, chopped pecans, or lemon zest to the dough. While a cream cheese cookie typically refers to a sugar cookie style, you can also add cream cheese to other types of cookie recipes. For example, adding cream cheese to chocolate chip cookies makes the dough more tender.
3 Tips for Making Cream Cheese Cookies
Consider the following tips to ease the baking process for cream cheese cookies:
- 1. Bring ingredients to room temperature. Make sure the dough and the unsalted butter are both soft and at room temperature to achieve the creamiest cookie consistency.
- 2. Use the right flour. All-purpose flour will work, but cake flour is best to achieve the softest texture. To make the cookies gluten-free, use finely ground almond flour or coconut flour.
- 3. Avoid overbaking the cookies. Cream cheese cookies can easily dry out if overbaked, so watch for any signs of browning around the edges and remove them from the oven immediately. Golden brown cookies will be too tough.
Chewy Cream Cheese Cookies Recipe
makes
24prep time
1 hr 20 mintotal time
1 hr 30 mincook time
10 minIngredients
- 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- 2
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a hand mixer with a large bowl), add the cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- 3
Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract to the cream cheese mixture and beat until well combined.
- 4
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- 5
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- 6
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with racks in the upper and lower thirds.
- 7
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 8
Using a cookie scoop, divide the dough into golf ball–sized balls (about two tablespoons each) and place two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- 9
Bake the cookie dough until the edges are just beginning to turn golden, about 10 minutes.
- 10
Let the baked cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack.
- 11
Once they have cooled, dust cookies with powdered sugar.
- 12
Serve the cookies immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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