Cream Cheese cookies are a simple drop cookie that you can customize with sprinkles or glaze or glaceed fruit.
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The simplicity of these cookies make them a good choice to enlist the help of any nearby children.
Children can make the glaze, if using, as well as stir the dough ingredients together.
They could also scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets.
Cream Cheese Drop Cookies are popular at the holidays because they're flavorful and festive, if you're mixing in red and green sprinkles, but you're not rolling and cutting out dough.
These cookies remind me a lot of Kentucky Butter Cake Cookies with Cake Mix and also Best Mexican Snowballs.
More easy drop cookie recipes you can find here include Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies and Copycat Panera Lemon Drop Cookies Recipe as well as Oreo Pudding Cookies (The One You Won't Stop Eating)
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Cookies
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- powdered sugar
- butter
- egg
- vanilla extract
- water
- cream cheese
See recipe card for quantities.
Cookie Baking Advice
You may find these baking posts helpful, from Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays.
Instructions
You'll beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy then add the powdered sugar.
Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
Finally add the flour and baking soda and sprinkles. Stir or beat until just combined then chill dough.
Hint: Be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour.
Also, you should be aware that cream cheese cookie dough has a consistency similar to cake batter--it's not quite as thin and loopy but it's also not as thick as a drop cookie dough, like Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Substitutions
If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.
- Cream Cheese- You can substitute full fat cream cheese with low-fat.
- Butter - Substitute with margarine if you need to but the cookies won't be as delicious.
- Vanilla Extract- Replace with almond extract or Fiori di Sicilia.
Variations
You have all kinds of choices here for personalizing these cookies.
- Sprinkles - add red and green for Christmas; orange, brown and red for Thanksgiving; or black, purple and orange for Halloween.
- Peppermint - Make a festive holiday version by swapping out vanilla extract for peppermint extract and top with glaze and crushed peppermint candies.
- Glaceed Fruit- Swap vanilla extract for almond extract and top cookie with glaze and a glazed cherry.
- Cranberry Orange-Add a bit of orange and vanilla extracts mixed together or Fiori di Sicilia or a bit of orange zest and orange juice. Top with a sugared cranberry.
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- measuring cups and spoons
- hand mixer or stand mixer
- parchment paper
Storage
Store in an airtight container for three days for freeze in a freeze safe container for up to three months.
You can either freeze the dough or the already baked cookies.
Top tip
Don't over mix this dough.
Be sure to use softened butter and cream cheese so that you're not spending the day beating the two together to get little lumps out of the cookie dough.
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Recipe
Cream Cheese Cookies
Cream Cheese cookies are a simple drop cookie that you can customize with sprinkles or glaze or glaceed fruit.
Ingredients
- For Dough:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup cream cheese, softened (½ brick)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1-½ cups powdered sugar, divide
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-¾ cups, all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons sprinkles
- For Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons water
- Optional:
- Extra sprinkles for putting on top of glaze
- Glaceed cherries for putting on top of glaze (sub almond extract if using)
- Sprinkle glaze with finely chopped pistachio
Instructions
- Beat butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy using an electric mixer.
- Add powdered sugar and beat for another minute.
- Mix in egg and vanilla extract (or another extract, you can experiment)
- Stir in flour and baking powder and sprinkles (if using) until just combined.
- Chill dough for at least an hour.
- Scoop using a teaspoon or a #40 cookie scoop (about a tablespoon and a third of dough) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Let rest until cool.
Notes
This dough is not your typical cookie dough. You'll find it more cake batter like than doughy so it's important to chill the dough for an hour at least to let it firm up.
The dough will be soft when you scoop it into dough balls but it should easily hold its shape. If not, keep chilling the dough.
Decoration ideas are only limited by your imagination.
Use sprinkles
Use a glaze alone.
Top glaze with a candied cherry or finely chopped pistachio or chopped chocolate or sprinkles.
Dust with powdered sugar
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Nutrition Information
Yield 24 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 188Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 23mgSodium 55mgCarbohydrates 68gFiber 2gSugar 18gProtein 8g
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