Description
Celebrate the holidays with these festive Christmas Cheesecake Cookies featuring a soft, creamy texture from cream cheese, a delightful marbled effect in red and green, and a hint of peppermint flavor perfect for the season.
Ingredients
Scale
Base Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Flavoring and Coloring
- Red and green food coloring (as needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Optional
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or silicone baking mats to prevent sticking.
- Cream Butter and Cheese: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until the mixture is fluffy and smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add Sugar and Eggs: Gradually add the granulated sugar to the butter-cream cheese mixture and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy, an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Then beat in the eggs and vanilla extract for about 1 minute.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to evenly distribute the leavening agents and salt.
- Combine Mixtures: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring gently just until combined. Avoid over-mixing to ensure tender cookies.
- Divide and Chill Dough: Separate the dough evenly into three small bowls. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to firm up for easier handling.
- Color and Flavor Dough: Once chilled, add red food coloring to one bowl, green food coloring and peppermint extract to another, and leave the third bowl plain. Mix each until the desired color and flavor are achieved. If dough is too sticky to handle, chill briefly again.
- Form Cookies: Take ½ tablespoon of each colored dough, gently roll them together between your palms to create a marbled effect without overmixing, then place formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spaced to allow spreading.
- Bake: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 11 minutes. Cookies should be light in color with just a slight browning on the bottom but not browned on top.
- Cool: Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional Dusting: Once cooled, dust the cookies lightly with powdered sugar for a festive finishing touch.
Notes
- Store cookies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to one week or freeze for up to three months.
- For a more tart and cheesy flavor profile, add a teaspoon of lemon juice instead of vanilla extract, or omit extracts entirely.
- The peppermint extract can be omitted or substituted with other flavorings like almond or orange extract depending on preference.
- Avoid overbaking to prevent dry, biscuit-like texture; cookies should remain soft.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
