Stuffed Cream Cheese Cookies — Big, soft, buttery cookies with sweet and tangy cream cheese in the middle!! Perfect for cookie exchanges or whenever a cream cheese hankering hits!
Table of Contents
Easy Cream Cheese Cookies
I’ve made cream cheese cookies, twice. But not like these. If you like tangy cream cheese frosting and soft buttery cookies, you’re going to be in heaven.
The cream cheese stays slightly soft, gooey, and tastes much more like cream cheese frosting than it does like cheesecake because there’s no egg. There’s also no slightly dry, crumbly texture that cheesecake can have.
In addition to flour, I also used graham cracker crumbs in the cookie dough. Graham crackers and cream cheese just go hand in hand. The crumbs add another subtle layer of flavor and provide a tiny bit of texture.
I loved the cookies. The contrast of the tangy cream cheese frosting with the uber-soft caramely dough is ridiculously good. I hoarded these.
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Cookies
To make these cream cheese-filled cookies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Graham cracker crumbs
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cream cheese
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Cream Cheese Cookies
The filled cream cheese cookies come together much like your average cookie recipe. Let’s review the basic recipe steps:
- For the cookie dough, Cream together the wet ingredients, then mix in the dry.
- Form the cookie dough into balls, then hollow out the center of each ball as if you were making thumbprint cookies.
- To make the cream cheese filling, cream together the sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Distribute the filling among the cookies, then chill for at least 2 hours before baking.
- Once the dough’s had time to chill, bake until the edges have set and the cream cheese is just set.
- The cookies need to cool for 15 minutes before they can be eaten!
A Note About the Batch Size
The cream cheese cookie recipe only makes nine cookies and each cookie is fairly large. While you could make the cookies smaller, by the ninth cookie you’ll be sick of smooshing the dough into thumbprint shapes and carefully adding the filling, so keep it easy on yourself and just make nine.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, lite or low-fat cream cheese will work so long as it’s still brick-style cream cheese.
Yes, cookies made with cream cheese can be frozen for up to 4 months (either the baked cookies or the raw cookie dough balls).
This cookie recipe features a cream cheese filling. Normally, when I use cream cheese IN the cookie dough, it acts as a partial butter replacement. It adds a richness and creaminess to the dough that’s amazing.
As a happy accident, I used a combo of light and dark brown sugar in this recipe. I was scraping the bottom of my light brown sugar canister for the last one-quarter cup and so I used some dark brown, too.
Best decision ever because the cream cheese cookies have a caramely, buttery, rich depth of flavor that’ll keep you coming back for more. Dark brown sugar has more moisture than light brown because it has more molasses, creating cookies are supremely soft, tender, and moist.
However, you can use just one type of brown sugar in these cookies and you’ll still get fantastic results!
Tips for Making Cream Cheese-Filled Cookies
When hollowing out the cookies for the filling, make sure not to go too deeply and punch through the bottom. Go just deep enough that each cookie will be able to hold 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling.
Make sure you use brick-style cream cheese for the filling and NOT the whipped kind in a tub.
You can purchase pre-made graham cracker crumbs or you can pulverize whole graham crackers to make them. If possible, use a food processor so the crumbs are very fine.
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Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed (I used 1/4 cup of light and 1/4 cup dark)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 teaspoon cornstach
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened (lite is okay)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Cookies:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars (highly recommend using some dark brown sugar), egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form 9 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and using your fingers, hollow out the center of each ball as if you were making thumbprint cookies. In doing so, the cookies will naturally flatten. Make sure not to go too deeply and punch through the bottom but go deep enough that each cookie will be able to hold 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray and place in the freezer while you wash the mixing bowl and make the cream cheese filling.
- Cream Cheese Filling:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the cream cheese, sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and creamed, about 4 minutes.
- Using a small spoon, equally distribute filling among dough mounds, smoothing the tops lightly with the back of the spoon or a spatula.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 6 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for about 12 minutes, or until edges have set and cream cheese is just set; don’t overbake for soft cookies (bake a few minutes longer for firmer cookies). Cookies firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 15 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Mmmmmmm. I love the texture & flavor of baked goods with cream cheese! These are a must try :)
Marla these were one of my fave cookies in ages….love these things! I hope you’re back home, safe and sound :)
Do I have to share? I can bake these and hide them for myself, correct? Wow, these look awesome! PINNED :)
Thanks for pinning, Aimee, and these were way too good to share…I hoarded them :)
These cookies look so good, I want to eat them for breakfast. Thanks for this recipe.
I love cookies with icing. What an amazing idea to make it taste like cheesecake. Looks delicious, love your creative recipe ideas! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning!
You really can’t go wrong with cream cheese! These looks fantastic and perfect to curb my sweet tooth :)
I love thumbprint cookies but for some reason I only make them at Christmas. These look insanely good..I like that the batch only makes 9 because I’m not sure how much sharing I would do. The cream cheese thumbprint would be great with so many cookie bases the ideas are endless…you’re a genius.
I was thinking after I made these that there are SO many ways to go…tp basically make thumbprints out of any kind of cookie base, I mean why not :) That center is like a jelly-filled donut…it just makes the whole thing THAT much better when you’ve got that gooey, juicy factor going on!
These look great! I feel like pumpkin would be great added to the cookies as well. Fun post!
Oh my goodness, I love the additional of graham cracker crumbs in the dough. Genius!
How I never tried this combo before in my cookies is just beyond me. That’s an awesome thumbprinting idea–I love it even more than my jam ones! Bookmarked for sure.
Me, please! One for me! (Or three or four…)
What a great combination, graham crackers and cream cheese, these cookies are beautiful! Pinned, they need to be seen by more people!!!
Thanks for pinning!
I love desserts that use cream cheese! These cookies look fantastic! Love that you recommend making nine but big cookies. These will go fast here. Pinned!
Bigger is better…and less work overall :) The name of the game!
I never would have thought the combo of cream cheese and graham crackers would sound good together, but in a cookie form, it sounds like it would go great together. These look delicious and I usually always have these ingredients in my pantry!
There’s nothing more classic than a graham crack crust cheesecake, right! Cheesecake, in cookie form, minus the dryness!
I love cream cheese in or on anything! This is genius! Crazy good cookies and totally worth running extra for, Averie!
I kind of forgot about thumbprint cookies so I love how you’ve changed things up a bit. The graham crackers are a nice touch– these seem like a little nod to cheesecake even if the filling tastes more like frosting. This is a really cool and creative cookie Averie!
Thanks, Paula! I looooooved these! One of my faves in a long time!
I would hoard all of these, too! Graham cracker and cream cheese is an unbeatable combo. Now you’ve put them into a cookies – I’ll be swooning for days over these! Have a great weekend, Averie!
Thanks, Julie, and enjoy your weekend too!