Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies — 🍪🙌🏻🤎These soft batch cookies are made with a combination of butter and cream cheese, which makes them extra rich and delicious! I like to make mine using a combination of chocolate chips and chunks, and you can even use M&M’s in these!
Table of Contents
Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Cream Cheese!)
I’ve been wanting to bake cream cheese into cookies for ages. I finally did. And I’m in love with the results.
I adapted my favorite Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies recipe and replaced some of the butter with cream cheese and am in love with the results.
My favorite recipe calls for 3/4 cup of butter, and for these soft batch chocolate chip cookies I used a combination of 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup cream cheese. You wouldn’t think that just a simple quarter-cup swap of butter for cream cheese would effect results that much, but it did.
These chocolate chip cream cheese cookies are so soft, moist, and with a richness to the dough like no other cookies I’ve tried.
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve never made chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese before, you’re in for a treat! You’ll need just a handful of pantry staples:
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
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 Chocolate Chip Cookies
The steps for this chocolate chip cookie recipe with cream cheese couldn’t be simpler!
- Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugars, and vanilla extract. Whip the mixture on medium-high speed until it’s light and fluffy. Don’t just mix it all together, it must be light and fluffy before moving onto the next step!
- Add in the dry ingredients and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets incorporated.
- Scoop the cookie dough into large balls and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before baking.
- Bake the cookies for no more than 10 minutes, then let cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray before transferring to a wire rack.
Cookie FAQs
It makes them super soft and moist! In this particular recipe, the dough seems more buttery — which is ironic since there’s actually less butter used, not more. The cream cheese cookies are super soft without being cakey, and remind me of soft batch cookies. The edges are slightly chewy, and the thick interiors are soft, tender, and moist.
I can’t taste the cream cheese, but it adds depth, density, and richness that my regular chocolate chip cookies don’t have.
Use full-fat cream cheese in a block. Do NOT use light, fat-free, or a whipped cream cheese because your dough will become runny. I tried the recipe with some light cream cheese I had on hand, and the cookies baked thinner and spread.
You can use a hand mixer and a bowl if that’s all you have, but I prefer using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment because you can prepare other parts of the recipe while it’s busy mixing. I use the Kitchenaid 7-quart tilt head mixer, which you can get on Amazon. They’re worth the investment in my opinion!
Technically, you can omit the cornstarch, but your cookies won’t turn out as soft. To make these cream cheese chocolate chip cookies soft batch-style, the cornstarch is needed.
I made these as classic chocolate chip cream cheese cookies, but I bet you could add extra mix-ins if desired. Chopped nuts, M&M’s, or your favorite chopped up candy bar would all be good additions. Just be sure to add no more than 2 1/4 cups mix-ins total. 
Yes, if you want to make soft batch chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese you MUST chill the dough first. Make sure to chill your dough for at least 2 hours before you bake to ensure your cookies bake thick and puffy. Warm, limp dough bakes into limpy and wimpy cookies. I want my cookies to be thick, with puffy centers that are overflowing with chocolate.
I used a 2-inch cookie scoop to make my cookies because I like them really big. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, use a large spoon and your hands. Just try to make your cookies all the same size so they bake evenly!
Recipe Video Tutorial
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Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup cream cheese, softened*
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 2 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks**
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.***
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cookies Made with Cream Cheese:
ALL OF MY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPES!
Cream Cheese Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies — Cream cheese keeps them super soft! Say hello to your new fave chocolate cookie!!
Black and White Cream Cheese Cookies — These cookies combine two favorites in one! Soft, moist, buttery, creamy Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies are paired with fudgy, intensely chocolaty, and not overly sweet Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies.
Cream Cheese White Chocolate Chip Cookies — These soft and chewy white chocolate chip cookies use two special ingredients to achieve their pillowy texture: instant pudding mix and cream cheese!
Cream Cheese Cookies — Big, soft, buttery cookies with sweet and tangy cream cheese in the middle!! Oh my….Best thumbprints ever!!!
Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies — Big, bold lemon flavor packed into super soft cookies thanks to the cream cheese!! Tangy-sweet perfection! Lemon lovers are going to adore these easy cookies!!
i just made these a couple nights ago and they were amazing! The cream cheese definitely makes a difference. They are still nice and soft even after a couple days. I did a mix of semi sweet and milk chocolate chips. But maybe next time I will add less chocolate chips because I’m more of a cookie dough person.
Nevertheless great recipe! Thanks! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that the cookies stayed nice and soft!
Hi, I love reading your recipes on IG. I notice that you use oblong shaped chocolate chunks. What brand are they/where do you purchase thwm? I would like to try using them. They make the cookies look even more decadent. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
I honestly don’t use oblong choc chips/chunks often. In this recipe I used them because I had them on hand (Enjoy Life brand) but they can be pricey and hard to find (they’re pretty, yes) but really any ‘regular’ chocolate chip or chunk is fine!
Just tried them, Delicious!! moist! the cream cheese definatly makes a difference!! I made them with three kinds of chocolate, dark, milk and white chocolate chips….turned out great!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and I love your trifecta of chips!
hi! I’m so excited about these cookies and am in the process of making them right now. im about to run to the store because we only had 1 cup of chocolate chips. anyway the dough is chilling in the fridge right now. I noticed it seemed a little dry… I’m not a baker really so I’m not sure what (if anything) I did wrong… too much flour? is there a way to come back from too much of something?
If you’re not much of a baker my thoughts are you over-measured the flour which is easy to do. Always use a light hand with flour. At this point, after you’ve already added the flour and chips, there’s not a lot really you can do to save it. Bake them but be sure to underbake or they will be dry and crumbly. Now you know for next time or with all cookies, less is more with flour. You can always add some but can’t remove.
Your pics had me blown away! In fact I don’t think I can wait for the dough to set for 2 hours in the freezer 0.0 So right now it’s only been half and hour and I’ve already preheated the oven(no patience). I will let you know how they will turn out! And I didn’t have corn starch but added about 1 TBSP of corn flour :/ I won’t be disappointed if they don’t turn out perfect since I didn’t follow all instructions correctly:P
Tried these last night and it is an AMAZING recipe!!! It was a huge hit in my house and I will definitely keep this one! I was a bit skeptical removing them from the oven so quick, left them a little longer, but I could have easily removed them sooner, as indicated. Absolutely delicious!!! Thanks :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you loved them so much and yes, removing from the oven sooner rather than later is always best for cookies I find. Glad you love them!
I just finishing baking these and they were great. You do have to play with the bake time till you get the feel for them in your oven. Most of mine were chewy and soft. Loved them and thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad things worked out and yes finding the sweet spot in one’s oven can take a little bit of trial and error but when you do, the stars align :)
I am making them right now and just realized I don’t have cornstarch!! Will it ruin the recipe?
It won’t ‘ruin’ the recipe but they won’t have quite the same texture.
amazing!! I have made these cookies twice already (in one week) and they are a huge hit in my house!! They dispappear once they are cooked… Turn out purfectly… Soft and chocolatey… Thank you so much for posting this recipe… I look forward to trying more of your recipes… :-) thanks so much!! This is new “go to” chocolate chip cookie :-)
Thanks for trying the recipe twice in one week! I’m glad it came out great for you and that it’s your new go-to CCC recipe!
I made these today and they were really good – I have made similar cookies without the cream cheese and these were way way better. Thanks for sharing such a gem of a recipe! At some point I’d love to share it on my blog (giving credit where it’s due of course!)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it topped your other recipe!
These cookies are perfectly amazing! I followed your directions exactly and they turned out great!! Thank you so much for the recipe! Will definitely try more from you! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad the cookies came out great for you!
i melted the butter instead of softening it. Should I start over?
Yes. You can make any of these bars with your melted butter! https://www.averiecooks.com/tag/blondies-2 There’s like 45+ to choose from!
I tried this recipe last night and it was amazing. I’m throwing out my other chewy cookie recipe.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out amazing for you and that you’re throwing out your other recipe!
I made these tonight, followed your recipe to the letter, and was greatly disappointed. They didn’t bake well, didn’t taste good, and weren’t enjoyable. Not sure what went wrong, but I was really hoping they would work.
Thanks for trying the recipe and sorry it didn’t work out for you. Not sure what to say since so many hundreds of people have commented and written in with success…not sure what went wrong in your case. Thanks for trying though.
Yes, my 13 year old wanted to bake white chocolate cookies and your recipes never disappoint! She made them pretty much by herself and was very impressed with *her* cookies!
Best cookies ever according to my kids! We used white chocolate and chopped macadamia nuts. Great recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that your kids deem them best cookies ever!