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!!
Just made these and they are the BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made!! Thank you for posting this!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad they’re the BEST CCCs you’ve ever made!
I’m make & freese in balls as you described. Should they be defrosted or baked frozen?
Baked frozen is fine, add a minute or two to baking time if necessary.
That’s even easier, thank you.
I made this recipe exactly as stated, but it just doesn’t seem right…the dough is very crumbly and not moist enough to stick together. I did refrigerate, but they still seem crumbly, first batch is baking now, but they don’t even look like cookies, just looks like piles of crumbs. Not sure what happened!
If the dough is that dry and crumbly based on what you wrote, I have a feeling you over-measured or used a bit too heavy of a hand when measuring your flour which is a common baking mistake. Thanks for trying the recipe.
These are the best ever chocolate chip cookies! !
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
The only thing I changed , my oven time was 12 minutes. It’s a gas convection. Lois
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad they’re the best ever CCCs for you!
These are really good, one question. I have anew stove, do you have a recommended cooking time for a convection oven ? Thank you.
Generally convection cooks much quicker than regular so I would start checking at least 3-5 minutes earlier and use your best judgment.
Thank you. I cooked them and they were perfect at at 5-6 minutes.
I’m making these for my Dad for Christmas since he loves a soft chocolate-chip cookie. But I won’t tell him there’s cream cheese in it, hehe!! He’s very old-fashioned and has been eating the same things his whole life!
He’s going to love these! Way to be a sneaky chef :)
Hi there ! I am dying to try this cookie recipe! Would I be able to make these cookies ahead of time and freeze them ? I want to have them for Christmas and I’m trying to make my cookies so I’m not stressing out …. or would suggest I just make the dough and bake closer to Christmas
I recommend making the dough, freezing it after it’s been rolled into balls, and then baking the cookies off fresh when you’re ready to bake. I definitely prefer frozen dough to actually making the cookies and then freezing those because they never taste quite as good. But the dough…totally fine to freeze.
I dont have an electric mixer of any kind. Would it make a huge difference mixing by hand?
I’m not going to lie, this is a trickier recipe to make by hand because you need to cream for 5-7 mins in the beginning; I can’t even imagine by hand how long that will take. Could take 20+ minutes. I have other (most) of my cookie recipes that don’t call for that long of a period. But…you can always try and see how it goes!
Great recipe. I agree with other commenters that these are the best I’ve ever made. Much better even than the “Mrs Fields Recipe” that I’ve been using for 28 years. I live at 7,000 feet in Colorado and didn’t even need to modify the recipe for elevation. 9 minutes each time was perfect with cool batter. (I actually prefer to chill the dough before scooping it into balls since it is less sticky that way. Either way, it seems best to make the batter into cookie shapes because the balls don’t really flatten out while cooking the way other recipes do.)
First time: made 34 cookies. Loved the first one out of the oven. Then our dog ate 27 off the counter! Kids got to split the other 6 and my wife got zero.
Second time: made about 35, which we all enjoyed.
Third time: baked them during our dessert party the day after Thanksgiving. People were somewhat polite with the first sheet. The second sheet I could barely get out of the oven before everyone scooped them up. Way more popular than the apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cranberry bread that I slaved over all day.
Amazing feedback…and I HATE slaving away over desserts only to have the relatively easy stuff be the biggest hit. That’s always the case though, baker’s luck :)
Glad to know that even at elevation you didn’t need to make any special changes. I agree, they don’t flatten much so better to form into balls sooner rather than later.
Your dog! Wow! I guess that the old adage that chocolate is fatal for dogs did not apply here if your dog is fine!
My wife says it just proves how little chocolate is actually in Nestles Tollhouse morsels. Of course, the dog is a 110 pound yellow lab….
Seriously though…I know. There are so many science principles at play from the cocoa content of various chocolate chip brands to whether that adage is even true to whether your dog is a (human-size) superstar genetically….I actually love that stuff. BUT…I’m really glad you love the cookies :)
HI Averie! I am baking these for thanksgiving for eight people and we love our cookies!!! I was wondering if I should double the batch? So excited to try because I have never before!
Use your gut…there will be a ton of other food there but if they reallllly love cookies, then maybe. Enjoy!
My daughter is allergic to corn. What can I substitute for the cornstarch?
I really can’t say because I’ve never tried. Just omit it if you have to.
If I doubled the recipe they should turn out the same right? I’m making a bunch of them for a thanksgiving dinner at work.
They should be fine. Enjoy!
I have made these cookies twice so and both times my husband and daughter gobbled them up!! They are delicious!! With the holidays coming up I would like to make a big batch of the dough and freeze it. Is this dough ok to freeze?
I’m so glad you guys gobbled up these cookies! Yes it’s totally fine to make in advance and freeze.
I want the pumpkin pecan cookie recipe.
I saw it somewhere but lost the site
bobjunegibby@hotmail.com
I have lots of recipes that are very similar to that with their various titles. Google those words and see what comes up by looking at the photos and you’ll be able to see what you had in mind. I have 100+ pumpkin recipes alone. And probably 50 with pecans. And probably 500 cookie recipes. Hard to guess which one you saw.
Should unbaked frozen dough be cooked from frozen or room temp?
I take it out of the freezer while my oven preheats. It does not need to fully come up to room temp – you don’t want room temp actually. You want nicely chilled dough.
I just made these and have them chilling in the fridge, and realized I forgot the cornstarch!! What should I expect?
Not a huge change, just slightly less ‘sofbatch’ style but still soft for sure. Enjoy!