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!!
You have never had a cookie this good. This is the best cookie you will EVER have.. amazingly moist and rich and so, so chocolaty. This is replacing my old faithful recipe (which doesn’t even compare). So glad I found this. Happy baking!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad my recipe is replacing your old faithful recipe!
I am a big fan of all of your recipes! Can’t wait to make these cookies and am wondering if you can use this recipe and add M&M’s with the chocolate chips.
I’m sure that adding M&Ms would be just fine. Enjoy!
Help Averie!! I forgot to wrap my dough in plastic wrap! I just took it out of the refrigerator and it’s soooo hard and crumbling. Howwww do I fix this ?
You can’t really. The fridge dries out dough a ton. I would just bake them and hope for the best but be sure not to over bake or it will make them even drier.
You did an AMAZING job with these!! I love love love chocolate chip cookies and this is my go-to recipe for them. I always get TONS of compliments. I just read one of those recent comments and your reply about chiseling cookies out of cold dough and you are not lying. But I have always made them that way, because I never have room in my fridge to do otherwise. They aren’t as uniform in size, but they work.
Just made these for maybe the 12th time (with many compliments) and just wanted to thank you!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this is your go-to recipe and always get tons of compliments!
Love this recipe!!! Wondering if I can put all the dough I the refrigerator at the same time rather than the heaping mounds on plate?
I would do it as I recommend or else it’s a lot of elbow grease to chisel out cold dough.
This has become my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I always get compliments! If I’m in a rush and don’t have two hours for the dough to sit in the fridge, I’ve discovered sticking the dough in the freezer for about 20 min seems to work just as well.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that it’s your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and that if you’re short on time, the freezer works just as well for you!
I’ve been making this recipe since you first posted it and I remember there being a side note in the comments about how to keep the cookies fluffy… I feel like it was something about backing off the flour and maybe adding a little extra of something else. Can you remember?
I haven’t touched this recipe in years, it’s literally one of my top three most popular recipes of all times so I have never wanted to mess with it. In order to keep the cookies fluffy, hmmm I am not sure because I don’t remember anything like that. I’m sorry
Nothing is coming to mind or ringing a bell with this recipe. You could possibly try adding 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, that might help you, not sure.
I absolutely love these! They have been a road trip favorite for holiday traveling & in between of course 😊! The only thing I’m wondering about is the color. The bottoms come out brown, but the tops are slightly less than golden brown (almost white). I even leave them in the oven longer. I’m not sure what I might be doing wrong? (I think I tried parchment paper once, and they came out a little better, but I can’t remember. Lol) Thanks again for an amazing recipe!
Dark on the bottom, too light on top, could mean that your oven rack is a bit too low. I would bake on one higher up level of oven rack and that may help quite a bit. Glad you love the cookies!
I’m no baker, but these cookies are fool proof. I even used half white whole wheat flour and they still came out soft in the center. I really appreciate that your directions are very specific (i.e., how many minutes to cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric hand mixer), because I really have no idea what I’m doing, and with the specific directions these cookies came out so awesome. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you feel that these cookies are foolproof! I’m also glad to hear that you appreciate my specific directions.
Made these last Christmas and everyone loved them
Thanks for the five star review and glad they were a hit!
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Amazing!!!
I’m glad you think they are the best choc chip cookies ever!
These cookies are incredible!I’ve made them several times and everyone loves them! I make a ton because on my block there are a lot of kids and they love them too! thank you for sharing this great recipe. 5 stars all the way oh and by the may my husband is in love with the chcolate version of these too lol
Thanks for the five star review and glad you make them often because they’re such a hit! And the choc version too for your hubby!
These cookies are amazing! I’ve made them twice now, and I didn’t notice until I mixed up the 2nd batch that I was making them wrong!! I’ve been using the whole 8 oz of cream cheese, instead of the 2 oz it calls for…but they’re unbelievably good!! I do have to bake them for a few minutes longer, but we love them! Especially sprinkled w/ sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven :)
Thanks for the five star review and glad they come out great with 8oz cream cheese rather than 2! I love sea salt on cookies too!
Honestly, the BEST chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever eaten! So creamy and chewy! I used 2 cups of chocolate chips only, and it was still wonderful! This is my new choc chip cookie recipe! I can’t believe the difference the cream cheese makes. I wonder if I can add it to my other cookie recipes?
Thanks for the five star review and glad these are the best choc chip cookies you’ve ever eaten! Adding cream cheese to other cookie recipes could involve some trial and error as it will change the structure/texture/etc. of the dough.
I love these cookies the only choc-chip cookie I make but I want to make them in ramakins indiviual ramakins do you think that will work. please let me know asap want to make soon Thank you so much
I have only tried the recipe as written so really can’t say how the ramekins will work. The texture I think will change possibly quite a bit. Good luck!
Absolute best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there. I have tried many recipes and these far surpass others! Have been making them for at least 3 years now, probably longer.
Thanks for the five star review and glad these have been a favorite for the past three years!