Cream cheese Sugar cookies

PREP TIME 25

COOK TIME 15

Chilling 30

TOTAL TIME 1 10

15 cookies

These Cream cheese Sugar cookies hold their shape perfectly (no spreading) during baking and is topped with cream cheese mixture before baking

Ingredients

Instructions

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter, cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract.
6 Tablespoons (85g)unsalted butter, at room temperature, 2 ounces (57g) cream cheese, at room temperature, ½ cup (100g) white granulated or castor sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Beat together for 1 minute on low speed until combined (use the paddle attachment) Do not overmix.
In a separate bowl, blend the flour and salt together. Then, gradually incorporate it into the butter mixture while the mixer is running at a low speed.
1 ⅓ cup (170g) all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt
Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, and observe the dough mixing. When it starts to come together and the dough clumps around the paddle attachment, it should be the right texture.
Gather the dough and press it down slightly on a sheet of parchment paper.
Cover it with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼ inch (6mm) between the two pieces of parchment paper.
Then, place it as is on a baking sheet and either refrigerate (45 minutes)or freeze (30 minutes)
Use a round cookie cutter, about 2 ¼ inches (6cm) in diameter, to cut out the cookies. Re-roll leftover dough and repeat. If the dough gets too soft to work with, place in the fridge or freezer to firm up again.
Place cut out dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Add cream cheese and powdered sugar to a bowl
4 ounces (110g) cream cheese, at room temperature, ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar, sifted
Use a spatula to blend until smooth, then transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star piping tip (I used an Ateco 1M piping tip)
If you'd rather not use a piping tip, just snip a little opening in the piping bag and pipe out swirls.
Pipe the cream cheese mixture in the center of each cookie.
Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat it to 350° F / 177° C (160° C fan).
Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes until the edges turn a light golden brown.
Take them out of the oven and leave on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before gently transferring to a cooling rack.
To finish, use a fine sieve to sift a little powdered sugar around the edges of each cookie.

Recipe Notes

Room temperature ingredients: The butter and cream cheese should be at room temperature so they blend easily. They should not be melted at all.

Make sure that you use the block-style cream cheese, not the spreadable version that is available in tubs.

Mixing the dough: You can use either a stand mixer, hand held mixer or simply use a spatula to make this dough.

Don't overmix: Remember, don't overmix at any point in this recipe. Mix the butter, sugar, and cream cheese for just one minute. Overmixing will incorporate too much air into the dough, causing it to spread excessively during baking, which isn't ideal if you want the cookie to maintain its shape.

When the flour is added, mix until just combined (about 30 seconds to a minute with a stand or hand held mixer) To prevent adding flour while rolling, I roll the dough between two parchment sheets, eliminating the need for extra flour. Excess flour can lead to tough, dense cookies.

Put the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking if the dough gets soft while cutting them out.

Place unbaked cookies on cool baking sheets: Before baking, preheat the oven, but leave the baking sheet at room temperature. Place the unbaked cookies on the cool baking sheet before putting them in the oven.

Rotate the baking sheet: Halfway through the baking time, rotate the baking sheet in the oven. This helps to ensure even baking of the cookies.

Keep in mind that the suggested baking time is just a guideline. Every oven operates differently; some may run faster while others slower. Therefore, it's important to keep an eye on the cookies and adjust the baking time accordingly. It's normal for the actual baking time to vary by a few minutes, either more or less.

Nutrition