Cranberry Bliss Cheesecake Cookies
Recipe
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Prep Time: 15 min
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks, or chopped chocolate)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 (4.4 oz) bar of white chocolate
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- Chopped cranberries
Bake Time: 10 min
Yields: 16 cookies
What you need
Cookies
Cheesecake Filling
White Chocolate Drizzle
What to do
1. Place butter and sugars in a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for about 90 seconds. Hand mixer and/or whisk also works- just make sure butter is extra soft, so you can easily mix.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined.
3. Sift all dry ingredients into a medium bowl (wait on the white chocolate and cranberries).Give the dry mix and good whisk or two so everything is combined. Add all ingredients in the medium bowl to your butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low until flour is barely combined. Add white chocolate and cranberries.
4. At this point, I like to cover and chill my dough for 24 hrs (*see note below). You can also bake right away. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 360. For the cheesecake filling, place very soft cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl- mix well with a spatula. Then place in the freezer and let the cheesecake chill and firm up for about 20 minutes. When ready to bake, pull cheesecake mix from the freezer and using a small spoon, scoop, then form the mixture into 8 medium balls or 16 small balls (you get to choose how big you want your cookies!)
5. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop dough into about 8 large cookies or 16 smaller cookies. Mold a hole in each piece of dough, place a piece of cheesecake, mold the dough around the cheesecake. Place 2 cookies (or 4, depending on size) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes for 8 cookies, (10 minutes if you have 16 cookies), or when edges are browning and tops look puffed up and underdone (*see note about shaping cookies below). Remove from oven.
6. For the white chocolate drizzle, take a large glass bowl, place it over a medium size saucepan filled with water (we are making a double boiler). Place the white chocolate in the glass bowl. Heat the heat on low, and slowly let the chocolate melt (*see note below). Once melted, spoon or pipe your chocolate onto your cookies, top with zest and cranberries, and enjoy!!!
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined.
3. Sift all dry ingredients into a medium bowl (wait on the white chocolate and cranberries).Give the dry mix and good whisk or two so everything is combined. Add all ingredients in the medium bowl to your butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low until flour is barely combined. Add white chocolate and cranberries.
4. At this point, I like to cover and chill my dough for 24 hrs (*see note below). You can also bake right away. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 360. For the cheesecake filling, place very soft cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a bowl- mix well with a spatula. Then place in the freezer and let the cheesecake chill and firm up for about 20 minutes. When ready to bake, pull cheesecake mix from the freezer and using a small spoon, scoop, then form the mixture into 8 medium balls or 16 small balls (you get to choose how big you want your cookies!)
5. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop dough into about 8 large cookies or 16 smaller cookies. Mold a hole in each piece of dough, place a piece of cheesecake, mold the dough around the cheesecake. Place 2 cookies (or 4, depending on size) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes for 8 cookies, (10 minutes if you have 16 cookies), or when edges are browning and tops look puffed up and underdone (*see note about shaping cookies below). Remove from oven.
6. For the white chocolate drizzle, take a large glass bowl, place it over a medium size saucepan filled with water (we are making a double boiler). Place the white chocolate in the glass bowl. Heat the heat on low, and slowly let the chocolate melt (*see note below). Once melted, spoon or pipe your chocolate onto your cookies, top with zest and cranberries, and enjoy!!!
Helpful tips
Here are some important Pro tips by Maude
- Chilling cookie dough is a sure way to improve the flavor of your cookies! The chilling process allows the flour to moisten and the sugars and butter to get acquainted… which creates an almost butterscotch/caramel-like flavor to your cookies! It is heavenly! Try not to skip this step!
- When baking your cookies, try not to crowd your pan as your cookies will spread. I usually bake 4-5 cookies at a time.
- I often bake ugly looking cookies (LOL). To avoid ugly cookies, and to create uniformed cookies, I take a cup or cookie cutter and place it over each cookie- give it a nice swirl, which helps the cookie return to a circular shape. Its a bomb technique, and no skill required!
- When melting your white chocolate, cook it low and slow. White chocolate can clump up if it gets too hot- so you want to slowly melt it in your bowl. If you want to microwave your chocolate, lower your microwave temp or use the defrost option.
