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Home Recipes Baked Goods Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 hour 20 minutes
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By: Britni Vigil
2/10/2021Updated: 12/10/2021
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These cream cheese sugar cookies are light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! Make a batch, freeze half, and enjoy yummy sugar cookies all year long!

My son doesn’t like chocolate so even though I personally would love to eat all the chocolate chip pudding cookies and brownie balls, he won’t touch any of it.

But he does love sugar cookies (and snickerdoodles…) – any and all sugar cookies. I’ve already shared my favorite cut out sugar cookies, easy sugar cookies bites, and just last week my favorite sugar cookie icing.

Today I’m sharing these delicious cream cheese sugar cookies because well you can never have too many sugar cookie recipes right?

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Cream cheese base – the cream cheese in these cookies makes them super creamy and soft (if creamy cookies is a thing).
  • Great for cutting out – this super simple recipe is perfect for making cut out sugar cookies as well.
  • Kid-friendly – not only do kids love these cookies, they also love helping to make the dough AND to cut out the cookies before they bake!

Ingredients

ingredients needed to make cream cheese sugar cookies with labels

Ingredient Notes

  • Cream cheese – make sure the cream cheese is softened before you start making your cookie dough. I recommend taking it out of the fridge for about an hour before mixing or if you’re in a pinch, sometimes I’ll heat it up in the oven for just a minute or two until softened.
  • Butter – I always recommend using high-quality butter when butter is such a key ingredient in a recipe like it is in these cookies. Also, make sure the butter is softened as well. Take it out at the same time you take out the cream cheese.

Instructions

Like I mentioned before, these cream cheese sugar cookies are super easy to make. Almost as easy as these orange sugar cookies!

Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. This is why it’s important to make sure your butter is soft – it won’t mix as well if the butter is cold.

Next add sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla and mix well, then slowly add the flour and baking powder and mix until fully incorporated.

Adding an egg to cream cheese sugar cookies

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Or if you’d rather, you could just place the each half in a plastic zipper bag and place it in the refrigerator, the plastic wrap just tends to be a little less expensive.

Bowl of cookie dough for cream cheese sugar cookies

Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sprinkle your working surface and dough with a little flour (or powered sugar).

Working with one half at a time (leave the other half in the fridge), roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick using a rolling pin.

Cream cheese sugar cookie dough with a heart cookie cutter next to it

Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes into your dough. If needed, re-roll out dough until all dough is used. Try your best to place the cookie cutters as close to the edges as possible.

If the dough starts getting soft, place it back in the fridge to chill for a few minutes.

Heart shaped cookie cutter with cookie dough

Place cut dough on prepared baking sheet, keeping the cookies at least an inch apart to allow them to spread slightly.

Heart cream cheese sugar cookies on a baking sheet

Bake cutout cookies at 375 for 8-9 minutes or until edges start to get slightly brown. Do not over bake. 

Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack. 

Heart shaped cream cheese sugar cookies on a cooling rack

Once the cookies are cooled, frost them with this sugar cookie icing or your favorite frosting. Decorate immediately after frosting if using the icing mentioned above as it dries quickly.

Heart shaped cream cheese sugar cookies decorated with sprinkles

Let icing set for a few minutes before enjoying the cookies! If you’re planning to freeze these cookies, I recommend freezing before frosted.

White plate with cream cheese sugar cookies

Expert Tips

Work with half of the dough at a time so that the dough stays chilled and doesn’t get too soft. 

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

Use a gallon size plastic bag to refrigerate the dough if you don’t have plastic wrap available. Plastic wrap is just a much cheaper option.

Enjoy cookies within five days or freeze using instructions in the FAQs section below.

Recipe FAQs

Can you use cream cheese instead of butter in cookies?

Cream cheese and butter are totally different so no, you cannot replace the butter in cookies with more cream cheese.

Do you cut sugar cookies before or after baking?

Cut the sugar cookies out before baking. Or if you want to freeze the dough, freeze it in plastic wrap and then an airtight freezer container like a zipper bag in the freezer for up to six months. Let the dough thaw before cutting out into shapes for baking.

Can you freeze cream cheese sugar cookies?

This dough freezes great. You can either freeze the cookies after baked or use the instructions above to freeze the dough before baking. To freeze individual cookies, simply place cookies in an airtight container then place in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw until they reach room temperature and enjoy.

Do baked cream cheese cookies need refrigeration?

You do not need to refrigerate these cookies since the amount of cream cheese in the cookies is fairly minimal.

heart shaped cookies with sugar cookie icing and sprinkles

More Easy Cookies

  • Chocolate Rolo cookies – chocolate chip cookies with a Rolo stuffed in the middle. Pretty much amazing!
  • Snickers cookies – if Rolo cookies weren’t enough, these cookies with mini Snickers inside are a great option for peanut butter lovers!
  • Cherry cheesecake cookies – sugar cookies topped with cherry cheesecake filling and drizzled with a sweet glaze.
  • Moon pie recipe – homemade moon pies that taste just like, if not better, than the store bought ones!
  • Chocolate whoopie pies – two soft cookies sandwiched around a fluffy vanilla filling.
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Print Rate
5 from 6 votes

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

These cream cheese sugar cookies are light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! Make a batch, freeze half, and enjoy yummy sugar cookies all year long!
White plate with cream cheese sugar cookies
Prevent your screen from going dark
Prep: 12 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves40 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
  • 1 ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • holiday sprinkles

Icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 TBS heavy whipping cream (whole milk can be substituted)
  • 4 tsp light corn syrup
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-4 TBS water
  • gel food coloring (optional)
  • sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

Cookies

  • Using hand or stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
  • Add sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla to butter/cream cheese mixture and mix well.
  • Slowly add flour and baking powder and mix well.
  • Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap then refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour working surface and dough.
  • Roll dough out to 1/4" thickness then cut with a cookie cutters. Place cut dough on prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes until the bottoms start to brown slightly. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Icing

  • While cookies are cooling, make the icing by combining powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, light corn syrup, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water and mix well. If needed, add 1 - 3 tablespoons more water until icing is desired consistency.
  • To color icing, use a toothpick to transfer food coloring to icing and mix well until desired color is achieved.
  • Transfer icing into zippered bag and cut off one corner, then drizzle over cookies and garnish with sprinkles as desired.

Tips & Notes:

Work with half of the dough at a time so that the dough stays chilled and doesn’t get too soft. 
Put the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking if the dough gets soft while cutting them out.
Use a gallon size plastic bag to refrigerate the dough if you don’t have plastic wrap available. Plastic wrap is just a much cheaper option.
Enjoy cookies within five days or freeze using instructions in the FAQs section below.
Nutrition Note: The nutrition facts for this recipe are calculated for the cookies only, the icing recipe is included for convenience but if you want nutrition facts for that, check out the sugar cookie icing recipe on its own. 

Nutrition Info

Calories: 126kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 35mg, Potassium: 30mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 224IU, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

Author: Britni Vigil
Course:Dessert
Cuisine:American
Did You Make This?Tag @PlayPartyPlan on Facebook and Instagram and hashtag it #playpartyplan so I can see your creations!
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Reader Interactions

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  1. Sheila Eaton says

    Posted on 2/15 at 3:46 pm

    5 stars
    Favorite family tradition to make cookies at Christmas.

    Reply
  2. Debbie Perez says

    Posted on 9/28 at 11:22 am

    5 stars
    These look fabulous! I will be baking these soon!!!

    Reply
  3. Diana says

    Posted on 6/24 at 5:54 pm

    5 stars
    Wonderful cookies. My kids loved them! They were are a big hit at my last party.

    Reply
  4. Nellie Tracy says

    Posted on 6/24 at 3:08 pm

    5 stars
    Fantastic recipe! One of my favorite recipes for cream cheese sugar cookies

    Reply
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