Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

It's the 15th of the month again...and that means it's time to share with you what we made at Baking Partners! The theme for this month's challenge is...

Yes, COOKIES!!! And I got the privilege of selecting one of the three recipes that we could choose from...and I went for this Ultimate Cream Cheese Cookies recipe from Baked Owners Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

I've tried making these cookies before (when I first got my Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14) and I want my friends at Baking Partners to experience its melt-in-your-mouth goodness, hence I chose this recipe. This is very easy to make and the end result is fabulously delicious! You will definitely love the wonderful combination of chocolate and cream cheese in it! It has a very rich flavor and a distinctively chewy texture, and really good by itself...but my daughters insisted that we put frosting on it. Well, I gave in to their request. I made a white chocolate, cream cheese glaze and I let them decorate some of the cookies. I included the glaze recipe here just in case you would like to try it too! 

Some of my friends at Baking Partners made Cornflake Cookies and some others made Homemade Oreo Cookies. Wish I had the time to try them out too! They look really good! Be sure to check them out too! 

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

Recipe from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito on Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened slightly
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the glaze:

• 1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 6 oz. white chocolate chips, melted
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Procedure:

For the cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs, heavy cream and vanilla until blended. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients. Add the melted chocolate and chocolate chips and beat just until incorporated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them two inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes until the cookies are just set; shift the baking sheets for top to bottom and front to back half way through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Note: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

For the glaze:

In a bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in melted chocolate until well blended. Beat in softened butter and lemon juice until well combined and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe frosting onto each cookie as desired.

If you want to either share or enhance your baking skills, join us for a monthly baking adventure at Baking Partners!