These Cheesecake Cookies are so creamy and tender. It’s a delicious cookie that’s not too sweet but totally addictive!
*This recipe was originally created and shared in 2014. See the original HERE. Looking to fill your chocolate fix? Try our Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies! And be sure to check out the NEW Christmas Cheesecake Cookies version, too!
*This post contains affiliate links.
Cheesecake Cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes. They are so good! Back when I created them in 2014, I dipped them in chocolate which made them even tastier. This updated version I decided to skip the chocolate and instead give them a nice coating of powdered sugar.
This particular recipe has been pinned over 1 MILLION times and has been the most popular cookie on my site since it’s creation. However some bakers have had trouble with the cookies, either thinking they were not sweet enough, that the batter was too sticky to work with or that they came out more like biscuits.
I finally set some time aside a few weeks ago to work on the recipe, testing it for those exact things. I didn’t do much to tweak the recipe, other than adding a little bit more sugar. I’m going to address each of those issues in this post.
How to Make Cheesecake Cookies
When making these cookies, you want to be sure and follow the directions exactly. I’ve also updated those instructions to hopefully make them more clear.
- Flavor/Sweetness. I personally felt that once the cookies were dipped in chocolate they were sweet enough. I’m assuming that people who didn’t think they were sweet enough were skipping this step. Plain cheesecake isn’t always super sweet, and I liked the cookies the way they were. However to sweeten them up, I added a quarter cup more sugar to the recipe below. They still came out great and had a nice, subtle sweetness that was amplified by the powdered sugar I sprinkled on top. I also cut the vanilla in half, but you could leave it out altogether if you want more of a cream-cheesey flavor. The vanilla just kind of smooths out the flavor profile.
- If you really want more of a tart/tangy flavor, one reader suggested adding lemon juice. Great idea! I’d say if you want to try this method, replace the vanilla with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
- Sticky batter. I can see where people might have this concern about the batter being sticky. However, although it WAS sticky, I used my Medium Cookie Scoop and the dough released fairly easily for me after a few pumps of the trigger. A few times I had to help it along, but not to the point where they wouldn’t drop at all. These are super moist and tender cookies, so the batter IS going to be a little sticky. Just be prepared for that. The images below show what the batter should look like.
- “Biscuit-like and Crumbly” – As stated in the original recipe, it is imperative NOT to over-bake these cookies. In fact, you want it to almost feel like you’ve under-baked them. They should not get brown on the top and should just start to brown on the bottom. Over-baking will result in a crumbly, dry cookie, more resembling a biscuit. Each oven is different and may be actually baking at a different temperature than what you think. I recommend picking up an oven thermometer to test the temperature of your oven. I tested mine recently and realized that it’s about 10 degrees off, which in baking can cause issues. The other issue I think could cause a problem is the mixing. The cream cheese, butter and sugar should be mixed on high speed for a good 2-3 minutes. You can see in the first image how fluffy it is. That’s what you want. Then when you add the flour, it’s just stirred for enough time to incorporate it. Over-mixing the flour can also result in a dry or crumbly cookie.
Several people have asked about the silicone mats – I got the at Costco a couple of years ago and I doubt they are still available. However I did find something similar on Amazon HERE. (aff link)
Overall, these Cheesecake Cookies are still a favorite cookie in our house. I hope you’ll give these awesome cookies a try – they really are super delicious!
Watch this video to see how to make Cheesecake Cookies:
Cheesecake Cookies (Re-do)
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 44 cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Beat cream cheese and butter together at high speed until fluffy and smooth; 1-2 minutes. Add sugar to the butter mixture and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy; 1-2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla; 1 minute.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.
- Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets; batter will be sticky.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes. Cookies should be light in color, not browned, and just starting to brown on the bottom. *Length of baking time may vary from oven to oven.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar or dip in chocolate once cooled.
Notes
- The vanilla smooths out the flavor, but for a more tart, cheesey flavor, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or no extracts at all.
- Do not overbake. This can cause the cookies to come out more dry and biscuit like.
These cookies are also amazing when dipped in chocolate, like in the original recipe:
For more delicious cookies, try these:
- Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies
- Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Magic Bar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip M & M Cookies
Followed the recipe perfectly and they turned out delicious!! Super soft and hubby loved them. He loves cheesecake and I don’t as much. They were perfect for both of us
I didn’t have a cookie scoop. They looked rough but tasted delicious.
I want to make these tonight but i need to know whether to use salted or unsalted butter!!
Use regular butter unless a recipe specifically states to use unsalted. 😉
Odd. I was always taught to use unsalted in baking unless it specifically called for salted butter. Exactly the opposite! Per my high school culinary teacher: “You can always add more salt, but you can’t take it out.” Lol! Cream cheese is already salty enough. I’d think that adding salted butter would be overkill, especially since she is adding 1/2 tsp in this recipe.
Regular butter IS unsalted butter. The recipe doesn’t call for salted. Also, the recipe calls for salt in the ingredients so in my opinion that would be quite a bit of unnecessary salt. If they wanted salted they would have written that in the ingredients. In my personal experience with baking, never use salted butter unless it specifically asks for it. I hope that helps! Xox
Any idea how much all purpose gluten green flour would be required to convert this recipe?
I’ve been gluten free only a few years, but I would suggest Pamela’s Artisan Flour or any blend. and add xanthum gum if the particular flour doesn’t add it. The bag of xanthum gum should tell you how much of it to use; if not, googlet it. 🙂
What is a good way to store these cookies?
In a tightly sealed container for up to a week.
Can you freeze them?
I haven’t personally done that (never any leftover lol) but yes, it should be fine to freeze them.
I’m going to make them.wondered if anyone who made them froze them for future eating..
Will these freeze? I like to do as much baking ahead as I can during the holidays and freeze, if possible.
Yes they will.
Looks delicious – I can’t wait to try them and
then try them with lemon instead of vanilla and maybe dip in a lemon glaze mmmmm
These sounds fantastic and I’m going to make these for Christmas. Can you freeze them?
Yes.
Want to try these goodies~is parchment paper or silicone mat necessary? Can they just be baked on my cookie sheet? Thanks!😊
It’s not necessary, but helpful. They should come up pretty easily either way.
Can you freeze these cookies? I Would like to make them ahead of time for the holidays.
Question! How do these lovely cookies handle freezing and thawing? Have any everade it that far? Lol
To be honest, no! LOL! But they should hold up fine.
Do these cookies need to be refrigerated?
Have you tried using any type of flour substitute? I am off gluten and most carbs. The sugar I got covered.
Can you freeze these?
yes.
Doesn’t anyone read the questions all ready asked??? Come on people.
Can you freeze these messages also real butter ormaragine?
Can these be frozen for any length of time?
It is impossible to find vanilla extract in my hometown. Can I substitute for vanilla essence?
They are fast, easy and delicious. My family loves them. They are keeper.
Thought they would have more of a cheesecake taste. They are okay cookies, but not over the top that I would make them again.
I totally agree!!!
I saw this recipe and it piqued my interest. I whipped them up and must say these are a pleasant tasting cookie. I did reduce the sugar to one cup as we are not fans of overly sweet baked goods and I think they were just right. When they get an approval and a put these on your make again list from the husband then you know you have a hit on your hands. Thanks for sharing.
Can they be froze?
Yes they can!
K~ haven’t made these yet but the recipe looks divine and took my imagination on a whirlwind path; years ago, in NYC, a friend and I got together regularly to make cheesecakes “every which way you can”. I can see these cookies with finely ground hazelnuts, or vanilla pod seeds, finely snipt dried apricots, or cranberry n pistachio, or flecks of orange rind with Cointreau or Grand Marnier instead of/or with the vanilla, or try a wee dab of jam on top while baking. My aunt used to incorporate some cottage cheese in her cheesecake and it gave it some extra height, I’ll try that too.
Anyway, so glad I stumbled on your site, I’ll send pics if I can ?
Thank you for such an inspirational recipe – you’re the bomb !
Candice
I have to try these! I love this kind of cookies – it seems perfect in texture and taste ♥
HI a friend and I get together each year after thanks giving and bake and we tried these this year. We both love them; we do have a question… Should you refrigerate them? We ask only because we make tons and take them to work and can have them left over for Christmas and New Years.
Thank you
Robin
If you want them to last that long, yes I’d try refrigerating. However, I can’t say that I’ve done that for too long. I would say 2 weeks tops in the fridge. But try freezing them!
Looking to make these for Christmas and want to know can the batter be made ahead of time and refrigerated?
May I know if the batter can be done ahead of time?
You can refrigerate, but I wouldn’t do that for more than a day.
Has anyone tried to make a thumbprint and add a pie cherry? Just an idea… 🙂
Sounds delicious!
We have a “Giving Plate” at work right now. I can’t wait to make these cookies this weekend to present to a co-worker on Monday! Will post how well they are received. Thanks for your time & efforts in the recipe & posting!!
I make something like these called Snowballs where 1.5 cups of finely chopped pecans are added. I use a tablespoon to scoop up a ball, I roll it bake 12 to 18 min the let cool 3-4 min and roll in powdered sugar. Delicious !!
Hi Kristin, your cookies look lovely. Do you store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator?
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THESE – THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH FOR SHARING!!!!!
Yes! I made these incredibly delicious cookies. Insted of 2 1/2 cups of flour, I put 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup corn starch, they came out nice and light. Thank you so much Kristin for this recipe. You have a new fan here.
https://www.facebook.com/1788718551425994/videos/1797838637180652/
I baked these live on my Facebook show. They turned out DELISH!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe,yum! Check out the video in the link above 😉
So glad you loved them Andrea. Please leave a link in the post so people can find the recipe. Thanks!
Tried these this evening. They are incredible! I added lemon juice instead of vanilla and doubled the recipe. Softest cookie you’ll ever eat! And easy!!! A hit at my house!!! Great thing about these cookies, I would guess, is that you can add a little of this or that or switch this for that and they will still be excellent! Thanks for sharing!
Do u use plain flour or self raising flour
all-purpose flour.
Is it a big deal if I use the neufschatel creeam cheese (1/3 less fat)? Only because I have so many bars of that right now and looking to use them ASAP
I haven’t tried with that type of cream cheese, but it could possibly change the consistency. I think it’s worth giving it a shot though!
I made these but added a little almond extract, delicious !! Thanks for the recipe!
I made these last night to send most to my soldier , and his fiancé. Now I do not like cheese cake at all , but these were not only easy to put together , and easy to bake . They are light , and airy , and not overly cheesy , but you can tell they are definitely cheese cake . They are good with or without the powdered sugar . In fact the sugar kinda covers the cheese flavor , and makes them a little to sweet for me . Definitely a recipe for all to try , and definitely will be one that I add to my cookies I bake yearly .
Just made two batches of these but dipped bottoms in chocolate instead of using powdered sugar. With or without chocolate or powdered sugar, these are FANTASTIC!!!!! My new favorite cookie. Thank you for posting this recipe!!
Hey! I made these and they turned out pretty good only that they have a little bitter aftertaste. Did I do something wrong? I would love to make them again but without the bitter.
Hmmm I’ve never had a bitter aftertaste so without being in your kitchen with you it’s hard to guess what could have happened. My only guess would be to wonder if maybe one of your ingredients was bad?
I made these cookies for a cookie swap. A very good recipe for a cookie swap. Instead of the Vanilla, I used 2tsp of lemon juice. I used a ‘cookie scoop’ but then decided that the cookies were too big, so I just rolled them instead. I didn’t have any problems with the cookies being “dry & crumbly”, nice and moist in the middle.
Thanks for your feedback Kimberly!
What kind of chocolate did you dip them in?
What if all you have is unsalted butter??
These look so delish. I think that I would like to use strawberry or blueberry cream cheese instead of the plain one and a different flavored extract other than vanilla, will update once made.
We did not like these cookies at all. They are very blah tasting…I was expecting more flavor with the cream cheese. They looked exactly like the picture, & your tips were all followed. Will not make again.
Has anyone tried freezing these and if so, how were they after thawing?
The batter tasted sweet and cheesy, and I was excited for the final product. Unfortunately, baking seems to mellow a lot of the cheesy oomph. The cookies are bread-y or cake-y with a mild complexity from the cream cheese. They’re not bad, but they don’t taste like cheesecake. These cookies would be a good carrier for citrus (as another commenter states) or used as a base for strawberry shortcake because they are so tender. This is a solid base recipe ripe for further experimentation.
I just wanted to update that these cookies got better on day two! The flavors and texture developed a more over time. I would update my original comment to 4 stars.
I have been gluten free for a few years; thus, it’s difficult for me to judge a good gluten cookie. This Christmas, I’m making cookies for someone who has trouble swallowing: Would these be “acceptable “ in that situation?
Thanks.
I can’t recommend anything for that situation…you’d have to really know that person to know what is acceptable.
COULD YOU PUT A DAB OF JELLY ON THESE BEFORE BAKING?
I’m not sure that would work.
Just made these cookies with Neufchâtel- don’t know how much that matters but the cookies are like cake and very bland. Very disappointed!
The Neufchatel can make a difference in the flavor for sure. If you can, try them again with regular cream cheese and maybe add a little lemon juice.