It’s been quite awhile since played around with sugar cookies, so I started testing out a different recipe concept this summer. During my mad scientist recipe testing days (science safety goggles, white lab coat and all) I rediscovered, while making a batch of Oreo cheesecake cookies, that adding cream cheese to cookie dough changes everything.
And I mean everything.
Sugar cookies, both drop sugar cookies and cookie cutter sugar cookies, are one of my favorite varieties to bake. I credit this mostly to the fact that there is usually sprinkles and frosting involved. But they’re really just an all-around crowd pleasing cookie. They’re pretty on display, the first to go at bake sales, kids love them, and you can go bonkers with frosting/sprinkle color combinations. I think, above all else, we can agree that sugar cookies are QUEEN of the cookie world. We bow down to you, in all your sprinkle crowned glory!
There are so many ways to make sugar cookies and adding cream cheese is most definitely my new standard. Adding cream cheese produces a richer, softer, and creamier sugar cookie, just like it does in these strawberry & cream cookies and maple walnut tassies. And, it also adds a little tang. If I had any qualms with sugar cookies, it would most definitely be that they are too cloyingly sweet. Especially when you add a heap of frosting on top! Don’t get me wrong, these will surely spike an energy crash like the best desserts do—but they won’t give you a toothache.
I even tested this dough with cookie cutters. Making a couple slight adjustments, you can turn this dough into cream cheese cut-out cookies with Nutella glaze and raspberry sugar cookies.
In addition to cream cheese, let’s add a little almond extract. Now, you can definitely leave this out but I have to tell you that almond extract turns a good sugar cookie into a great sugar cookie. I swear by this ingredient! A little goes a long way, so I only use a scant 1/2 teaspoon in the dough. It smells heavenly too.
One thing I love about this cream cheese sugar cookie dough is that you don’t need to chill it for too long. Only about an hour. So these are definitely one of my quicker sugar cookie recipes. The dough is quite sturdy once it’s whipped up, so chilling for hours and hours just isn’t necessary.
How odd that I just told you I reduced the sugar and now I’m going to tell you to roll the cookie dough in sugar. I really only roll the cookie dough balls in sugar for a little extra sparkle. It’s completely optional, so feel free to skip this step. You could also roll directly into sprinkles or sanding sugar. I won’t fight you on either!
One thing I don’t want you to skip, however, is slightly flattening the cookie dough balls before baking. My first few test batches were a bunch of mounds. They tasted like pure dough inside (and not in a good way) and certainly weren’t winning any beauty contests. Once I began flattening them, things got much tastier. And prettier.
I chose a cream cheese frosting for decorating. Mostly to complement the cream cheese flavor in the actual cookies and partly because it isn’t as sweet as, say, vanilla frosting or royal icing. Since we don’t need too much of it, I reduced the ingredients down from my original cream cheese frosting recipe. Love this stuff. ↓ ↓
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Recap
- Cream cheese makes the cookies oh-so-soft and tender.
- Almond extract helps yield the best-tasting sugar cookies, I swear.
- The cookie dough only needs to chill for 1 hour, give or take.
- Perfectly sweet without reaching toothache status.
- Cream cheese frosting makes the perfect crown for these cookie queens.
- I don’t actually wear safety goggles when testing recipes.
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cream cheese turns good sugar cookies into GREAT sugar cookies! These cookies are soft, tender, and chewy with incredible flavor.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ounces (57g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- optional: 1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (240g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together for 2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be thick. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3-4 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside. Pour the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into a bowl.
- Scoop and roll balls of dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each (I like using this medium cookie scoop). Roll each ball into granulated sugar then place on the baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Using the back of measuring cup or drinking glass, gently press down on each (see photo above).
- Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. My oven has hot spots and yours may too- so be sure to rotate the pan once during bake time. The baked cookies will look extremely soft in the centers when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: In a medium bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until creamy and no lumps remain, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 20 seconds then increase to high speed until everything is completely combined and the frosting is creamy. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. Spread on each cooled cookie, then decorate with sprinkles.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked unfrosted cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cookie Cutter Cookies: I’ve gotten some questions about using this dough for cookie cutter cookies. Here is my recipe for cream cheese cut-out cookies with Nutella glaze.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
- Read here for more about the importance of room temperature ingredients.
- Adapted from funfetti sugar cookies supreme.
I started this recipe from my funfetti sugar cookies. I added cream cheese, but removed the extra egg yolk. Fat replacing fat—it worked! I was all out of cream of tartar, so I swapped in baking powder for the baking soda and cream of tartar. The 1 and 1/2 teaspoon amount worked wonderfully here. Since the cookies were so soft in the first test batch (from the cream cheese), I took out the cornstarch completely. Still so soft and tender.
If I wanted to combine this recipe and the brown butter sugar cookie recipe could I just use browned butter in this instead of room temp? Are there any other changes I would need to make?
Hi Quinn! You can certainly use browned butter here – you’ll need to start with a little extra butter since butter loses some moisture in the process of browning. More on that in our How to Brown Butter post.
Hi Sally! I just made this recipe. I know it’s something I did, but the dough was way too sticky and soft to roll. I put the dough in the freezer and I’ll worry about it in a few days. I’m thinking my butter and cream cheese was too soft. If it’s still this consistency when I give it another go when it comes out of the freezer and thaws, should I add more flour?
Hi Rosemarie! We would guess the same thing – chilling should solve the problem, but you can try adding more flour (just 1 Tbs at a time) as well.
So, so good! Can the recipe be doubled? One batch disappears too fast.
Hi CatG, you can double this recipe with no problems. Enjoy!
This has got to be my favourite cookie recipe…ever! They disappear even before I can frost them.
Another great recipe from Sally. I just made these and they turned out perfectly!
Cookies are great! I added cinnamon to give them more of a snickerdoodle vibe. Question on the frosting though – if I ice them, can I stack the cookies once the icing has set up or will the frosting transfer from one cookie to another?
Hi Becca, the cream cheese frosting doesn’t set to a consistency that is suitable for stacking. For a stacking frosting, you can try using vanilla buttercream and substituting some of the butter for shortening. Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Can you use this recipe for cut out cookies?
Hi Terry, this sugar cookie dough cannot be rolled out. Instead, use this cut-out cream cheese sugar cookies recipe.
Would it be possible to make a lemon version of these? Would adding some lemon juice be OK or should just zest be used?
Hi David, absolutely — swap the almond extract with some lemon extract or juice. Feel free to add some lemon zest for even more lemon flavor. Enjoy!
Have you ever tried making it with flavored cream cheese, like strawberry ?
Hi Monica, we haven’t! If you do try experimenting, make sure the cream cheese is still full-fat block cream cheese. The flavored cream cheese in a tub will be too soft. You might also enjoy these raspberry sugar cookies — they contain a little bit of cream cheese and are flavored with freeze dried fruits. Let us know what you try!
Could you leave off the frosting and add sprinkles to the cookie dough instead?
Can’t see why not!
This recipe is incredible! I followed it exactly except that I used only 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract as I don’t love the flavor of it but know a little bit can add something special to vanilla flavored desserts. It was the perfect amount for me. Thank you so much Sally, I always turn to your recipes because they work so well.
Can this frosting be frozen and used later?
Hi Sandie, cover and store frosting for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting for a few seconds so it’s creamy again.
Is it necessary to add almond extract?
You can add a little extra vanilla in its place or replace with another extract if you’d like.
Could I make the icing a week ahead and leave in the fridge??
Hi Kara, That should be okay if you’re going to eat them that same day. We wouldn’t recommend eating the icing after much more than a week.
Far too dry for my liking.
This was likely an error on your part. I have not let the eggs come to room temp and mine came out dry and crumbly. I’ve made this recipe more than 10xs, and that was the only time this happened.
These look delightful! Do you think your “Easy Icing” recipe will work rather than the cream cheese frosting for these? Like to make them more “packable.”
Definitely!
Any reason why cookie dough couldn’t be spread in 9×13 pan to make bar cookies?
Hi Peg, we haven’t tested that but don’t see any big issues with that – let us know how they go!
These cookies look delicious. I want to bake them as a treat for a large group and have been asked to individually wrap any cookies I provide. Therefore, I have bought small cellophane bags for the cookies. Is it likely that the frosting would smear on the inside of the bags when I insert the cookies? If so, is there another type of icing that would be drier? If icing isn’t likely to work, what other decorations might work?
Hi Margaret, this cream cheese consistency doesn’t set to a consistency that is suitable for stacking or packaging, but a few other options for you…you could use a traditional buttercream recipe and replace some of the butter with shortening for a crustier frosting. Or, royal icing completely sets and is the most ideal for packaging. Let us know what you try!
Wow, Sally! These are fantastic, have to make a double recipe next time! (tip: to make the cookies a bit more ‘playful’ and if you don’t have sprinkles, you should add food colouring to the icing)
What a showstopper! We love your recipes 🙂
Thanks so much for the super fast reply and thank you for clarifying. I will definitely follow the recipes! Next on my list are the cream cheese sugar cookies, I’m going to load them up with neon quinns and sprinkles! Because you can NEVER have too many sprinkles! Xo
Hi Sally! First let me say that your funfetti cupcake recipe absolutely blew me away! I’ve made them 4x in ONE MONTH! I also made the chewy chocolate chip recipe with the melted butter and extra yolk .. so I have TWO questions. Do I only use cake flour with cakes, or can I use it in cookies? The cake flour in the cupcakes made such a difference!
Also can I use melted butter with all my cookies? I found that the melted butter made it so easy to mix and gave me such an amazing batter for an amazing cookie! So when does it call for creamed butter vs. the melted?
Thanks so much! I’m trying a new recipe of yours EVERY WEEK! Xo
Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for the sweet note! We’re thrilled you’ve been enjoying so many of our recipes. Happy to help answer your questions. On the topic of cake flour, it’s really best to use it only when specified by a recipe. It’s much lighter than all-purpose flour and typically would not work well in most cookie recipes (with the other ingredients being too heavy). Even certain cakes (like our chocolate cake) don’t use cake flour, because the weight of the other ingredients would result in a flimsy cake. Same goes for melted butter! We only want to use melted butter when a recipe is specifically formulated for melted butter. Otherwise, the cookies might spread too much and become too thin and crispy. Hope this is helpful, and keep up all the delicious baking!
Hi, can I skip the almond extract entirely or do I need to replace it with something? More vanilla? I don’t usually like the flavor of almond extract. thanks.
Hi Ali! Add a little extra vanilla in its place or replace with another extract if you’d like.
I’ve been baking your recipes for years and they are always exceptional! Made these sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting with my boys last night, decorated with blue and white sprinkles and delivered to friends for Hanukkah. Unanimous response was that they were insanely delicious. The frosting alone is just insane. I removed the almond extract as I personally don’t like it but followed everything else as written. Will definitely be making these again! Happy holidays to all!
These are THE BEST sugar cookies I’ve ever made. My mom died many years ago and I’ve never been able to recreate the recipe she used (and she happened to be a professional baker too, so her standards were high!). This is the closest thing I’ve found to those childhood memories. Anyway … always being curious, last Christmas, I baked two batches of sugar cookies for my siblings to test. I baked these, and a different cream cheese recipe I found on another site. Hands down, these were the best! They were gone in hours! The other ones lingered and only got eaten when all the other sweets were gone! Thanks Sally for such a great recipe!
Hi. I made this recipe and absolutely loved them!!!!!!!!! Was wondering if the recipe doubles without any problems or needed changes. Thanks for your amazing recipes.
Hi Julie! You can double this cookie recipe. I do all the time!
Amazing cookies!! I added 1 tsp of lemon juice and about 1 cup of mini m and ms. So yummmmy thanks!!
Made these at Christmas and was a hit, now I want to make these for our guests at or church pantry brunch. Can I freeze them with the frosting?
Hi Cheryl! I’m so glad these cookies are a hit 🙂 I fear the frosting won’t look as nice for serving if these cookies are frozen frosted. You can certainly try it though! I’d recommend placing a piece of parchment paper between each layer of cookies.
Hi Sally do you think its possible to add strawberries to this recipe?
I don’t recommend it. Strawberries are too wet for this cookie dough.
Sally, I would like to make around 200 cookies . How do I increase your receipt. Also can I use half crisco and half butter?
Hi Deb, you can double this recipe, but we don’t recommend scaling it more than that (it will become difficult to mix and incorporate the ingredients properly). So, you can make several double batches to reach the number of cookies you need. We don’t recommend swapping the butter with Crisco.
Most delicious sugar cookies I have ever had or made! Everyone thought they were store bought because they were melt in your mouth soft and perfect!! Thank you Sally!!
My new favorite cookie! They are amazing!