Cream Cheese White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream cheese in cookies!?

Yup. You bet ya. Add a bit of lemon zest and white chocolate and you’ve got yourself a winner!

Here we go, start by pulsing sugar, lemon zest and vanilla powder in a food processor.

Cream together butter and cream cheese, then it’s time to add your lemon sugar, light brown muscovado sugar, egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. Then add them to your cream cheese and sugar mixture.

Chop up the white chocolate into small chunks and use a spatula to fold it into the mix. Cover the bowl with cling film and let the dough rest in the fridge overnight.

Next day, line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll 1 inch / 2 cm balls of dough and place them on the baking sheet, a couple of inches apart. Give them a little pat to flatten them slightly.

Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes, or longer if you prefer the centers of the cookies completely baked (as opposed to gooey). Allow to cool slightly on the baking tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

RECIPE:
Lemon, Cream Cheese and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: about 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup / 1 dl sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1/2 cup / 1 dl butter, softened
• 4 ounces / 113 grams low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup / 0.5 dl light brown muscovado sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups / 4.7 dl flour
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7 oz / 200 grams white chocolate, chopped (or white chocolate chips)

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:

1. Pulse lemon zest, sugar, and vanilla powder in a food processor until combined.
2. With the paddle attachment on your kitchen assistant, or using a stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
3. Add lemon vanilla sugar and light brown muscovado sugar to your cream cheese mixture. Mix until combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again until just combined.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. While stirring, slowly add the dry ingredients to the cream cheese mixture.
5. Chop up the white chocolate (or use white chocolate chips). Using a spatula, fold the white chocolate chunks into the dough until incorporated.
6. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside in the fridge over night.
7. When ready to bake, set the oven to 350 F / 175 C and line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.
8. Roll dough into about 1 inch / 2.5 cm balls and place in rows on the baking trays, about an inch apart. Pat the dough balls slightly to flatten a bit.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on how gooey and moist you want them to be in the centre. Less time equals more dough-like centres.
10. Allow to cool slightly on the baking tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Adapted from Tutti Dolci

Enjoy!