Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve been wanting to bake cream cheese into cookies for ages.
I finally did. And I’m in love with the results.
In my cookbook, I have a recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies with cream cheese baked in, but I’ve never tried it with chocolate chip cookies or as a way to substitute for butter until now.
I adapted my favorite Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookie recipe and replaced some of the butter with cream cheese and am in love with the results.
My favorite recipe calls for 3/4 cup of butter and for these cookies, I used a combination of 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup cream cheese.
You wouldn’t think that just a simple quarter-cup swap of butter for cream cheese would effect results that much, but it did.
They’re so soft, moist, and with a richness to the dough like no other cookies I’ve tried.
The dough seems more buttery, which is ironic since there’s actually less butter used, not more.
I can’t taste the cream cheese, but it adds depth, density, and richness that my regular chocolate chip cookies don’t have.
Don’t use light, fat-free, or a whipped cream cheese because your dough will become runny. I tried the recipe with some light cream cheese I had on hand, and the cookies baked thinner and spread.
Use cream cheese in a block or the spreadable kind. Smoosh it into a one-quarter cup measure and cream it with the butter and sugars.
Make sure to chill your dough for at least two hours before you bake to ensure your cookies bake thick and puffy. Warm, limp dough bakes into limpy and wimpy cookies. I want my cookies to be thick, with puffy centers that are overflowing with chocolate.
I used a combination of 2 1/4 cups of chocolate chips and chunks to ensure plenty of chocolate in every bite. And then some.
The cookies are super soft without being cakey, and remind me of Softbatch cookies. The edges are slightly chewy, and the thick interiors are soft, tender, and moist.
Cornstarch is my secret weapon for creating super soft cookies.
The reason pudding cookies turn out so soft is because ‘modified food starch’, or cornstarch, is one of the first ingredients in pudding mix. Same principle here, minus using actual pudding mix.
After trying these cookies and not being able to keep my hands off of them, it’s made me wonder what’ll happen if I replace some of the butter with cream cheese in some of my other favorite cookie recipes.
I’ll can’t wait to start taste-testing and make up for lost time.
Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Replacing some of the butter from my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with cream cheese created cookies that are soft, thick, moist, and tender. Although you can’t taste the cream cheese, the cookies have a richness and depth of flavor like no other cookies I’ve tried. Plus there’s an abundance of chocolate in every bite. The dough can be made in advance, refrigerated, and baked as desired, up to 5 days later. A great option to have for fresh, warm cookies without having to mix up dough. I highly recommend these cookies!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable, don’t use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)
Directions:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Adapted from Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies which also produced Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies, Soft and Chewy Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies, Twix Bar Cookies
Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
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Thanks for the 20 Favorite Crunchy Snacks and Healthy Chips Maker Giveaway entries and the $500 Apple iPad Giveaway entries
What do you make or bake with cream cheese?
Favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe?
Delicious! Put them in for 10-12 minutes instead.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these were delicious!
I would like to try these but I have no cornstarch. Do I absolutely need it or is there a substitute?
For this exact recipe to get it to be softbatch style soft, you do need it. You can omit it and they will be ok just not as soft with the intended texture.
What if you use arrowroot??
not sure
I have made these several times and today, as my husband was watching he snarkily asked “you’re putting cream cheese in those?!” 🤣 silly man (who also knows nothing about baking). Anyways, they are my “go-to” recipe. I want to make them for my mom or grandma and let them “ooh ahh” and ask some questions – they are both excellent bakers and will definitely want to know the secret! Thanks for a fantastic recipe
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad this is your go to recipe now!
I’ve made these cookies several times and each time they’ve come out amazing! and I receive a lot of compliments from them….so thank you for sharing this recipe! I do have a question about making ahead. I know you said that the dough can be made in advanced and left in the fridge for up to 5 days but what about freezing the dough? Have you done that before? Making the dough and then rolling the dough into balls and then freezing. I’m asking as I will be making a huge batch and would like to get the dough out of the way. Thanks in advanced!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad you love the cookies.
Regarding freezing the dough, just roll into balls as if you were going to chill/refrig the dough balls but put into the freezer instead. Bake maybe 1-2 extra mins, no need to thaw in advance of baking.
I am making this recipe, just wondering if the flour is sifted or not before measuring. I bake a lot and the directions don’t say sift and the video the flour didn’t looked sifted before measuring. I am sure I will be done baking before anyone sees this since it is so late. Looks great
I never sift, no need to bother here :)
We love these cookies. Always come out so well. I make large ones so don’t get 28 though does make a lot of dough. Have frozen dough too and bake up just as well when thawed. Fantastic recipe.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you love these cookies!
Very yummy . Texture is soft and not crumbly at all. Forgot to smush the dough so my cookies were pretty globular. Didn’t chill the dough and turned out good. Baked for probably 10-12 minutes. Definitely WAY too many chocolate chips though. There was practically more chocolate than dough, and wasted many chocolate chips that just couldn’t get incorporated. Will use probably 1 cup next time.
Easy to reduce the amount of chocolate chips if that is your preference next time. Many people love them with all the chocolate chips.
Gooooooooooood!
Awesome!!
can i use laughing cow cheese wedges instead of cream cheese??
no
I’ve been making these cookies for a couple years, and I’m sad to say I’m just now leaving a review and a thank you!These cookies are insane.We make them for the neighbors, teachers, bake sales, parties, etc.They never cease to amaze people. Thank you so much for the recipe! I wouldn’t change a thing!!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad that you’ve been making these for years and that they’ve amazed lots of people!!
Oh my! So very good. Can’t tell you how long I’ve looked for the perfect CC recipe. Of course I’ve had fun eating the near misses but these CC cookies are absolutely the best. I only tried them because of the cornstarch in the recipe. Hadn’t seen that elsewhere and I thought, why not try it? Made a second batch today (just as perfect as the first!) and froze the dough (in cookie portions) for use later. Honestly, I thought if I didn’t freeze some, I’d eat them all. Family agrees. This is a 5 star cookie. Thank you!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love these so much and that you have a freezer stash waiting, too!
Love this recipe. Both my kids (11 and 8) asked for these instead of birthday cakes last year. I’ve made them in the past mixing butterscotch chips with semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, which were amazing! Thanks again for the great tips!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad your kids asked for these instead of bday cakes for their birthdays – that’s awesome!
Thanks so much.. I feel choc chip cookie drunk.. this is my 5 different recipe looking for the perfect one…This is the best!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that these are perfect and are the best for you!
Because of room constraints in my fridge, would it be okay to chill the bowl of dough, THEN make them into balls right before baking?
I would not because then you have to chisel out rock hard dough that will be on the crumbly side and difficult to work with and will make things challenging.