Recently I have been baking sugar cookies, and now I want to share my two favorite recipes! I have tasted many different sugar cookies over the years but I find that most of them are bland and dry. The two recipes I’m sharing with you today, however, are among the best ones out there as far as I’m concerned! Sugar cookies have a simplistic, sweet flavor; they are not bold by any means or they would no longer be a sugar cookie. If you want a real aroma kick you should try my Malted Milk Cookies, which are truly outstanding! Sugar cookies are more plain, but that doesn’t mean they have to be bland. Both recipes are tasty and chewy but slightly different from each other: The recipe in this post (below) focuses on wonderful flavor and produces a tender crumb with a cream cheese tang, while the recipe in my next blog post features a great, chewy consistency due to ingredients selected for just that purpose.
The recipe in this post uses real butter and also includes a full size (8 oz) package of cream cheese, both of which account for a lot of flavor. In addition there is just a tiny bit of almond extract added, which is a flavor I normally avoid because it tends to be over powering for me, but with only 1/4 teaspoon it gives just a hint of almond flavor and it is very fitting.
Making the Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
To make these tender, tasty sugar cookies, start out by beating butter and cream cheese for a little bit until mixed together. Using real butter instead of margarine or shortening, and full fat cream cheese really adds flavor! And just wait until you bake them; the butter will make your kitchen smell wonderful!
When making cookies, I often use my large, strong KitchenAid stand mixer. It is so practical to be able to measure various ingredients while my machine is working! And it can take large batches, a must for me!
Add sugar and beat for a couple of minutes until creamy and somewhat fluffy. The goal is to beat air into the batter.
Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat until mixed in.
Looks like scrumptious cake batter, doesn’t it?
Mix together flour and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture gradually to the batter, beating until combined after each addition until a dough has formed.
Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to shape round balls of cookie dough, and roll these balls gently in sugar. Try to keep the round shape as much as possible.
To shape the dough into balls, you could use two spoons, but I like to use my #40 cookie scoop. The cookies turn out very round and even when using the scoop. See this post for ideas on how to bake perfect- and professional looking cookies.
Place on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
I love my mega sized cookie sheet as it can hold a lot more cookies than my regular cookie sheets, which allows me to bake more cookies in one sitting. If you want to get one for yourself, do a quick measure of your oven before buying to make sure it fits.
Cover the dough balls with parchment paper or wax paper to prevent sticking, then press down a little bit with a glass or bowl. The flattened cookies should be fairly thick and measure about 2 inches across.
Then sprinkle with more sugar! Or try adding a little bit of cinnamon for a snickerdoodle flavor, or maybe even brown sugar for a change.
Bake at 375° F for 8-10 minutes or until some edges are just barely starting to turn golden, or preferably even before then. Do not over bake or they will dry out!
If you break off a piece, it should not look like cookie batter inside; if it does, bake a little longer. They also will set more as they cool down, but there still should not be any raw dough left inside.
If you want flavorful sugar cookies that has a tender crumb, this is it! Cream cheese and real butter adds great taste and a tiny little zing, and you’ll also have wonderful aroma in your kitchen while they’re baking! I hope this picture tutorial has been helpful, and would greatly appreciate a comment and star rating if you decide to try this recipe! Thanks in advance and have fun baking!
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Additional sugar for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Beat butter and cream cheese for 30 seconds until combined.
- Add sugar, then beat for a couple of minutes until creamy.
- Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir well until completely mixed in.
- Stir together flour and baking powder, then gradually add to the cookie batter until combined.
- If dough is to be rolled out, chill overnight, then roll and cut into shapes.
- Otherwise the dough can be used as is right away.
- Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, drop balls of cookie dough into white sugar and roll gently to coat, keeping the round shape as much as possible.
- Place on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.
- Using a glass or bowl, cover the balls with wax paper or parchment paper, then press to somewhat flatten each ball until they measure about 2 inches in diameter. They should be thick.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until they puff up a little bit, baking an additional minute or two at that point. Cookies can be pale, or with just a hint of golden color around the edges.
- Slide the parchment paper sheet with cookies onto the counter top or a rack to cool, then remove.
I have never heard of making sugar cookies with cream cheese before, but I love the idea! It is such a simple recipe too, especially since there are only about eight or nine ingredients. When it comes to the cream cheese, though, what is your favorite brand to use? I feel like different brands give me a different level of satisfaction when I bake with them, and so that is why I am asking that.
Good question! I actually use whatever’s on sale… 😉 I haven’t been that picky about it, although I never use low fat or none fat. I go for whole products. And I have experienced that freezing ruins the consistency, so I make sure it’s never frozen.
It sounds like you know brands of cream cheese better than me, so I would love to hear what your experiences have been and what has worked well for you, if you don’t mind!
Great sugar cookies recipe. I have seen different cookies recipe in many websites. But, this is the great.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much, I appreciate it!
These turned out great. It was really nice to be able to make sugar cookies and snicker doodles with the same recipe since I was baking for kiddos at school and they can never agree on a single kind of cookie. I am definitely saving this one!??
Good to hear! I’m glad you found the tip on turning them into snicker doodle cookies helpful as well. Thank you for leaving me a comment!
They tasted awesome! I loved them. I baked a cornbread before baking and forgot to turn the oven on! oops!
How fun to hear! I’m so glad you liked them!