Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cream cheese sugar cookies have all the same amazing aspects of cutout sugar cookies but utilize the best secret cookie ingredient—cream cheese!—for a total textural transformation. Seriously, these sugar cookies with cream cheese are so soft, tangy and rich that they basically melt in your mouth.

Sugar cookies with cream cheese are great on their own, but half the fun is decorating the cookies with homemade vanilla frosting. Cut out the cookie dough into shapes, bake the cookies, spread on the frosting and add some sprinkles to finish. I mean, who doesn’t have fun playing with their food?

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

• Butter: You’ll need to soften the butter and soften the cream cheese for this cream cheese sugar cookie recipe so the ingredients whip up nicely and don’t create lumps. Take the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting.
• Cream cheese: Compared to cookies without cream cheese, cookies with cream cheese are softer and tangier, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture that everyone, even crispy cookie lovers, will love.
• Sugar: Use granulated sugar to give these cookies their signature pale sugar cookie color.
• Egg: One egg is all you need to bind the ingredients together so the cookies don’t crumble and fall apart.
• Vanilla extract: A splash of delicate, floral vanilla imparts its blooming flavor into these sugar cookies with cream cheese.
• All-purpose flour: Our favorite type of flour for cookie recipes is all-purpose flour for its mix of hard and soft wheat.
• Frosting: We whip up a homemade vanilla frosting to finish these cream cheese cutout cookies. All you need for the frosting is confectioners’ sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract and milk.
• Decorations: If you’d like, color the frosting with food coloring, and then decorate with sprinkles. If you’re feeling festive, here are our favorite holiday sprinkles.

Directions

Step 1: Make the dough

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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

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Beat in the egg and vanilla.

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Gradually beat in the all-purpose flour. Cover the bowl with storage wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll, one to two hours.

Editor’s Tip: Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl before and after adding the flour to ensure everything is incorporated.

Step 2: Roll out the dough

Preheat the oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.

Editor’s Tip: Feel free to roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness if you like a thicker, softer sugar cookie. Just keep in mind that there will be fewer baked cookies if you decide to go thicker.

Step 3: Cut out the cookies

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Grab your desired cookie cutters, dip them in flour and press them into the dough. Transfer the cream cheese cutout cookies to ungreased baking sheets, placing them 1 inch apart to leave room for slight spreading.

Step 4: Bake the cookies

Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly browned, seven to eight minutes. Cool the cookies at room temperature on the pans for one minute. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely to room temperature.

Step 5: Whip up the frosting

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In a small bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to reach your desired frosting consistency.

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Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the frosting ingredients. Drop in your preferred food coloring if you’d like to color the frosting.

Step 6: Decorate the cookies

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Swoop, spread, zigzag or smother the frosting on the cookies. Decorate with your favorite sprinkles and enjoy.

Editor’s Tip: Use a mini offset spatula, butter knife or the back of a spoon to spread on the frosting. If you’re feeling fancy, pipe the frosting using a piping bag.

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Recipe Variations

• Flavor the dough: Sugar cookies with cream cheese are tangy and sweet, but they have a lot of room for more flavors. I personally love adding culinary-grade lavender, or a combo of lemon zest and thyme, to the cream cheese sugar cookie recipe. These additions make the cookies taste elegant without being overpowering.
• Try a different frosting: Another great way to add more flavor is through the frosting. Omit this cream cheese cookie recipe’s vanilla frosting for a summery strawberry buttercream frosting, a purple-hued blackberry buttercream or an indulgent chocolate frosting.
• Decorate with royal icing: Professional bakers decorate their cookies with royal icing to pipe intricate, seamless designs on their cookies. Keep in mind that this requires a bit more intermediate skill level than a simple frosting, but it looks amazing!

How to Store Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Place the cream cheese sugar cookie recipe in an airtight container. You can stack the cookies if you lay down a piece of waxed paper or parchment between each layer, but just know the frosting may smush a bit. Store the cookies at room temperature for up to three days or in the fridge for up to six days.

Can you freeze cream cheese sugar cookies?

Yes, you can freeze baked sugar cookies with cream cheese (as long as they’re unfrosted) or unbaked cookies for up to three months. To freeze baked, unfrosted cookies, let them cool to room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight container. Layer a piece of waxed paper or parchment in between each stacked layer so they don’t stick together. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours when you’re ready to enjoy them.

To freeze unbaked cookie dough, portion the dough into a few discs and wrap them tightly in storage wrap. When you’re ready to use, thaw them in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a few hours. To freeze unbaked cookie dough cutouts, carefully place them in an airtight container with a piece of waxed paper or parchment between each layer to prevent sticking. Bake from frozen, adding another minute or two to the bake time.

Can you make cream cheese sugar cookies ahead of time?

You absolutely can make this sugar cookie recipe with cream cheese ahead of time. Once the dough is made, you can portion the dough into a few discs, wrap them tightly in storage wrap and stick them in the fridge. Or, roll and cut out the dough into shapes and place them in an airtight container. Just be sure to lay down a piece of waxed paper or parchment between each layer to prevent sticking. The dough can last for up to three days in the fridge.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Tips

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Do you have to chill the dough?

Yes, you must chill the dough for one to two hours before baking, otherwise your cream cheese cutout cookies will spread too much during baking, which will make your cookies go flat and ruin the cutout shape.

What if you don’t want to decorate the cookies with frosting?

It’s totally fine to omit the frosting. Instead, brush the unbaked sugar cookies with a beaten egg white, then decorate the tops with turbinado sugar or colored sugar.