Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Averie Sunshine on June 23, 2013

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.

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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!

Yield: about 28 medium-small cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 3+ hours, for dough chilling

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
pinch 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)

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.

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.

Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies – Soft, chewy, tender, moist, stay soft for days, are a snap to make, with two kinds of chocolate. A fuss-free, straightforward recipe for chocolate chip cookies that yields fabulous results every time. and the dough base that Ive adapted over and over

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Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups – No issues with spreading cookies because they’re baked in a muffin pan. They’re dense, with nuttiness and richness from the browned butter and the perfect balance of chewy edges, squishy in the middle, and loaded with chocolate

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks – No butter used in these fast and easy cookie sticks that can’t spread because they’re baked in a pan. It’s faster and easier to make these sticks than individual cookies

Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies – One of my favorite cookies, ever. If you’ve never baked with coconut oil, you’re in for such a treat. The cookies don’t taste coconutty, but have a depth and richness that’s unbeatable

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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?

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