Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies
These cream cheese shortbread cookies are the perfect twist on a classic shortbread. Adding cream cheese gives these cookies so much more flavor and that little bit of tang makes them irresistible.
This cookie recipe is a childhood favorite of my husband, and comes from my wonderful mother-in-law Mary Ann.
What is a Shortbread Cookie?
A classic shortbread recipe is made with just 3 ingredients. It uses flour, butter, and sugar in a 3:2:1 ratio.
The ratios in this recipe are slightly different because of the cream cheese, but I promise these cookies bake up great!!
It might feel crazy to make a cookie recipe without eggs, but eggs add a lot of moisture and can ruin the crispy texture of a shortbread cookie.
Shortbread cookies should have a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. At the same time, you want them to have a slight crisp when you bite into them.
They should have a consistent texture throughout the cookie.
How to Make These Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies Bake Up Crisp and Tender
When I eat a shortbread cookie, I want it to be crisp, tender and buttery.
Now, this isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish. Even if you have the best shortbread cookie recipe, so much comes down to how you make the cookie dough.
The first thing to keep in mind is measuring the right amount of flour.
Some home bakers tend to really pack flour into their measuring cup. Unfortunately, this can cause a person to add a lot more flour than a recipe calls for.
I like to use a kitchen scale to be exact, but you can also fluff your flour up in its bag with a spoon, then add spoonfuls into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
It’s also important that you chill your dough. This makes the dough easier to shape and prevents the cookies from over-spreading.
I know it can be hard to be patient, but it’s worth taking the extra time to chill the dough!!
Adding in Some Sprinkles
Plain shortbread is delicious, but its aesthetic isn’t super exciting. While the sprinkles are a totally optional ingredient, I love pop of color they add!
I chose to use nonpareil sprinkles, but rainbow jimmies would work great too.
The sprinkles are added on top of the cookies right before they’re flattened rather than mixed into the dough.
This gives you a lot of flexibility around the type of sprinkles you use and how many cookies you add them too.
You can add sprinkles to some cookies and leave other plain or have fun using different types of sprinkles.
Tips for Making the Best Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies
- Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. They won’t mix together properly if they’re cold.
- Really cream together the butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar. It helps incorporate air into the dough which makes tender cookies.
- Don’t overwork your cookie dough once you’ve added in the flour. Mix the flour in slowly and on a low speed just until the flour is incorporated. This will help ensure they up crisp rather than chewy.
- Flatten your cookies to a consistent thickness of about 1/3 inch. If some are thicker or thinner than others, they may over or under bake.
- Chill your cookie dough. It helps prevent your cookies from over-spreading while they bake.
- Don’t over bake your cookies. Err of the side of underbaking your cookies and remember that the cookies continue to bake once they’re out of the oven.
Making These Cream Cheese Cookies in Advance and Storage Tips
You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or for up to a week in the fridge.
This cookie dough can also be frozen for up to 1 month if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container.
I like to move the cookie dough to the fridge the night before I plan to roll it out and bake the cookies.
Baked cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to 3 months if frozen in an airtight container or a freezer bag.
Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat them, then either enjoy them cold out of the fridge or let them sit out at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this recipe for cream cheese shortbread cookies, I’d love to hear what think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.
Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) block full-fat cream cheese, room temperature 170g
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature 170g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 215g
- 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles – optional 60g
Instructions
- Mix together 3/4 cup of cream cheese and 3/4 cup butter on a medium-high speed until fully combined.
- Add in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix on a medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes until the mixture becomes lighter in color.
- Slowly mix in 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour on a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as need. The cookie dough should be thick and a bit sticky.
- Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F / 175 C and take your cookie dough out of the fridge.
- Cut the block of cookie dough into 16 equal sized pieces.
- Toss each block of cookie dough in a small bowl filled with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar until lightly coated, then use the flat bottom of a glass to flatten each cookie to be about 1/3 inch thick. If your glass is sticking to your cookies as you flatten them, dunk the bottom of the glass in the bowl of granulated sugar.
- If desired, sprinkle a tsp of sprinkles on top of each flattened cookie and gently press them into the cookie using the bottom of the same glass.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown. Keep an eye on these cookies, they brown quickly, and you don't want to over-bake them.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or for up to a week in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Making Mini Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies
Make mini cream cheese shortbread cookies that are half the size! Roll out 32 cookie dough balls and bake for 9-10 minutes at 350 F / 175 C. This recipe can also easily be doubled to increase the yield!Tips to Make the Best Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies:
- Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. They won't mix together properly if they're cold.
- Really cream together the butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar. It helps incorporate air into the dough which makes tender cookies.
- Don't overwork your cookie dough once you've added in the flour. Mix the flour in slowly and on a low speed just until the flour is incorporated. This will help ensure they up crisp rather than chewy.
- Flatten your cookies to a consistent thickness of about 1/3 inch. If some are thicker or thinner than others, they may over or under bake.
- Chill your cookie dough. It helps prevent your cookies from over-spreading while they bake.
- Don't over bake your cookies. Err of the side of underbaking your cookies and remember that the cookies continue to bake once they're out of the oven.
How to Store These Cookies:
You can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or for up to a week in the fridge. This cookie dough can also be frozen for up to 1 month if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container. I like to move the cookie dough to the fridge the night before I plan to roll it out and bake the cookies. Baked cookies can also be frozen! These cookies last for up to 3 months if frozen in an airtight container or a freezer bag. Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat them, then either enjoy them cold out of the fridge or let them sit out at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.Nutrition
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hey! i was wondering, if i don’t have cream cheese on hand can i substitute it for more butter? or it would not work?
@abril, if you don’t have cream cheese, just use a regular shortbread cookie recipe.
Can powdered sugar be substitute d for the granulated.
is the nutritional info for one cookie? 1g doesn’t make sense… 🙂
So sorry about that Kate! I just switched my recipe cards over to a new template, and the nutritional information of a few of them stopped working properly. Just updated this one, and it should be good to go now. Hope that helps, happy baking!
Want to make these as thumbprint cookies. Saw them as thumbprints with coconut on top of them,but it wasn’t browned. Could you tell me if I should make like regular thumbprints and dust with coconut,will it stay on. Thanks for any input.
Hi Donna,
I haven’t made coconut thumbprint cookies before, so sadly I’m not totally sure! I think if baked them then added the coconut, it wouldn’t stick, but it you add the coconut before baking I do think they’ll get toasted a bit! I wish you could share the picture you saw on here so I could get a better idea of what your goal is, but we can’t share pics on here :/