Are you ready for a recipe that is the bomb dot com with the caps lock on? These are my favorite cookies. of. all. time. When I was younger, I could NEVER make these kind of sugar cookies. I always burnt them, they were too crispy and not moist and chewy and I had almost given up trying to make them. UNTIL I FOUND THIS RECIPE! But before we get to the recipe, because these cookies are apple shaped and remind me of school, I wanted to share a memory of my dad and school days!
My father passed away 9 years ago and he was somewhat of an absent-minded professor. When he got focused on something, everything else in the world seemed to fade away.
My sister Tracy and I were very well aware of his preoccupation and would often use this to our advantage.
Every once in a while, Tracy and I needed to be driven to school and we ALWAYS wanted Dad to be the one to take us. Why? Because we found that if we sat quiet enough in the car, that our Dad would actually forget that we were even there and he would drive all the way to work before he finally realized that we were still in the car! Some days he would get halfway to work before remembering he needed to drive toward the school but more often than not, he would make it all the way to work before we piped up and reminded him that we needed to go school. Goodnaturedly, he would take us to school but would have to write a note about why we were late. We thought it was so fun to miss some school!
Even in later years, Tracy and I would never miss an opportunity to razz Dad about this memory whenever he seem preoccupied with something.
Although all three of us don’t suggest that you forget your kids in the car, we do suggest that you make your children some of these Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies for when your kiddos come home from school. They will think you are the best parent EVER! These can be made in any shape of cookie cutter that you have and as noted below, the real secret is to keep the dough thick after rolling.
These are soft and chewy and have a surprise ingredient that elevates them above that of a regular sugar cookie which is the addition of some almond extract. Yummers!
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup soft butter
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons soft butter
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- Milk to desired consistency
Instructions
- Blend butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and egg. Mix in remaining dry ingredients and blend into the creamed mixture. Chill for 1 hour. Roll out dough on floured surface until 1/4 inches thick (a must!) Cut with desired cookie cutter shape and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool.
- Mix all your frosting ingredients and add some food coloring if desired. For these apple cookies, I used Wilton's Leaf Green and Red Icing colors. Frost cookies when cool. Add any desired decorations. I used some red sanding sugar on the red frosting.
Notes
Adapting a recipe from Allrecipes.com, This Pin Rocks!
It’s a party with these sites today:
Oh these sound sooooooooo good. Thanks for the recipe. I would love for you to link up to my Inspire Me party that will go live this afternoon. http://www.astrollthrulife.net Hope to see you there. Hugs, Marty
Hi Marty! We have linked up…thanks so much for the invite! Deb – The Oldest Sister
Those are absolutely adorable! I love cream cheese sugar cookies! I’m the same way about focus — I’ll often get complete tunnel vision for whatever I’m doing 🙂 Thank you so much for linking these up to Mouthwatering Mondays! Have a wonderful week!
Thanks so much for hosting a great party Rachel! We’ll be back! Deb – The Oldest Sister
I love the story about your dad and you, how funny! I am visiting from Show me Your Plaid and I just booked marked this recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
Hi Shawna! Oh my…you won’t be disappointed. I get asked for this recipe more than anything else when I bring them to an event. Hope you like them! Deb – The Oldest Sister
OMG these are super cute!! I bet the cream cheese makes these cookies so tender. Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
Ohhh these cookies sound really good with the addition of the cream cheese and they look BEAUTIFUL!!! Love the little apples, so cute!!! 🙂
Thanks Maria! Seriously, they are soooo good! Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. It made my day! Deb – The Oldest Sister
Thanks so much for linking up, I love your sugar cookie recipe and how cute they are as apples. Hugs, Marty
Those apple cookies are so cute, and anything involving cream cheese is OK by me!
I always am looking for new sugar cookies recipes…this sounds amazing. And they are so cute!
HI! Thanks for linking up with Give Me the Goods Monday Link Party! I made these cookies and they were such a big hit that I selected them as one of my features this week! Thanks again for linking up, love seeing your recipes!
https://commona-myhouse.blogspot.com/2013/09/give-me-goods-sunday-features27.html
Hi Amy! Thanks so much for the “feature love”!! We will definitely link up again!! Deb – The Oldest Sister
For the dough, you have vanilla and almond extract listed in the ingredients, but they’re not included in the directions. We went ahead and added them to the dough before chilling so we’ll see how it comes out. Just an FYI. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Brittany! The recipe does call for both so you should be just fine. Let me know if you like them! Deb – The Oldest Sister
I made these last night for my family and they murdered them. My children especially loved the fact that they came home to home made cookies that they decorated themselves but instead of the frosting here I topped them with my mums special cream cheese frosting and they were to die for. The children loved them and my ADULT companions loved the Grown Up Version I made for them (Infused with a little rum) Absolutely Divine. Thank You!
Keira, you just made my day! Thanks SO much for letting me know that they turned out for you. And cream cheese frosting?? That sounds deeee-lish! Deb – The Oldest Sister
this might be a stupid question but did you use salted or unsalted butter for the dough?
Hi Cori! Definitely not a stupid question! I use salted butter in the blue box that I get at Costco. I can’t wait for you to try these cookies! Deb – The Oldest Sister
I have never heard of putting 1 tsp. of baking powder in the icing or glaze that you have listed in your Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Recipe. Could this be a typo?
Hi Joanie! Good catch! I had actually seen that before and went in and changed it but must not have clicked “saved”!! Thanks SO much for letting me know. Seriously these cookies are amazing. Make sure you cut them thick! Deb – The Oldest Sister
Making these tonight. Really excited!
I’d love to know how they turn out! We LOVE them! Deb
I just made these and they are exactly what I was hoping for!! I’m new to the cookie scene and was wondering how you store these long term after made and in dough form. Can I freeze them and how do I defrost them?
I am so glad that you these turned out for you. Honestly I have never frozen these cookies because they NEVER last that long. I can barely keep my kids out of the dough let alone after they are baked! But here is a great article that tells you how to do it and now I am so glad to know too! Thanks Amber! https://allrecipes.com/howto/freezing-cookies-and-cookie-dough/
Thank you! This helps a lot!
Aprox how many cookies does this make?
Hi Jessica! It’s hard to determine based on the size of cookie cutter that you are using but I usually get three dozen out of this recipe. Hope that helps! Deb
How far apart do you put these on a cookie sheet? Do they spread much?
Hi Georgia! They do spread but only slightly. Not like a chocolate chip cookie. Oh man, you are going to love this recipe!! Deb
Can you omit the almond extract all together and just add more vanilla? My kids have nut allergies. Would I be able to substitute vanilla extract for the frosting as well?
Hi Voula! You can absolutely substitute vanilla instead of the almond in both the cookies and frosting. Hope you like them! Deb
Thank you Debbie. I bought heart shaped cookie cutters as Valentine treats for the kids in my children’s classes. I find giving candy useless because everyone ends up throwing it out. I know I do. What I want to do is print your recipe and put it with the cookie cutter. That way, all the kids can enjoy making and eating them alongside their parents. This is also why I need to omit the almond extract because like most schools, they are all nut free environments. I will try them myself and let you know! Thanks for the quick response!
Voula
My pleasure! And I have brought these many times for my kids at their schools and they have always been a huge hit! Good luck!