Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

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Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies. These delicious strawberry cookies feature tons of fresh strawberries, a tangy cream cheese swirl, and homemade strawberry jam. They remind me of a strawberry cheesecake but in cookie form!

These soft and chewy Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies are guaranteed to quickly become a family favorite.

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

All of the flavors of strawberry cheesecake without any of the headache
Ready in less than 30 minutes
Loaded with fresh strawberries making it the perfect summer cookie recipe

KEY INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

STRAWBERRIES. These delicious berries provide the base flavor profile for these strawberry cheesecake cookies. I prefer to use fresh strawberries but you can use frozen strawberries. Just make sure to thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and to pat them dry with a paper towel before using.
BROWN SUGAR. A good balance between brown sugar and white sugar is necessary in order to create the perfect cookie. Brown sugar crisps up when exposed to heat which helps to create the crunchy golden brown edges on these cookies.
SALTED BUTTER. I'm a salted butter girl and I will say it loud and proud! The extra salt in salted butter helps mellow out the sweetness in most desserts. For example in this cheesecake cookie, we have a sweet cookie dough base with a sweet cream cheese swirl, topped with a sweet homemade strawberry jam! That's a lot of sweetness! I promise that the salted butter will help bring together all of these amazing flavors.
CREAM CHEESE. I love using cream cheese in desserts and this one is no exception. It provides such a delicious tang. I use regular cream cheese but if you are trying to watch those calories, you could use a low fat cream cheese instead.
VANILLA EXTRACT. This ingredient is a necessity in every cookie dough recipe. The vanilla flavor provides the perfect base to layer other flavors on top of.
LEMONS. We will be using the juice and zest from one whole lemon to create our fresh strawberry jam.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Cookie Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your butter until soft and airy. Add your sugar and brown sugar and beat until combined. Add your eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and beat until combined.
Add your diced strawberries to your batter and gently fold them in without crushing them or mashing them.
Using a large spoon, scoop out 14 balls of dough and roll them out. Place your cookies on your cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart from each other. Using the back of a tablespoon, press an indent in the center of each cookie.
Place your cookies in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes

Cheesecake Filling

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your cream cheese until soft and airy. Add your powered sugar and beat until combined. Add your vanilla and beat until combined.
Scoop out and divide your cream cheese mixture into the centers of your 14 cookies.
Bake your cookies at 350 degrees for 14 minutes
Take out and let cool.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

In a medium sauce pan, add your finely diced strawberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Simmer on medium low heat for about 20 minutes while continuously stirring and mashing your mixture. Don't walk away or it will burn.
Your jam should come together and thicken. Take off heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Drizzle a little bit of your warm jam on the top of each cookie. Let cool, serve and enjoy!

EXPERT TIPS

Always chill your cookie dough before baking. Chilling your dough brings the temperature of your butter back down, which will make for thicker and chewier cookies. If you skip this step, your cookies will basically melt in your oven, and you will have super flat thin crisp cookies that run into each other.
No time to soften your butter? Don't fret, I have the perfect trick. Place your stick of butter in the microwave for 5 seconds. Then repeat for the remaining three sides of the stick, flipping your stick each time. Once done, your stick should be perfectly soft throughout!

FAQ

What kind of cream cheese should I use?

Honestly you can use any type of cream cheese you like. I tend to use store brand cream cheese just because its more cost effective.

Can I use frozen strawberries?

You absolutely can. Just remember though that frozen strawberries have a higher water content than fresh strawberries so when you defrost them, all of that liquid will go into your cookies. So if you are using frozen strawberries, thaw them to room temperature and then dice them up. After cutting them up, I would dry them using a paper towel and gently squeezing it together. You don't want to juice them dry but you want to remove any excess liquid.

Can I replace the strawberries with other fresh fruit?

The short answer is no. This recipe is designed and tailored to use strawberries as the main ingredient. Using a different kind of fresh fruit would throw the whole recipe off. Water content varies between fruits so if you use a fruit that has a higher water content than strawberries, you will get mushy flat cookies. If you use a fruit with a lower water content than strawberries, you will get a dry and crumbly cookie. Not good!

FREEZING AND STORING

These cookies should be stored wrapped in plastic wrap, and placed in an air tight container for up to 3 days. You can freeze them like this for up to 3 months.

Lastly, if you try out these Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies, be sure to leave a comment/rating on how it turned out. I love hearing from you guys and will try my best to reply to every comment! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

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