[ How to ]Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients:

-Butter: you can use regular butter, or dairy free butter for these cookies.

-Cream Cheese: you can use regular cream cheese or a dairy free/vegan cream cheese alternative for the filling. Ingredients used to make vegan cream cheese can vary so some may take longer to freeze than others, and regular (dairy) cream cheese will require more icing sugar to achieve the gooey filling.

-Strawberries: I strongly recommend using fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries will release water into the dough and make it more wet and sticky.

▢ 1 cup butter (regular or vegan), softened

▢ ¾ cup white sugar

▢ ¼ cup brown sugar

▢ 1 egg

▢ 1 egg yolk

▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda

▢ ¼ teaspoon salt

▢ 2¾ cup all-purpose flour

▢ ½-⅔ cup fresh strawberries, diced small

Cream Cheese Filling

▢ ¾ cup cream cheese (regular or vegan)(6 oz)

▢ ¼ cup powdered sugar

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP ONE: In a small bowl, mix cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth. Line a small baking sheet or plate with parchment paper and place 12 heaping teaspoons of cream cheese on it. Freeze for at least one hour, or until frozen almost completely solid.

STEP TWO: Once the cream cheese is frozen, prepare two large baking sheets and set aside.

STEP THREE: Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, then mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients until just combined.

STEP FOUR: Chop up the strawberries and very gently fold them into the cookie dough.

STEP FIVE: Scoop 10-12 heaping tablespoons of dough onto one lined baking sheet (each ball of dough will be almost 2 tbsps measured), Gently press a dent into half of the balls of dough. Take 6 cream cheese balls out of the freezer and place them on top of 6 of the balls of dough.

STEP SIX: Cover each ball of dough with another ball of dough, pinching the sides to seal it and keep the cream cheese inside. Place the tray in the fridge then repeat on a second tray with the remaining cookie dough.

STEP SEVEN: Preheat the oven. Chill the prepared dough while the oven preheats, then bake one tray at a time for 13-17 minutes. Leave cookies on the tray for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Once cool enjoy these delicious cookies!

EXPERT TIPS

•Use fresh strawberries instead of frozen. Frozen strawberries hold a lot of water and will make the dough very sticky.

•As you fold the top ball of dough over the cream cheese, the dough may start to get sticky. Keep a cloth nearby and wipe your fingers on it before moving to the next cookie to make it a bit easier to work with.

•Try not to add more strawberries to the dough than the recipe calls for. Too many strawberries will make the dough hard to work with.

•When assembling the cookies, make sure to use heaping tablespoons. These are big cookies! Each assembled ball will contain around 3-4 tablespoons of dough.

•Preheat the oven after you've prepared the dough with the filling inside. It isn't a long chill time, but it just helps to firm up the cookies after you've been handling the dough and softening it up.

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