These Cream Cheese Cut Out Sugar Cookies are my favorite cut out sugar cookie recipe. The cream cheese gives these classic cookies a great flavor and helps keep them soft!
Cut Out Sugar Cookies are my kid’s favorites, I am sure this isn’t exclusive to my house. Sure they like to eat them, but the decoration part is what they love the best…that is until they have iced and sprinkled 3 cookies each and then they’re over it, leaving me with a good 30 cookies to decorate on my own. Yeah, every year.
This year I’m switching up the usual cookie game we play. First I’m making this cream cheese cut out sugar cookies recipe. PLUS I’m making fluffy frosting to spread on the cookies. No piping bags this year, no little metal balls on the cookie that crack out fillings…nope, none of it. Plus, we all know fluffy frosting > royal icing. It’s a no brainer.
This is such a fantastic cut out sugar cookie recipe because it includes the addition of cream cheese. The cream cheese adds delicious flavor to the cookie, and also helps keep them soft. But they totally hold shape when cutting them out with cutters. It might be the perfect recipe!
Besides the cream cheese, another secret to this recipe is the use of just egg yolks…this adds to the richness of the batter!
Once you make the dough and chill it, you can go ahead and roll it out. I like thick cookies, so I roll it to about a 1/2 inch thick.
You can use simple circle cutters…
Or get fancy for the holidays!
Just bake them up until they are lightly golden at the edges and let them cool before icing.
Again, I topped mine with a fluffy and creamy Cream Cheese Frosting, but if you want to get detailed here is the recipe for my royal icing!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 36 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Cream Cheese Cut Out Sugar Cookies are my favorite cut out sugar cookie recipe. The cream cheese gives these classic cookies a great flavor and helps keep them soft!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 1/4 cups flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 ounces butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In bowl of stand mixer beat cream cheese and butter until creamy, about 2 minutes, scraping sides as necessary.
- Add sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes. Mixture should be fluffy and pale in color. Turn mixer to medium-low and add in egg yolks, vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
- Finally turn mixer to low and slowly add in flour. Mix just until all flour is incorporated.
- Chill dough for at least 2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from fridge and in portions, roll dough to 1/2 inch thick on a floured surface. Using cookie cutters cut dough and place onto prepared baking sheet. Cookies won’t spread too much.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on how large the cookies you are baking are.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Frosting
- Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar and turn the mixer up to medium high and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Color with food coloring if desired.
Notes
Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to a week. Or freeze for up to a month.
Store frosting refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 293
- Sugar: 19.7 g
- Sodium: 68.4 mg
- Fat: 16.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.9 g
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Cholesterol: 53.8 mg
Can you just put sugar or cinnamon and sugar on these cookies instead of icing and they still taste good?
YES!!
Should the cream cheese be room temp or cold before creaming with the butter for the cookie batter?
yes!
yss to which? 🙂
Room temp is better. 😀
These are cooling on my counter right now. I can’t believe how light they are. I can’t wait for them to cool so I can try the frosting. The cookies are just the right amount of sweet too. A+
Are they soft and chewy or soft and cakey?
soft and chewy!!
Thanks!
Great recipe! Just made them, but they not make it to the decorating phase. My family is enjoying them “naked” – as my 3 yr old would say.
Can I use this recipe to make cutout cookie cutters that leave imprints on the cookie? Or will they just bake out? Thank you!
What size cookie cutter did you use?
I used my large round 3 1/2 inch cutter
These sound delicious. Can you use lite cream cheese or does it have to be regular?
I have only done these with regular, but I imagine 1/3 fat would work great as well!
These tasted ok, but the texture is off. THey ended up really flat and thin even though I rolled them out thick. They need baking powder or baking soda. IT’s like a thick cracker. Can’t serve these.
That’s so strange that you had that result. I haven’t heard of anyone else with that issue, and I have never had it either and I make these all the time.
I can attest that this recipe is perfect as-is! I have been using this recipe for the last several years and always get so many compliments. Thank you, Shelly!!
5 Stars! Love these cookies! I added a teaspoon of almond extract along with the vanilla. Perfect! Thanks Shelly!
After frosting the cookies, do they need to be refrigerated since there is cream cheese?
I actually don’t, but it certainly won’t hurt!