Ingredients
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
Pinch Kosher salt
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp. red food coloring
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Preparation
Step 1Preheat oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Step 2 Make cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and salt. Mix until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 25 minutes. Step 3 Make cookie dough: While filling is being chilled, in a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, food coloring, and vanilla until incorporated. Add flour mixture to dough, mixing until just combined.Step 4Make cookies: Scoop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough, rolling into balls until you have 13 even-sized portions. Using palms and fingertips, flatten each into a 3 ½” circle that is about 1/4” thick.Step 5 Place about 2 teaspoons of cream cheese filling in the center of each round, keeping the edges clean. Bring the edges of the dough around the filling and pinch the edges together to seal. Gently roll the filled dough into a ball. Space cookies about 3" apart on prepared baking sheet.Step 6 Bake cookies 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
Stuffed cookies might sound a little fancier than regular cookies, but it doesn’t mean they’re fussy. What are these cookies stuffed with? These cookies get stuffed with a three-ingredient cream cheese filling that tastes similar to cheesecake. It’s just cream cheese, (make sure it’s at room temperature for easy mixing), a little powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt. Make the mixture and then prep your dough. What is the cookie dough made of? This is a soft cake-like cookie that’s made of all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, and red food coloring. How do I make sure to get the red color just right? We like a bold red color for these cookies, so we don’t skimp on the food coloring with a full tablespoon. If you want them to have a less intense color, start with 1/2 teaspoon and then add more as you mix up the dough. Depending on the food coloring you’re using, it might have more pigment (like a gel food coloring), making for a more concentrated color. If you want to play it safe, start with about half of what the recipe calls for and work up. How do I stuff the cookies? This is the easy part! Take a heaping tablespoon of the cookie dough and flatten it into a pancake-like circle with your hands. If the dough is sticky, lightly dust them with all-purpose flour. Use your fingers to press the cookie dough until you have a flat circle, then spoon a couple teaspoons of cream cheese filling onto the middle of the dough and fold up the edges until all the cream cheese filling is covered. Roll into a ball.
