Soft & Chewy Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Super soft and thick sugar cookies frosted with a thick layer of cream cheese buttercream! Perfect for decorating or simply slathering on a nice coat of frosting!
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 5 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tarter
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For Rolling:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
For the Cream Cheese Buttercream:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup shortening
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Princess Cake & Cookie Flavor*
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds powdered sugar (about 8 cups)
- Sprinkles
Instructions
To make the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Add the vegetable oil, 1 cup granulated sugar, powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until fully incorporated.
- Gradually mix flour mixture into wet ingredients until dough comes together.
- Place 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Roll dough into balls that are a little larger than golf balls. Coat ball in sugar and place on lined baking sheet. Repeat process with more dough until you have 6 or 7 balls spaced at least 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each dough ball to about 1/2" thickness. It's okay if the cookies form a rim on the edges.
- Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes or until tops look dry. They should still be pale in color--no browning. Try not to overbake or you'll end up with hard, crispy cookies. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter, shortening, cream cheese, extracts, and salt together until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until all of the sugar has been added and frosting is smooth.
- Spread buttercream onto cooled cookies and immediately add the sprinkles, if using. Allow frosting to set (dry) before stacking or covering in plastic wrap.
Notes
*I purchased the Princess Cake & Cookie Flavor from King Arthur Flour's website, but if you don't have access to any, just substitute with more vanilla or other flavoring. *Although the buttercream hardens slightly, I wouldn't stack more than three cookies on top of each other just to ensure that the buttercream doesn't get smashed. However, a thinner layer of buttercream would allow for more stacking.
*To set the frosted cookies more quickly, place them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
*To freeze: Freeze baked, unfrosted cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Allow to thaw out (about 15 minutes) before frosting and decorating. To freeze the dough, divide it into 2 or 3 batches and shape each portion into a flattened disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, place in a resealable gallon freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, let disks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling into balls and baking.
*To set the frosted cookies more quickly, place them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
*To freeze: Freeze baked, unfrosted cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Allow to thaw out (about 15 minutes) before frosting and decorating. To freeze the dough, divide it into 2 or 3 batches and shape each portion into a flattened disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, place in a resealable gallon freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, let disks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling into balls and baking.