Festive Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies Recipes

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, cream cheese and 1/2 cup softened butter with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until fluffy; scrape side of bowl. Beat in egg just until smooth. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. On low speed, beat flour mixture into sugar mixture until well blended. Cover and refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Shape dough into 60 (1-inch) balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, 1/4 cup softened butter, 2 to 4 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until smooth and fluffy. If frosting is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Tint with food color. Using knife, spread slightly less than 1 teaspoon frosting on each cooled cookie; top with sprinkles. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature.

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat first 4 ingredients in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Refrigerate 3 hours or until chilled.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes with 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, rerolling scraps as needed. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.
• Bake 12 to 15 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES WITH PERFECT FROSTING {FOR CHRISTMAS OR ANY DAY}

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, then add the egg and beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese and beat for 1 minute, scrape down the bowl once more, then beat in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon zest until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, mixing just until fully incorporated and a soft dough is formed.
• Divide the dough into quarters. If using the dough within 24 hours, roll each quarter to a 1/4-inch thickness in between two sheets of parchment paper (alternatively, you can store the dough in a ball or disk and roll out when ready to cut and bake). Be careful not to roll the dough any thinner or the cookies will not be as soft. Keeping the dough flat, transfer it to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Repeat with the remaining dough (it is fine to stack the dough "flats" on top of each other to save space). If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, divide the dough in half, pat each into a disk, then wrap each disk tightly in plastic and freeze in a ziptop bag for up to 1 month. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then proceed with the recipe as directed.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Remove one of dough flats from the refrigerator. (If you stored the dough in a ball or disk, roll it to a 1/4-inch thickness now, between two layers of parchment paper.) Remove the top layer of parchment paper, then with cookie cutters, slice the cookies into desired shapes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, until barely lightly golden brown and the edges are dry. The cookies will look slightly underbaked. Let cool completely.
• To make the frosting: In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons milk as best as you can (the frosting will be very solid at this point). Beat in the corn syrup and almond extract until the frosting is smooth and glossy. If the frosting seems too thick, add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. If making colored frosting, add a few drops of food coloring until you reach your desired color intensity. Frost and decorate the cookies as desired. Let the frosting set for a few minutes, then enjoy!

CREAM CHEESE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.
• Combine the flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• On four sheets of aluminum foil, shape dough into four 6 inch rolls, 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each roll tightly in foil and refrigerate over night.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with foil. Remove rolls of dough from refrigerator one at a time. Coat each roll with red or green sugar crystals; cut dough into 1/4 inch slices.
• Place on prepared cookie sheets; top each cookie with a pecan half. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until bottom of cookie is lightly browned when lifted.

CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine all ingredients except flour and colored sugar; beat until light and fluffy.
• Add flour; mix well. Shape dough into 3 disks. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.
• Heat oven to 375°F On floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough at a time to 1/8-inch thickness. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated.) Cut with lightly floured 2 1/2-inch round or desired shape cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with colored sugar.
• Bake at 375°F for 6 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. If desired, frost and decorate plain cookies.