These Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed Cookies are everything you want in a treat—soft, chewy, and bursting with fresh strawberries, all wrapped around a creamy cheesecake surprise inside! They’re perfect for any occasion, and trust me, once you take a bite, you’ll want to make them over and over again.
Ingredients for This Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed Cookies:
Let’s start with that creamy cheesecake filling! It’s as simple as mixing cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little lemon juice to create that rich, velvety base. Now, for the strawberry cookies: fresh strawberries give them a fruity kick, and a little cornstarch helps bind everything together. Add butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla for sweetness, and some baking soda and powder to get that perfect chewy texture. These ingredients will give you the best of both worlds—creamy and fruity, soft and chewy!
Cheesecake Filling:
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Strawberry Cookies:
- ⅓ cup fresh strawberries, diced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
How to Make Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed Cookies:
Now, let’s get to the fun part—baking these beauties!
Start by making the cream cheese filling. In a bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Scoop out twelve 1-teaspoon-sized balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Pop them in the freezer until they’re nice and firm.
Next, toss your diced strawberries with cornstarch in a small bowl and set them aside for a moment.
Now, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars. Beat it on low for about 3 minutes until it’s nice and smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix on low until everything is well combined. Now, add the flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together. Gently fold in the diced strawberries.
Pop the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes or refrigerate it for 1 hour. This will help make the dough easier to work with!
Once the dough is chilled, it’s time to form the cookie dough balls. Use about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie, making sure they’re nice and tall. If the dough starts to get too soft, just pop it back in the freezer for a bit to firm up.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Place your dough balls onto the sheet, making sure to leave about 2-3 inches between each one since they’ll spread while baking.
Here’s the tricky part: Use a small cookie scoop to create an indentation in the top of each dough ball, about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons deep. You don’t want to go too deep, just enough room to fit the frozen cream cheese ball. Place the cream cheese ball into the indentation, then cover it with dough, pinching the edges to seal it. If the dough softens and gets sticky, just refreeze it until it firms back up.
Now, bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as every oven is different! Let them cool completely before serving, so the cheesecake inside sets up properly.
Recipe Notes:
- When making the indentation in the dough, be careful not to make it too deep. You want to leave enough room around the edges to keep the cream cheese from spilling out while baking.
- Freezing the cream cheese balls ahead of time makes it way easier to assemble the cookies. Also, chilling the dough helps reduce stickiness, making it easier to roll the dough into balls.
- If you don’t have fresh strawberries, you can use freeze-dried strawberries instead. Just remember that the baking time will be a little shorter (12-13 minutes) since freeze-dried strawberries won’t release as much moisture as fresh ones.
- Want a gluten-free version? You can use a gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum. The cookies will be a bit more tender, and you might need to bake them a little longer to get them perfectly set.
Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz full-fat cream cheese softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup fresh strawberries diced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make the cream cheese filling: Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth and freeze 12 teaspoon-sized balls.
- Toss diced strawberries with cornstarch and set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla, then stir in flour mixture.
- Fold in diced strawberries. Chill dough for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Form dough balls with 2 tablespoons of dough each. Make an indentation in the center. Place frozen cream cheese ball in the center and cover with dough.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 14-16 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.
Notes
Cook time: 14-16 minutes
Total time: 30-35 minutes
Servings: 12