Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies
These Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies will surely delight the cookie lovers in your life. The cookies are rolled in pink sugar crystals, topped with a cherry, and drizzled with white chocolate.
Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies make me smile for a few reasons. They’re simple to make and delicious to eat, and the pink sugar crystals make them sparkle. How can one not smile at that? The thumbprint cookies make others smile, too.
These cherry cheesecake cookies are perfect for sharing on Valentine’s Day and Christmas. They would look lovely on a dessert table for Mother’s Day, bridal, and baby showers, too.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cookies are festive and fun to make (and eat).
- Maraschino Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies are great for special holidays or events.
- Easy recipe to make!
- This is an egg-free recipe.
- They were made for a great cause – Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!
Baking for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer
It’s the second year for our Valentine’s event to benefit Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Bloggers from all over signed up to participate, they donated, they created recipes and I’m so excited to share them with you. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom and click over to check out the recipes!
- Did you know that childhood cancers are the #1 killer of children in the U.S.?
- Did you know that there are 12-13,000 new childhood cancer diagnoses each year?
- Did you know that for every $1 of cancer research only 3 pennies goes to childhood cancer research.
This is why Cookies for Kids’ Cancer exists! This is why they do what they do. They sell cookies to fund the researchers who are trying to find cures and better treatment options for children suffering from cancer today. They also encourage all of us to hold bake sales to raise much-needed funds.
Please consider donating to this great cause! These generous sponsors are matching what we raise, up to $3,000! Shout out to Dixie Crystals, Mediavine, and OXO! Thank YOU!
Our event is over, but the organization is always looking for folks to raise awareness and funds with bake sales and online events, like this one.
Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies Recipe
You can prepare the dough for these Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies in advance, roll the dough into balls, and keep it in the refrigerator to chill until you are ready to roll the cookie dough balls in sprinkles and bake. The dough does need to chill for about an hour so plan ahead with this recipe.
This is also a wonderful recipe to have the kids help make. The kids can form and roll the cookie dough balls in the pink sugar crystals. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, little ones can even help drizzle the melted chocolate over them.
Do cookies with cream cheese need to be refrigerated?
Since the cream cheese is baked inside the cookies, they are good to store at room temperature. Baked goods that have cream cheese or cheesecake filling or frosting should be refrigerated.
How long do cherry cream cheese cookies last?
These homemade cookies will stay soft for about 4-5 days, stored in an airtight container. They also can be frozen in airtight containers for up to 3 months.
Equipment
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- stand mixer or electric handheld mixer
- mixing bowls
- measuring cups and spoons
- baking sheet
- silicone baking mat (optional)
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup pink sugar crystals (pink sanding sugar)
- 30 red maraschino cherries, drained
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Steps to Make Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies
Step 1
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the flour mixture aside.
Step 2
In a bowl of a stand mixer or using a handheld electric mixer and a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese. This will take a couple of minutes. Add the almond extract and mix well.
Step 3
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and cream cheese mixture and combine well.
Step 4
Cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. This will chill the dough so that the cookies will not spread too much. After an hour has passed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 5
Shape the dough into about 30, 1-inch balls. I like to use a cookie scoop to easily measure the dough. Roll each ball into the pink sugar crystals and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. You can also use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper.
Step 6
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes. Be sure to not overbake the cookies. Remove from the oven and immediately press a maraschino cherry into the middle of each cookie. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.
Step 7
Once the cookies have cooled completely, slowly melt the white chocolate chips in 10-15 second increments in the microwave. Give them a stir between each melting time. Using a fork, drizzle the melted white chocolate overtop the cookies. Allow the white chocolate to set completely before storing the cookies in an airtight container.
Other Cookies You May Enjoy
- Soft Batch Sprinkle Cookies
- Neapolitan Cookies
- Raspberry Shortbread Cookies
- Valentine’s Day Crinkle Cookies
Tips, Tricks, and FAQs
- Be sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature so it will mix smoothly in the dough batter.
- Ensure the cherries are dry before adding to the cookies or they will become soggy.
- These cookies are great with or without the drizzle of melted chocolate.
- You can use melted chocolate chips in place of the white.
- Use different colored sprinkles for other holidays or themes.
2024 Alphabet Challenge – “C”
In updating this post, I am sharing it in the 2024 Alphabet Challenge in which fellow foodies will share recipes with the letters of the alphabet. Twice a month we will bring you two letters – recipes that either start with the letter or the main food in the recipe starts with that letter. Today is the letter “C” and I am sharing this updated cherry cookie recipe with you. Look at all the recipes for the 2024 alphabet challenge! Here is what the others are sharing:
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Chicken Pastina Soup
- Palatable Pastime: Caldo Gallego Cubano
- Sneha’s Recipe: Carnivore Meatzza
- Food Lust People Love: Cecilie’s Favorite Coleslaw
- Culinary Cam: Crab-Stuffed Ravioli
- Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Cheesy Burger Buns
- Sizzling Tastebuds: Classic Chickpea Hummus
- Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Cherry Chocolate Chip Waffles with Cherry Syrup
- Mayuri’s Jikoni: Cranberry Achar | Cranberry Pickle
- Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Dove Dark Chocolate Chunk Cakey Muffins
- Magical Ingredients: Chocolate Cashew Coconut Caramel Stuffed Paratha
Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- 3 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup pink sugar crystals
- 30 red maraschino cherries drained
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer; cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese. This will take a couple of minutes.
- Add the almond extract and mix well.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine well.
- Cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. This will chill the dough so that the cookies will not spread too much.
- After an hour has passed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Shape the dough into about 30, 1-inch balls. Roll each ball into the pink sugar crystals and place on ungreased baking sheet. You can use a silicone baking sheet also.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes. Be sure to not overbake the cookies. Remove from the oven and immediately press a maraschino cherry into the center of each cookie.
- Move the cookies to wire racks to cool.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, slowly melt the white chocolate chips in 10-15 second increments in the microwave. Give them a stir between each melting time.
- Using a fork, drizzle the melted white chocolate overtop the cookies.
- Allow the white chocolate to set completely before storing the cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“Blogghetti” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
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Enjoy!
I was looking for a cookie recipe for the whole family and I stumbled on this article. I read and followed the instructions carefully and I made it deliciously! Every member of my family is so happy! Thanks for this
These look absolutely amazing! I will have to give them a try 🙂
You made my day sweetie great! Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
-Chad
soffit repair
Very timely to pull this recipe out again. Perfect for Valentine’s Day and perfect for this challenge with all of those Cs in the name. Cookies for Kids is a great organization.
I didn’t even see all the “C”‘s until I was proof-reading the post! Ha!
Using the pink sanding sugar is brilliant! I love cream cheese cookies. These are a must try.
Thank you!
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, these cherry cram cheese cookies look so beautiful. What a noble cause, baking cookies and donating money for Kids cancer research.
Thank you! It’s such a great cause!
What a great little cookie, especially since I have so many little jars of sparkling sugar that I need to get rid of. And, thank you, thank you, thank you for spreading the news about Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a charity that is very dear to me! The perfect recipe to kick off the Valentine’s Day season!
Thank you! It’s a very dear to my heart charity as well. I hope the event is happening again this year, I haven’t heard anything!
Such a noble cause, God bless ! these cherry cream cheese cookies look perfect even for an edible gift for X-mas or any other celebration..
These definitely will not last 4 to 5 days at my house! So pretty and I love anything with cherries.
Wish I could have these with a cuppa of chai!!
Look at that lovely color! I love everything about these cookies. I wish I had one right now.