Or better known as, my families favorite Christmas Cookie. These cookies are decadent. They look like a cloud, but are actually chewy and tangy from the cream cheese and sourdough discard. These semi-sweet treats are a huge delight for the Christmas season!

❤️ Why You’ll Love Cream Cheese Cookies

I love to bake, but I don’t like overly sweet desserts. Which make these a perfect cookie to me. With the tanginess from both the cream cheese and the sourdough discard, these have such a great flavor balance. These cookies are decadent and creamy; and be careful if you bring these to a Holiday party, because your friends will be sure to ask for more 🙂

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Discard – inactive, unfed sourdough starter

Cream Cheese – The cream cheese gives these cookies an unmatched flavor and texture.

Powdered Sugar – There’s powdered sugar in the actual cookie batter, but granulated sugar that coats the outside for a little bit of extra sweetness, plus a nice crunch.

Butter – one softened stick of butter

Baking Powder – Baking Powder is responsible for making the cookie rise during the bake time.

Egg – To bind all of the ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to Make Cream Cheese Cookies

Everything is basically made in your stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. The batter is super simple to come together.

First, cream together your butter and cream cheese for 1-2 minutes on a medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until smooth and incorporated. Add in the egg, vanilla and sourdough discard until fully combined. Add flour, salt and baking powder, scraping down the edges of the bowl as needed until there are no dry bits of flour and a cohesive batter has formed.

Cover your bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for 1 – 2 hours.

In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and take the cookie dough out of the fridge. Roll one inch balls of dough (about 1/2 a tablespoon) together and roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture until it is fully coated. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet 1-2 inches apart.

Bake at 375 degrees for 9-10 minutes.

You don’t want to over bake these, they will finish setting up on the cooling rack, so if they feel soft when they come out of the oven – don’t panic, they’re supposed to.

Let them cool, and enjoy with a big glass of milk!

🪄 Tips and Tricks

  • If you don’t have softened butter, fill a glass with hot water, when the glass is warm to the touch place it over your butter. Repeat this step 2 – 3 times until your butter is soft.
  • Do not over bake these cookies, they will puff up, but they won’t turn a golden brown.
  • Sifting your flour, salt, and baking powder mixture will lend a smooth and tender texture to the cookie.


🗒 Best Served With

  • A big glass of milk
  • A cup of coffee
  • Other Christmas desserts

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Because these cookies have cream cheese in them, I store my leftover cookies in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

🤔 Common Questions

Can I freeze this cookie dough?

Yes! Go through all the steps as normal, all the way up to placing them on the baking sheet. After you have rolled them in the cinnamon sugar, place the dough balls flat into a Ziplock bag and then place them in the freezer for another day.

What if the dough seems undercooked?

Chances are, it just needs to cool on a wire rack, but if you do want them to be slightly firmer while still keeping the texture in tact, bake the cookies one minute more at a time while keeping a close eye on them.

5 from 5 votes

Sourdough Discard Cream Cheese Cookies

Print recipe
The perfect mix of sweet and tangy. These cookies are a family favorite.
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Resting time:1 hour
Total Time:1 hour 20 minutes

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup sourdough discard
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar

  • ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

  • In a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer), cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Slowly add in the powdered sugar until it is incorporated and smooth. Then, add in the egg, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard until fully combined.
  • Mix in the flour, salt and baking powder until there are no more dry bits of flour and a smooth dough has formed.
  • Cover and let rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
  • Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Take 1/2 a tablespoon of cookie dough, roll it into a ball, and coat it with cinnamon sugar. Place each ball on your baking sheet 1-2 inches apart.
  • Bake for 9-10 minutes, but do not over-bake. The cookies might seem soft and slightly underdone, but they will finish setting up as they cool.
  • Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and enjoy with a big glass of milk!

Notes

If you don’t have sourdough discard, or if you would like to leave it out entirely, adjust the flour from 2 cups to 1-3/4 cups.

Nutrition

Calories: 366kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 586mg | Potassium: 127mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 4mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cookies, cream cheese, discard, Sourdough, Sourdough Discard
Servings: 6
Calories: 366kcal

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5 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    Great recipe! Just missing some the ingredients on the list (sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla) so the measurements weren’t given. Just kind of eye balled it and they turned out great.