Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
- 4 oz Cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Strawberry extract
- 1 teaspoon of Red food color gel approximately +/-
For The Cookies
- Chocolate Cookies
- 1/2 cup Salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup Light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup Black cocoa
- 1 3/4 All purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons Corn starch
Instructions
- In a small bowl, cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, red food color, and strawberry extract.
- Place mixture in a zip lock bag with a the tip cut off, or spoon off small, flat, circular shaped mounds onto a parchment paper lined tray. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. I found squeezing them into mounds is more efficient!
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large sized bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Ensure it is creamed well with soft peaks.
- Add in vanilla extract and egg. Mix until well incorporated.
- Add in your dry ingredients. Be sure to add in dark cocoa, corn starch, baking soda, and salt first. Give it a gentle mix with your spatula. Then slowly add in the flour and mix until well combined. You will have a very tight ball that feels kinda dry, but looks moist.
- Add in your chocolate chips. Measure with your heart if 2/3 cups isn’t enough. Then using a medium sized cookie scooper, scoop out the cookie dough onto parchment paper line cookie sheet.
- Grab your tray of frozen cream cheese mounds. Grab a ball of cookie dough and make an indention with your thumb and then place in the cream cheese. Fold the cookie dough around to seal it. I then flatten each into a round mound. This shape is how it will bake.
- Bake cookies for approximately 11 minutes. They might look like they’re undercooked, but they are not. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Notes
Make it Your Own
- Raspberry portal: Swap strawberry extract for raspberry and add a tiny drop of purple with the red.
- Mint Upside Down: Use peppermint extract in the filling and white chocolate chips in the dough.
- Double chip: Mix semi-sweet + mini chips for extra pockets.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 GF flour blend; check your extract/gel brand.
- Inside-out: Use classic cocoa cookies and tint the filling black with a touch of black gel.