Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies Recipe

These blueberry cheesecake cookies are soft vanilla sugar cookies with a spoonful of sweetened cream cheese in the middle and 3 to 5 fresh blueberries pressed into it. The recipe makes 12 cookies and takes about 35 minutes: 20 to mix and shape, 12 to 15 in a 350°F oven.

The one thing that matters most is a small well pressed into each dough disk. It holds the cream cheese in the center while the cookie spreads, so you get a golden edge, a pale cheesecake middle, and purple streaks where the berries burst. I baked the first batch late one afternoon and two were gone before they cooled.

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies by the Numbers

• Yield: 12 cookies
• Per cookie: about 2 tablespoons dough, 1 tablespoon cream cheese topping, 3 to 5 blueberries
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), 12 to 15 minutes, on parchment
• Cooling: 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then a rack
• Topping: 6 oz cream cheese, 3 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla
• Keeps: 4 days in the fridge, 2 months in the freezer

The Vanilla Cookie Base

The dough is a plain, soft vanilla cookie: 1¾ cups flour, ½ cup softened unsalted butter, ¾ cup sugar, one egg and a teaspoon of vanilla. A little baking powder gives it lift and ¼ teaspoon baking soda lets it spread just enough to look like a cookie and not a scone. It is a quiet base on purpose, so the cheesecake and the berries do the talking.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes with a mixer. That air is what keeps the cookie soft. Once the flour goes in, stir only until the last streak disappears. Overworked dough turns tough and bakes up dense around the topping.

Getting a Smooth Cream Cheese Topping

Use full fat block cream cheese, left out until it is soft enough to dent with a finger. Whipped cream cheese from a tub is too loose and slides off the cookie in the oven. Cold cream cheese leaves small white lumps that never melt out.

Beat the cream cheese on its own first until completely smooth, then add the 3 tablespoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla. It should be thick and spoonable, like softened frosting. If you like this pairing, the same flavors go into my blueberry cream cheese frosting.

Shaping So the Cheesecake Center Stays Put

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. A cookie scoop keeps them the same size, which matters here because a small cookie finishes before its topping sets. Roll each into a ball, set them on a parchment lined sheet with room between them, and press each into a thick disk.

Now press a shallow dent into the middle of each disk with your thumb or the back of a teaspoon. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into the dent, nudge it out a little with the back of the spoon, and set 3 to 5 blueberries into it. Keep the topping away from the edge. Anything that touches the rim will run off as the dough spreads.

For a citrus cousin without the cream cheese, try these lemon blueberry cookies.

Fresh or Frozen Blueberries?

Both work. Fresh blueberries hold their shape best and give you neat purple spots. Rinse them and pat them completely dry, because water on the skins runs straight into the topping.

Frozen blueberries go on straight from the freezer, never thawed. Thawed berries leak juice and turn the cream cheese grey and wet. Frozen ones bleed a little more as they bake, so expect bigger streaks. Small wild blueberries fit the 1 tablespoon of topping better than large ones.

How to Tell the Cookies Are Done

Start checking at 12 minutes. The edges should be lightly golden and set, while the middle and the cream cheese still look pale and soft. If the topping starts to brown, they have gone too long.

Leave them on the hot baking sheet for 10 minutes. They finish setting there, and the berries release their juice into the topping as they cool. Move them to a rack after that. Break one open right away and the middle will look underdone. Give it the full 10 minutes.

Spreading, Sinking Berries and Other Fixes

• Cookies spread flat: the butter was too soft or the kitchen is warm. Chill the dough for 20 minutes before shaping and the cookies bake up thicker.
• Topping slid off the side: the dent was too shallow or the topping went too close to the edge. Press deeper and keep a clear rim of dough.
• Lumpy topping: the cream cheese was cold. Beat it alone until smooth before the sugar goes in.
• Grey, watery center: wet or thawed berries. Dry fresh berries well, use frozen ones straight from the freezer.
• Browned bottoms: a dark pan. Parchment and a light colored baking sheet keep the base pale and soft.

Lemon, Jam and White Chocolate Twists

Add ½ teaspoon of lemon zest to the cookie dough to make the blueberries taste brighter. For a deeper berry flavor, swirl 1 tablespoon of blueberry jam through the cream cheese mixture before you spoon it on. White chocolate chips folded into the dough make the cookies richer and pair well with the fruit.

Storing Cream Cheese Topped Cookies

Because of the cream cheese, these do not sit on the counter for long. Keep them out no more than about 2 hours, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Straight from the fridge the topping is firm, like a chilled cheesecake. Let them sit for 10 minutes at room temperature and they turn soft again.

To freeze, cool them completely, layer them with parchment in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.

Questions About Blueberry Cream Cheese Cookies

Are these the same as blueberry crinkle cookies with cream cheese?

No. Crinkle cookies have cream cheese mixed into the dough and are rolled in powdered sugar so they crack in the oven, like these lemon crinkle cookies. Here the cream cheese sits on top as a small cheesecake layer.

Can I use other berries?

Yes. Raspberries or small pieces of strawberry work in place of the ¾ cup of blueberries; keep the pieces small so they sit in the topping. For a raspberry version with its own method, see these raspberry cheesecake cookies.

Why did my blueberries sink?

The dough was overmixed or too warm, so the topping and berries sank as it spread. Stir the flour in gently and chill the dough if it feels greasy.

If cheesecake cookies are your thing, the red velvet cheesecake cookies use the same idea, and the blueberry cheesecake crumb bars turn these flavors into a pan dessert. For plain cream cheese dough, there are my cream cheese cookies.