Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies from Lifestyle of a Foodie

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough March 4, 2026 from Lifestyle of a Foodie

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled to warm

2 ounces full-fat brick cream cheese, very soft

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chunks

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together melted butter, brown sugar and granulated until combined. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined.
2. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract and milk, mixing on low speed until combined.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Do not over mix.
4. Fold in chocolate chunks, mixing on low speed until evenly disbursed. Portion into golf-ball size dough balls, cover and chill for at least an hour or up to a day.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 360 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space chilled dough balls. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

I rarely meet a chocolate chip cookie recipe I don't like. And this one is no exception. My (positive) bias comes from the fact that I typically eat the taste test cookie(s) 10-15 minutes out of the oven, and, as I learned in culinary school, that's the optimal time to eat the cookie. That gives the cookie enough time to crisp up at the edges and the middles have firmed up enough not to be too mushy while the chocolate is still melt-y warm. Hard to beat.

Beyond that, this can rest on its own merits that it's genuinely a delicious chocolate chip cookie. The flavor had the caramelized brown sugar profile down pat. Buttery goodness also complemented the brown sugar caramelization. You can't ask much more from a chocolate chip cookie.

If I did have one slight nitpicky observation, it's that these did spread more than I would've liked. The dough was soft when first mixed. I let it firm up a little before I scooped it into dough balls and I let the dough balls "age" in the refrigerator for 24 hours before I froze them. Then I baked from frozen dough. They still spread and weren't as thick as I prefer. Still, the flavor was delicious so that made up for it. If you're not a fan of cream cheese (I'm not), don't worry, you can't taste the cream cheese at all. I think it just adds to the texture of the cookie but doesn't upset the flavor profile with an unwanted tang.