Bready or Not: Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies are big, rich, and incredible. You get a core of cream cheese surrounded by chocolate-laden dough. I mean, come on.

For this recipe, you need to make the dough and filling in advance. I made them a day ahead, but you want at least a few hours of refrigeration time. You also chill the cookie dough right after it’s shaped. That means you need some empty room in the fridge for doing this recipe.

This is also a recipe where you really do need a tablespoon and teaspoon scoop to produce even cookies. That, or you just naturally have a good eye for estimating such things.

Modified from Allrecipes Magazine Feb/March 2022.

PrintBready or Not: Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Chip CookiesThis recipe makes about 24 indulgent, large cookies that load a lot of goodness into a single bite. Make the dough and filling at least a few hours ahead of time. This is definitely a recipe where tablespoon and teaspoon scoops are necessary to create cookies of equal size. Modified from Allrecipes Magazine Feb/March 2022.Course DessertKeyword cheese, chocolate, cookiesServings 24 cookiesAuthor Beth CatoEquipmenttablespoon and teaspoon scoopsfridge spaceparchment paperIngredientsFilling8 ounces cream cheese room temperature1/2 cup confectioners’ sugarCookie Dough3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 and a half sticks) room temperature3/4 cup white sugar3/4 cup brown sugar packed2 large eggs room temperature2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking soda3/4 teaspoon salt12 ounces chocolate chipsInstructionsMake the fillingBeat together the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar to make a smooth mixture with few if any lumps. Stash it in the fridge to chill for a few hours or overnight.Make the cookie doughBeat together the butter and both sugars until they are creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla.In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually pour this into the butter mixture, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make certain everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.Baking the cookiesPreheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Also, make room in the fridge for a small baking pan or plates on which the formed cookies will chill.Scoop out a tablespoon of cookie dough. Use a thumb to hollow out the center. Scoop out about 3/4 teaspoon of cream cheese mix using the smaller scoop. Place that inside the hollow. Fold the dough to enclose it, adding additional pinches of dough as needed to form a seal. You don't want any cream cheese visible, or it could ooze out! Flatten cookies between palms to make a fat disc. Set in fridge to chill as more cookies are shaped.Once all the cookies are shaped, pull out the coldest cookie balls to set, spaced out, on the baking sheet. Keep the remaining cookie balls chilled while the initial batch(es) bake.Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the cookies are golden. Let them rest on the sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to completely cool.Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.OM NOM NOM!