These cheesecake cookies are made with a graham cracker cookie, that is topped with a creamy cheesecake topping, and graham cracker crumbs.
These cookies are cheesecake in cookie form! They have a strong flavor of graham crackers and a tangy and sweet cheesecake flavor.
These cookies are perfect for cheesecake and cookie lovers!
For more cookie recipes, check out my coffee cookies, triple chocolate cookies, biscoff butter cookies, brookies cookies, chewy chocolate cookies, and our brown butter chocolate chunk cookies.
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Why this recipe works
- Flavor- these cookies have a strong graham cracker flavor and a tangy and sweet cheesecake flavor. They are like a cheesecake in cookie form!
- Texture- these cookies have a soft and chewy texture with a creamy cheesecake topping and a slightly crispy texture from the graham cracker crumbs that are on top.
- Ease- these are surprisingly easy to make! They are made with simple ingredients and come together in just one bowl.
- Time- they come together in under an hour from start to finish! One of my favorite parts about this recipe is that it is a no-chill cookie recipe!
- Cheesecake topping- these cookies are topped with an easy and delicious 4 ingredient topping that is very similar to a no-bake cheesecake batter.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking soda – baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn't expired. Don't replace baking soda with baking powder!
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Cornstarch- add cornstarch to make these cookies extra soft and chewy.
Brown sugar- I like using dark brown sugar for this. The brown sugar adds a caramelly flavor and chewy texture to the cookies.
Eggs- you will need 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the cheesecake topping
Heavy cream- make sure that your heavy cream is cold from the fridge.
Cream cheese- use full-fat cream cheese, and make sure that it’s at room temperature.
Powder sugar- you will need powder sugar for the outer layer of these cookies in this recipe. you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor. super easy!
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor. You can use vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, sugar, brown sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract, and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's creamy and light in color.
Add the egg, and egg yolk, and mix until combined and creamy.
Then, add the flour, cornstarch, graham cracker crumbs, and baking soda, and mix with the hand mixer until just combined.
Use a large cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a regular tablespoon, 2 tablespoons at a time. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Do not overbake them, we want to keep these cookies soft.
Make the cheesecake topping
Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, and sifted powdered sugar, and whip it with an electric hand mixer until well combined (for about 2-3 minutes).
Add the cold heavy cream and whip the mixture for another 3-5 minutes until the mixture thickens up.
Add the cheesecake frosting to a piping bag with a round piping tip and pipe on top of each cooled cookie. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and serve!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
Yes. These cheesecake cookies are made with dairy for the topping, so they need to be stored in the fridge.
Cheesecake cookies are cookies that are made with graham cracker cookies and are topped with cheesecake topping. It has a flavor of cheesecake in cookie form!
This usually means that there is too much flour in the dough. It is very important to measure your flour correctly. Check out our expert tips for how to measure flour correctly.
We use all-purpose flour for these cookies. Cake flour will work great as well.
Storing
Since these cookies have cream cheese in them, they need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing
Follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake the cookies, bake them right away, no need to thaw them. Add an extra minute or so for the baking time. Then let them cool and top them with the cheesecake topping and graham cracker crumbs.
OR freeze the cookies after they are baked and cooled to room temperature in a freezer-friendly airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours and then top them with the cheesecake topping.
Make them ahead of time
Make these ahead of time by baking the cookies and making the cheesecake topping and storing them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
When you are ready to assemble, assemble the cookies according to the instructions.
Substitutions
Dairy-free - If you are dairy-free, replace the butter with vegan butter or plant-based butter and the cream cheese with vegan cream cheese.
Gluten-free- you can swap the flour with gluten-free flour to make these gluten-free. I never tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work.
Variations
Add-ins- make this recipe your own and add your favorite add-ins: white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, chopped fruit, etc.
Freeze dried strawberries- to give these cookies a strawberry flavor which goes perfectly with cheesecake flavor, add ¼ cup of ground freeze-dried strawberries to the cookie dough.
Cinnamon- add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon for a delicious addition of flavor.
Fruit- you can add chopped strawberries as I did in my strawberry shortcake cookies, or use your favorite berry of choice like raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.
Lemon- you can add ½ teaspoon of lemon zest to the cheesecake mixture for a delicious zesty flavor.
More cookie recipes
Lemon blueberry cookies- These chewy lemon blueberry cookies are loaded with white chocolate chips and flavorful blueberries, are chewy in the middle, and crispy on the edges.
Chewy pistachio cookies- These pistachio cookies are made with a chocolate chip cookie base filled with chopped pistachios and chocolate chunks and topped with flakey salt!
Strawberry shortcake cookies- These strawberry shortcake cookies are made with fresh strawberries, and rolled in buttery shortcrust crumble, and are chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
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📖 Recipe
Cheesecake Cookies With Cheesecake Topping
Ingredients
For the graham cracker cookies
- 115 g Butter softened, unsalted
- ¼ cup Granulated sugar
- â…” cup Brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 cup Graham crackers crumbs
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
Cheesecake topping
- 220 g Cream cheese
- ½ cup Powder sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- â…” cup Heavy cream cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, sugar, brown sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract, and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's creamy and light in color.
- Add the egg, and egg yolk, and mix until combined and creamy.
- Then, add the flour, cornstarch, graham cracker crumbs, and baking soda, and mix with the hand mixer until just combined.
- Use a large cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a regular tablespoon, 2 tablespoons at a time. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Do not overbake them, we want to keep these cookies soft.
Make the cheesecake topping
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, and sifted powdered sugar, and whip it with an electric hand mixer until well combined (for about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the cold heavy cream and whip the mixture for another 3-5 minutes until the mixture thickens up.
- Add the cheesecake frosting to a piping bag with a round piping tip and pipe on top of each cooled cookie. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and serve!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
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