Cinnamon Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

I really like cinnamon chips, and whenever I see a recipe that uses them, I’m eager to try them right away. I’ve finally figured out that one grocery store in my area regularly carries these chips, so I no longer have to hoard the ones that I can find at Christmas. (Of course I can also order them through the King Arthur Flour Store, but that requires some planning ahead!) I was down to one package and these were the perfect cookies to make.

This recipe fulfilled my “spice” category of cookies for Christmas: whenever I do a lot of baking I try to include spice, chocolate, nut, and fruit cookies so that there’s good variety. These are easy to put together, and I only had to pick up cream cheese at the store. I was able to make the dough and give it a good time to chill. The original recipe said to chill the dough for 20 minutes, but this dough was so soft that I would have been unable to do anything with the dough after that short of time. I think I chilled the dough for about 3 hours and it was still fairly soft.

The only trouble I had with these was with the melted cinnamon chip topping. I added some shortening to the chips to make sure that the mixture was smooth. The recipe called for you to put the melted chips in a Ziplock bag and pipe it on to the cookies. I tried this and I guess the mixture was too hot because the bag melted! I tried again (lucky I had another half bag in the cupboard) and it worked ok. I just drizzled it this time; I didn’t want to risk another melted bag. These have a great cinnamon flavor, balanced by the soft cream cheese cookie. They work well for a Christmastime cookie, but I think they would work any time of the year.

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour
1-2/3 cups cinnamon chips (1 package)
1 tablespoon shortening

In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add sugar gradually, then egg and salt, followed by flour and baking powder. By hand, mix in half of the cinnamon chips. Chill for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes until edges are just starting to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon chips and the shortening. Microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Drizzle the mixture over the cooled cookies.

Recipe from The Jey of Cooking