These moreish cheesecake cookies combine a crumbly-soft lightly spiced cookie crust with a lusciously tangy cheesecake filling. A firm family favourite!
What’s your favourite Jewish festival? I think mine is probably Shavuot – the Spring harvest festival, which celebrates G-d giving the Ten Commandments (and the rest of the Torah) to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.
Mostly, I like Shavuot because it’s traditional to eat lots of dairy foods, so menus naturally tend towards the vegetarian/fish options, which is just fine by me!*
Cheesecake x cookie = ?
Shortly after making my no-bake raspberry cheesecake mousse a little while ago, I was looking for other creamy, cheesy Shavuot-friendly ideas, when I stumbled across something on Pinterest. It was a biscuit (cookie) with a ‘cheesecake’ filling, which was completely enclosed by the cookie exterior.
However, when I read the recipe it used multiple prefaced cake/pudding/other mixes, which wasn’t something I was about to do. So, I took the idea, and figured out how to make something similar (better?) using ‘from scratch’ ingredients.
Cheesecake cookies – trial and error
I had to make (and sample!) three batches of these cheesecake cookies before I perfected the recipe. Oh, the sacrifices I make!
The first batch had far too much cinnamon in the crust. The second batch was better, but the filling just wasn’t ‘cheesecakey’ enough. I was starting to flag… Just one more batch…
Third time’s the charm!
Luckily, batch three was perfect – crumbly-soft lightly spiced cookie crust, tangy creamy cheesecake filling within. I managed to enlist some volunteer taste testers (DH’s colleagues) since I couldn’t eat 36 cheesecake cookies singlehanded, tempting as it was. They all agreed that I’d nailed it.
And just in time for Shavuot! Yay!
Ingredients in inside-out cheesecake cookies
To make a batch of these delicious cheesecake cookies yourself, all you will need is:
For the crust:
- Self-raising flour
- Bicarbonate of soda – helps the cookies to spread out nicely in the oven
- Cinnamon – just a pinch!
- Golden caster sugar – this is slightly unrefined sugar, but white sugar will work just as well
- Margarine or butter
- Agave syrup, golden syrup or honey
For the cheesecake filling:
- Cream cheese – of course!
- Butter
- Sugar
- Soured cream – or natural yogurt
- Vanilla essence – just one drop!
- Lemon zest and juice
Easy and delicious cheesecake cookies
These cheesecake cookies aren’t nearly as fiddly to make as you might think. And they’re totally worth it. Recipe makes 12 inside-out cheesecake cookies – I recommend a double batch!
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📖 Recipe
Inside-out cheesecake cookies
Ingredients
For the cheesecake filling
- 40 g cream cheese
- 5 g butter
- 5 g sugar
- 20 g soured cream
- 1 drop vanilla essence
- Zest of half a lemon + 2 teaspoon juice
For the crust
- 100 g self-raising flour
- ⅛ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Good pinch cinnamon
- 35 g golden caster sugar
- 50 g margarine
- 25 g agave syrup (or golden syrup or honey)
Instructions
For the cheesecake filling
- Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Put into a shallow container and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
For the cookie crust
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, bicarb, cinnamon and sugar) then add the margarine and mix thoroughly to give lumpy crumbs.Warm the syrup (I do this for a few seconds in the microwave but you could also put it in the oven while it preheats) then add to the crumbs and mix well to produce a dough.
To make the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
- Flatten a ball of dough between your palms. Scoop 1/12 of the frozen filling mixture (approx. 1 tsp) onto the flattened dough. Bring up the sides of the dough around the filling and pinch together. Roll into a ball, ensuring that the filling is completely enclosed. Place on the lined baking sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining dough until you have made 12 balls.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Allow to cool for a minute or two on the baking tray – the cookies will be very soft to begin with. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool down completely before serving.
Nutrition
More delicious cheesecake recipes
If you’re after more cheesecake-y ideas and desserts, take a look at
- fabulous no-bake raspberry cheesecake mousse
- yummy 5-minute biscoff cheesecake dip
- fruity mini berry cheesecakes
- gorgeous strawberry cheesecake flan
*Many years ago I was invited to a friend of a friend’s for Shavuot dinner. Our host was a kosher butcher. To get into the spirit of the festival, we started the meal with cheesecake. Then the table was cleared, we had to rinse our mouths with water, and a meat dinner was served…
Mia
Can I use butter instead margarine ?
Helen
Yes! I’m sure that would be delicious!
Susan Rubin
can someone change it to ounces? thans
Helen
Hi Susan, I’ve added US cup and tbsp measurements – hope this helps!
Janet
Is the cream cheese Israeli 1-9% fat
or American style 38%
Helen
Hi Janet, I use the full fat (about 35% in the UK) but you can use lower fat cream cheese if you prefer. The texture of the final cookie might be slightly different but it should still taste great!