Lotus Cheesecake cookies

These pillowy and tangy cheesecake cookies are perfect for when you need a last-minute treat. They come together in 1 bowl, take less than 20 minutes to make, and get this, require no chill time! They’re cakier than a traditional chocolate chip cookie, so think of them as cheesecake Snickerdoodles, but instead of cinnamon sugar, you roll them in cookie crumbs. I went with lotus cookies for the perfect spiced caramel flavor, but you can try Oreos, pretzels, chip ahoys…the world is your oyster!
These cookies are pretty straight to the point, just make sure all the ingredients are room temperature, and that you don’t overbake them! When you take them out of the oven, they should be just about done, because they continue cooking out of the oven.

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

10-11 minutes

Serving:

8 cookies

Labels:

Ingredients

3.5 tbsp (50g) butter, room temperature
3.5 tbsp (50g) cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp neutral oil
½ cup + 2 tbsp (120g) sugar
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
1 ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp (170g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
8 lotus cookies, or cookies of choice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Cut 4 of the lotus cookies in half for topping the cookies and crush the remaining 4 for the crust. Set aside. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together. This will extract more flavor from the zest. Add the butter, cream cheese, and oil, and mix for 1-2 minutes or until some of the sugar has melted. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, mix, then crack in the egg, and mix until emulsified, around 1-2 minutes.

2. Place a sieve over the wet ingredients. Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch. Fold in the dry ingredients until well combined. Don’t overmix! The dough will be sticky. Scoop the dough and roll the bottom in the lotus crumbs. Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet and top with the lotus halves.

3. Bake in the oven for 10-11 minutes. When you pull them out of the oven, they should still be soft to the touch as they will continue to cook with the residual heat.

Enjoy this new addition to your cookie arsenal!