Strawberry Cream Cheese Cookies

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cookies

Yields: 24 cookies

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (room temperature)
• 4 ounces butter (1 stick), softened (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced in very small pieces

1. Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil (no need to spray it with non-stick spray).
2. In a large bowl, using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and sugars until light in color. Note that the cream cheese and the butter should be of room temperature, NOT MELTED. Add an egg and vanilla extract, and continue beating until very creamy.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder and combine. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and continue beating just enough to combine.
4. Using spatula, fold in sliced strawberries (strawberries should be chopped in very small bites).
5. Flatten and spread out the cookie dough (with chopped strawberries already folded in) on a plate and place in the freezer for about 30-40 minutes to harden.
6. After the cookie dough has hardened (but not frozen) just enough so that it doesn't stick to your hands and is easy to handle, using the palms of your hands, roll cookie dough into cookie balls and drop them on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 14 minutes until cookies brown a little around the edges.
7. Cool the cookies by removing the parchment paper or aluminum foil (with cookies on it) from the baking sheet onto a wire rack.

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 12 minutes
• Total time: 34 minutes