Yes. These are real.
Cream cheese! Sugar! Butter! So much butter!
When I saw these on Lottie + Doof a few weeks ago, I knew I was done for. I had to make them during my holiday break. And here they are.
These are, indeed, so gooey that you must keep them refrigerated. It’s like eating handheld cheesecake covered in powdered sugar. They are the goody-two-shoes older sibling to the rebellious younger chocolate crackle cookies.
I’m pretty sure the only thing that could make these better is if you added a generous heaping of lemon zest and maybe a dash of lemon juice to cut the sweetness. Then again, that might make them so irresistible that you’d do nothing but eat them all day–which I’m pretty sure would give you one heck of a stomachache. So save yourself: make these as gifts or for a party so there’s only a half-dozen in your fridge at any given time, then station yourself far away (or, okay, let’s admit it, as close as possible) to the dessert table.
Gooey Butter Cookies
Adapted from Matthew Rice for Nightwood Restaurant via Lottie + Doof
Makes just over two dozen cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granluated sugar
Seeds scraped from 1/4 vanilla bean
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for rolling and dusting
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In bowl of a stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla bean seeds, and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Incorporate the flour mixture; dough will be thick.
Chill dough for at least 30 minutes. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Scoop roughly 1 oz balls of dough and cover in powdered sugar. Place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes; start checking at 12 minutes. If cookies start to brown, you’ve gone too far–they should be a little underbaked! (This is where the gooey comes in.)
When cool, keep cookies refrigerated. Keeps for up to a week.
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