Black & White Cookies: Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip & Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar

These cookies combine two of my most popular recent recipes. The white halves are Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies. Until making them, I had never baked cream cheese into cookies.

It replaces some of the butter, yet the dough paradoxically tastes more buttery. It’s ironic since there’s actually less butter used, not more, when compared to my gold standard Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The cream cheese cookies are so soft, moist, and have a creamy richness like no other cookies I’ve tried. Not surprising given the cream cheese in them.

They’re the perfect complement to the black halves, Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies, which are fudgy, rich, intensely chocolaty, and not overly sweet.

They’re made with dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar, and will tame your fiercest chocolate cravings. They pack a deep, dark, thick punch of chocolate.

INGREDIENTS:

Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable tub; don’t use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)
Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (light brown sugar may be substituted)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark; regular unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch-processed may be substituted)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
After both doughs are made and have chilled…
Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
Smoosh a cream cheese dough ball and a chocolate dough ball together, making sure they’re tightly combined. Depending on how chilled your dough is, you may really need to squeeze firmly. Be careful that any chocolate dough that rubs off onto your palm doesn’t stain the vanilla dough. Wipe your hands frequently and as necessary. Repeat, combining the doughs, until all dough is gone. You’ll likely have about 1 dozen un-matched Cream Cheese Cookie dough balls leftover because that recipe makes a bigger batch. When you’re ready to bake the unmatched Cream Cheese Cookies, bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Unbaked dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 4 months.
Place black-and-white mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. I recommend baking 6 to 8 cookies per sheet, no more. Flatten slightly before baking.
Bake for about 12 to 13 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. Don’t overbake because the chocolate cookie portion is prone to drying out and getting crumbly if overbaked. Cookies may look loose and unset on baking tray, but they firm up as they cool. (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled in the freezer for 2 months, allowed to stand at room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 12 minutes, with trays rotated halfway through). If your cookies stayed domed while baking, tap them gently with the back of a spoon to flatten. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.