Basic Cream-Cheese Cookies

These cream cheese cookies are the kind of versatile dough every baker should have in their back pocket. Six ingredients, no eggs, and a texture that lands right between shortbread and a sugar cookie: tender, slightly crumbly, and rich with butter and cream cheese.

The cream cheese does two things here. It adds a faint tanginess that keeps the sweetness from being flat, and it makes the dough incredibly tender. The fat from the cream cheese shortens the gluten strands the same way extra butter would, but with more flavor.

Lemon zest stirred into the dough adds a bright, fragrant note that you taste at the very end of each bite. It’s subtle enough to be a background flavor, not the star, which makes this dough work with almost any shape or decoration.

Chilling the dough for 30 minutes is key. The butter and cream cheese need to firm up so the dough rolls cleanly and holds its shape when cut. Work with a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest in the fridge.

Pro Tips

• Beat the butter and cream cheese thoroughly until truly light and fluffy. This is where the tender texture comes from.
• Roll to ⅛ inch for crisp, delicate cookies or ¼ inch for softer, thicker ones.
• Don’t grease the cookie sheets. The dough has enough fat to prevent sticking.
• Watch the edges. Pull them at light golden. These go from done to overbaked fast because they’re thin.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or almond extract instead of lemon zest.
• Frost with a simple powdered sugar glaze tinted with food coloring for holidays.
• Press a walnut half or candied cherry into each cookie before baking for a more decorative look.