Made with half a brick of cream cheese in addition to butter, these winter-sprinkle infused cookies studded with white chocolate chips are super soft cookies that belong in your yearly Christmas cookie rotation.
I’m not sure how the weather is where you are, but here on the Mason-Dixon line it’s unseasonably beautiful right now. The grass is still green, the sun is shining, there are birds singing outside of my window as I type this, and I spent this past Saturday hiking (coat-less) with my dog.
Temperatures are expected to surpass 70-degrees on Christmas Eve, and my siblings are in absolute uproar, particularly Andi (my 10-year-old sister).
She wants snow, no sun, and generally just weather that’s bitter and dismal enough to keep you indoors, at least for Christmas Day.
In my family’s house, Christmas has always been a cold, sometimes snowy, grey day that lends itself to hunkering down inside, eating cookies for breakfast and lunch, lounging in pajamas in wrapping-paper-scented air, and feeding our stock of AA and AAA batteries to new toys and gadgets.
But sunny, 70-degree days are excellent at inducing guilt if you choose to spend them inside rather than out, and Andi can’t quite handle the thought of breaking Christmas tradition and feeling like she should go outside.
So, while I can’t give Andi snow for Christmas, I decided her Christmas cookies should at least be snowy and winter-y, and these well-sprinkled “Blizzard Cookies” (a cousin to my cookies and cream cookies) were born.
If you’re a lover of the dark, the over-baked, the crisp-edged and crunchy cookies that break in half with a hard snap and a shower of dry crumbs, well, you’ll be disappointed with these.
But, if you’re like me, and you prefer the sort of cookie that melts beneath your teeth and hints at a near-underbaked, buttery center studded with molten white chocolate chips, then this is the recipe for you.
Cream cheese and cornstarch (my secret ingredients in many of my cookies and even my coffee cake) are added to a relatively basic cookie recipe for maximum softness, then white chocolate and as many sprinkles as your heart desires (which is a quarter cup, for my heart) are stirred through the batter. The cream cheese also does a good job of tempering the sweetness of the white chocolate, sprinkles, and ample sugar.
If you’re finding yourself faced with the unspeakable horror of an impending sunny Christmas (even you, Australian readers) then do yourself a favor and add these winter-y blizzard cookies to your dessert table this year.
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Enjoy!
Blizzard Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) butter softened to room temperature
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (440 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) premium white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup colored sprinkles
Instructions
- In KitchenAid, cream together butter and cream cheese until well-combined.1 cup (226 g) butter, 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese
- Add sugars and beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Pause mid-way through to scrape down the sides of the bowl.1 cup (200 g) sugar, ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- Add egg and beat until combined.1 large egg
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 tsp vanilla extract
- In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.3 ½ cups (440 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp salt
- With KitchenAid on low speed, gradually add flour mixture until completely combined.
- Stir in white chocolate chips (low-speed), and pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl.1 ½ cups (255 g) premium white chocolate chips
- Add colored sprinkles and stir until just combined (by hand is preferable, but the dough is quite sticky and thick, so you may mix briefly on low-speed).¼ cup colored sprinkles
- Cover and transfer to refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Once cookie dough has chilled, remove from fridge and scoop/roll into 1 ½" balls. Place on parchment paper and slightly flatten with your hand or with the bottom of a clean glass. Add additional sprinkles if desired.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Denise
can these be made ahead and frozen until Christmas?
Sam
Hi Denise, I think that should be fine. Enjoy!
Cara
I love these cookies! can I prep them, freeze them and then bake them when I need them?
Sam Merritt
Sure thing! 🙂
Kim
Sooo good! I was hesitant about the cream cheese at first, because I don’t care for it much. But the cream cheese really makes this recipe! I also completely missed the vanilla extract lol, but that also didn’t matter because it’s just so good even without it!
Shelly
Hi,
Instead of adding chocolate chips, how much more sprinkles can I add to the recipe?
Sam
Hi Shelly! You could probably bump the sprinkles up to 1/3 cup. 🙂
Brian
Can you chill over night?
Sam
Hi Brian! That will work fine. 🙂