These Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies combine two heavenly desserts in an unbelievable combination. They're made with a buttery graham cracker cookie base filled with a luscious cheesecake filling and topped off with a strawberry glaze. They are way better than Crumbl, easy to make, delicious, and perfect for the Holidays!
Read the full blog post below for detailed notes, tips, tricks, photos and videos.
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Why I am obsessed with this recipe
If you've been here long enough, you know that I am obsessed with cheesecake (my best cheesecake recipe is top ranking on Google with 5 stars), and I also love baking cookies because they're easy, fun and always a crowd pleaser. So I decided to combine the 2 in one dessert, and the result is way better than I expected!
These cookies are truly incredible, and actually taste like cheesecake in cookie form. Crumbl cookies do not hold a candle to these! I had my friends taste test these cookies, and this is just one of the reviews I got:
OMG … Zohaaaa. What magic is this!!! Ended up eating all of them even though I really thought I wouldn't. These cookies are so addictive, and what an amazing topping! I kept eating more to understand the complex yet yummy flavor.
Components of strawberry cheesecake cookies
These cookies are made with 3 components:
- The graham cracker cookie. This is similar to a soft, buttery and chewy sugar cookie, but made with the addition of crushed graham crackers. The graham crackers add a delicious flavor very similar to a cheesecake crust
- The cheesecake filling. The cookies are topped with a generous swirl of cheesecake filling. This is a very easy, no bake version made with just cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and salt. It is thick, luscious, creamy and tastes just like cheesecake
- Strawberry glaze. Finally, the cookies are topped with a simple strawberry glaze made using strawberry jam which adds the perfect pop of flavor and texture. If you feel up to it, you can also make a strawberry compote, or replace the strawberries with any other topping of choice!
Tips to perfect this recipe
A few very quick tips to get this recipe right:
- Use a weighing scale. This will yield more accurate results than measuring cups, especially for ingredients like flour and crushed graham crackers
- Bring the butter, eggs, and cream cheese to room temperature. This will make the process much easier and give you better results
- Don't overmix the cookie dough. When mixing in the dry ingredients, fold gently until just combined; overmixing can make the cookies a bit rubbery in texture
- Chill the cookie dough balls before baking. Just 30 minutes in the fridge will give the cookies a more chewy texture and prevent them from spreading out too much
- Don't overbake the cookies. They should feel set around the edges and be slightly soft in the middle when they come out of the oven
Video tutorial
Here is a short video tutorial for this recipe that I recommend watching:
Process with photos
The detailed recipe is provided in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but let's go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything.
1. Making the graham cracker cookies
Whisk the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy:
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and whisk until creamy:
Then, whisk in the crushed graham crackers:
Finally, sift in the dry ingredients and fold them until a soft dough forms:
Scoop the dough into balls with a 2" cookie scoop, and gently smooth each ball out:
Chill for a bit before baking. When the cookies are straight out of the oven, press down in the middle with the back of a spoon to create pockets in them:
2. Making the cheesecake filling
For the filling, simply whisk together the ingredients until creamy and smooth:
3. Making the strawberry glaze
Add all the ingredients to a nonstick saucepan, and whisk and cook over low heat until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken up:
4. Assembling the cookies
Once the cookies have fully cooled down, top each with a generous swirl of the cheesecake filling. Then drizzle over the strawberry glaze, serve, and enjoy!
Variations
A great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to customize! Here are a few variations you can try by simply adjusting the topping:
- Make a different fruit's glaze by using a different jam (e.g., blueberry, raspberry, mixed berry)
- Replace the glaze with a homemade salted caramel for a caramel cheesecake version
- Replace the glaze with a compote made with fresh fruit for a more elevated flavor and texture
- Top off with a curd (e.g., lemon, pineapple, orange)
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you may skip chilling the cookie dough balls and bake the cookies straight away. However, they will spread out a bit more and not be as chewy in texture.
The cookies, when assembled, become softer over time. Therefore, I don't recommend assembling them ahead of time. Instead, you can prepare the cookie dough and keep the balls in the fridge, and prepare the cheesecake filling and keep it in the fridge. Whenever you are ready to serve, bake the cookies (adding 1-2 minutes in baking time), let them cool down, and top with the cheesecake filling. I recommend making the glaze when you are serving, too.
Keep any remaining cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Related recipes
If you like this recipe, also check out the following!
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 min with cooling
- Yield: 12 cookies
Description
Better than Crumbl, delicious buttery graham cracker cookies filled with a luscious cheesecake filling and topped off with a strawberry glaze
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Cookies:
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (170g)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (67g)
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, packed (133g)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ cup crushed graham crackers (50g)
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour (227g)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Cheesecake filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (226g)
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream, chilled (160g)
- ¼ cup sugar (50g)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste)
Strawberry glaze:
- 3 tbsp strawberry jam
- 2 tbsp water
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
Graham Cracker Cookies:
- Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature if you haven't already
- Add the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar to a bowl. Whisk for 2-3 minutes until the mixture looks light in color, and fluffy and creamy in texture
- Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla, and whisk for another minute or so until the mixture looks smooth and creamy
- Add the crushed graham crackers and whisk until combined
- In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 2-3 additions. Use a rubber spatula to fold them in, going around and pressing down gently. This will take some time and effort, but be patient and do not mix aggressively. Stop folding as soon as the dry ingredients are combined and no streaks of flour can be seen. You should have a soft, slightly sticky dough
- Use a 2" cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 12 balls. Gently roll them out between your palms to smooth them, then keep in the fridge for 30 minutes
- In the last 15 minutes of the chilling, pre-heat your oven to 375F (conventional) and prep 1-2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper
- Once chilled, transfer the cookie dough balls to the baking sheets, keeping at least 3" between them
- Bake in the preheated oven at 375F for 12-13 minutes until the cookies feel set around the edges but still somewhat soft in the middle
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use the back of a tablespoon measure to press down on the middle and create little pockets / thumbprints (see pics in blog post above). Then let the cookies fully cool down
Cheesecake Filling:
- Whisk the cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, salt, vanilla and lemon juice on medium low speed until the mixture becomes creamy and starts to thicken up, scraping the bowl 2-3 times along the way. Do not overmix
- Transfer to a piping bag fit with a round piping tip
- Keep chilled
Strawberry Glaze:
- Stir all ingredients for the glaze together in a small saucepan
- Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture starts to thicken up
- Remove from heat and let cool down slightly
Assembly:
- Once the cookies have cooled down, pipe a generous swirl of the cheesecake filling onto each (you can also do this with a spoon if you don't have a piping bag)
- Drizzle over the strawberry glaze
- Serve and enjoy!
Video Tutorial:
Notes
- These cookies are best eaten fresh, so I don't recommend assembling them far in advance of serving. You can prepare the individual components like cookie dough and cheesecake filling beforehand, though
- I always recommend baking one cookie as a test first so you know exactly how long you should bake for your preferences with your oven and pan
- Prep Time: 45 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
hhinda weiss says
i made this recipe yesterday.its the best ever!!!!!!
Rabia says
Like you said "how you lived your whole life without making these cookies"... i was like, so true. lol
absolutely delicious!! must try 🙂
Khadija says
Hey Zoha, I live in a country where graham crackers aren't easily available. Can I swap them with regular biscuit crumbs? Can't wait to try it!