Holiday
Lemon Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Christmas is getting close, and it’s always
been one of my favorite holidays. I love picking the perfect gift for the
people I care about and then seeing their faces when they open it. In my
younger, less anti-social (or rather, less filled with work during normal
hours) days, I could wander the malls forever (back when we had more malls
here. And not really forever, but for a while). I love the lights, the people,
the sounds, the smells…
And the cooking. I get all kinds of domestic for
Christmas. Or at least, a little. I like making sweets. The years have taught
me that working with a bunch of guys (is it possible I pull story ideas from
previous jobs? I’ll never tell 😉), a lot of them single, means that food
makes great gifts for my coworkers.
One year, two of my best friends at work were
single guys. I found this cookie recipe and pretty much tried it out on them
disguised as a Christmas gift. It went over so well that I’ve made it my go-to
every year. I think the response was something like ‘next time you get bored,
if you wanted to make these again…’. Making these will occupy my kitchen this
weekend, at least for a little bit, because fortunately they’re really quick
and easy to make.
Lemon Cream Cheese Holiday Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 3oz package cream cheese,
softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract (you can
substitute any kind of extract here. I’ve used cherry and orange as well.
Sharper flavors stand out better)
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup mini m&m’s
- Red and green food color
(optional)
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (176 c),
grease 2 baking sheets
- Beat together cream cheese and
butter at medium speed
- Beat in sugar, milk, and lemon (or
other extract)
- (optional) split mixture into two
bowls. Add 2 drops of red food color to one, and 2 drops of green to the
other. Divide flour into two equal parts.
- Beat in flour, 1/4 cup at a time
until blended.
- Stir in chocolate chips and M and M’s
- Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto
greased baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
- Using a spoon, flatten each cookie
slightly
- Bake cookies for about 10 minutes,
until set and golden.
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