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It’s holiday baking season!! I’m so excited! I look forward to baking Christmas cookies and making plates for my friends every year. This year I’m sending some love across the country to my friend Dale in New York. He’s one of my favorite people, and he sends me the best cards when I do a good job. This year chocolate’s in order, and these Cream Cheese Chocolate Snack Cookies are just the ticket. Cookie care package here I come!
To grab all my baking gear I headed to Smart & Final. They have great prices on all my holiday baking essentials, every day food items I need, and it’s a bit of a smorgasbord for food bloggers. I got a little distracted by all the cooking tools…
I’m convinced I need a spider. But I was a good girl, and focused on the task at hand, lots of flour, sugar, and vanilla! The last time I bought vanilla, I got it online so I could get a good deal on a big bottle. Little did I know I could have gotten a bigger bottle for about $3 dollars less at Smart & Final. I’ll never get my vanilla anywhere else now. Oh! And butter is always right around $2/pound box, no sale or, warehouse membership, or coupon needed – at least every time I’ve been to Smart & Final it was been. Yes!
I’ve been kind of obsessed with my Baked Elements book ever since I won it from Une Gamine dans la Cuisine {Valerie has an amazing blog – check it out}. I’d been eyeing these cookies for a while, and after the success of this cake, I wanted to get a holiday cookie recipe from their book. And I mean seriously, their called “snacking cookies” so they have to be good. These cookies are so completely chocolately I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. But it’s the texture that will suck you in. They’re rich, yet light, and have a great mouth feel. Just make them. You’ll understand.
Stay tuned for more great cookie recipes during my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series. You can also check out the Smart & Final Facebook Page, follow the #ChooseSmart hashtag, and follow Smart & Final on Twitter to get more holiday recipe ideas.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Snacking Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter cool but not cold
- 1 cup First Street granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon First Street vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup black cocoa powder
- 3 ounces dark chocolate melted (about 1/4 cup if using dark chocolate chips)
- 8 ounces First Street semi-sweet chocolate chips about 1 1/3 cups
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, and sugars for 2 to 3 minutes until well combined and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and heavy cream*; mix until combined. Scrape bowl as needed.
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Add flour mixture in two additions, mixing until just about combined after each addition. Add melted chocolate and chocolate chips. Stir until incorporated. Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. {An hour would be better. This helps to cookies hold their shape. Don't skip the cooling time.}
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Portion cookie dough by the tablespoon onto a Sil-Pat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 1 1/2" apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*I didn't have any heavy cream on hand, and instead substituted French vanilla coffee creamer. The original recipe also calls for dark cocoa powder, instead of black. This will change the way your cookies look compared to mine, just a little bit.