cookie week: chocolate cream cheese cookies December 7, 2010

this week, i’m sharing the cookie recipes that i’m taking with me, or will be taking with me, to various cookie exchanges in december. i figure if i’m swapping the goods, why not swap the details too?

i don’t have a lot to save of these cookies, because i’ve said it before. they are, hands down, my most requested cookies. and possibly, my most requested baked good. save for the cake pops. heck, the whole nation now knows how crucial they are to the success of cookie swaps. i have, however, a few small addendums for you today:

these freeze well.

this is a sort of crucial element when baking a lot of cookies for a cookie swap, bake sale, or simply for the christmas season. i made 2 dozen of these, but i also forgot the date of the cookie swap and had to freeze them in a pinch. because of the cream cheese, they don’t lose their moisture.

you don’t have to use cream cheese.

the last time i made them, before the cookie swap week, i didn’t have cream cheese. so, i went to the artisan deli nearby, simply because i didn’t want to stand in line at the huge grocery store. even if it is closer, it actually takes longer. so, i used quark, from a gorgeous little cheese maker up the river from us. it’s a bit more expensive, but i know where it came from, and to be honest, waiting twenty minutes in the express lane isn’t worth the extra two bucks. but, yes. some form of dense, thick cheese. quark is my new favourite.

you don’t have to limit the chocolate to just chips.

i’ve done these with coloured milkies during halloween and with chocolate cover almonds. both work well. the options are really limitless. just bear in mind that if you’re adding something with a strong flavour, you make want to omit the orange/lemon/citrus zest.