Cream Cheese Is The Secret Ingredient For Soft Chewy Cookies

If you're not incorporating cream cheese in almost every recipe possible, then you're missing out on its creamy, tangy flavor and texture that enhances everything from pasta sauces to baked goods. While it certainly doesn't belong everywhere, it might come as no surprise that it creates an exciting flavor twist on a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. It can be hard to find the balance between a cookie that is sweet enough but not too sweet, and chewy enough but not too soft — yet somehow, cream cheese does the trick.

Next time you reach for packaged cookie mix, try making your own from scratch instead — and incorporating cream cheese. The rest of the recipe remains mostly the same, with the exception of adding cornstarch, so you won't even have to stray too far from what you know; you probably even have most of the ingredients already in your pantry.

Typically, in a chocolate chip cookie recipe, butter adds chewy richness to the cookies and helps create a soft, creamy texture. But with cream cheese, that richness and texture is multiplied. You'll still need the butter, but you'll quickly notice the difference. Professional pastry chef Lindsey Farr writes on her recipe blog that "cream cheese behaves differently than butter when baked, which makes cookies thicker and chewier than using butter alone."

In addition to the cream cheese, Farr's recipe calls for cornstarch, too, which she says helps to make chewier, thicker cookies. Most other elements are no different than typical chocolate chip cookies, including brown sugar, flour, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. Another cream cheese cookie recipe from Averie Cooks also calls for cornstarch as well, so it's an ingredient you probably don't want to skip if you plan on using cream cheese.

Adding the cream cheese to the recipe is simple; it's incorporated along with the butter. Instead of just creaming butter, and then adding the sugar, cream the butter and cream cheese at once, then cream the sugar and butter-cheese mix after. Be careful about using low-fat cream cheese or Neufchatel because they differ in thickness from standard cream cheese, which could change the cookies' texture.

You can take the flavor one step further by making cream cheese from scratch; it's easy and requires just three ingredients: whole milk, lemon juice, and salt. Just simmer the milk, then add the lemon juice slowly to get the mixture to curdle. Once it's fully separated, drain it with a cheesecloth, then blend or process the curds until they create the smooth, creamy texture we know and love. Almost anything tastes better from scratch, and cream cheese is no exception. Ultimately, it's worth adding this tangy ingredient to your next cookie batter batch.