Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

I’m a baker. I may not be the best (or really, anywhere close), but I often get a craving for some quality Betty Crocker time in the kitchen. Here is one of my latest escapades in the kitchen, one that ended up in the best batch of cookies I have ever made (go me!).

The dough was seriously fantastic. Not too sweet, and astonishingly light and fluffy. I hardly noticed the cream cheese even though they are supposed to be “cheesecake” cookies, but the dough was so fabulous I didn’t mind. I tend to end up altering the original recipe somehow, whether I mean to or not, and this time was no different. I used sea salt, powdered sugar and a mixture of stick and tub butter instead of what I was instructed, but these deviations proved magical! They came out looking a little like moon cookies (yeah, I don't really know what that means either, it just made sense in my head), but I found the shape to be quite endearing (you can flatten them before baking to avoid moon cookie syndrome if you please). 

INGREDIENTS (including my adjustments):
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
3 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
 

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375. Mix together the first four ingredients in a bowl (this will be your “dry mix”). In a second bowl, combine butter, sugar, egg, cream cheese and vanilla with a mixer. Then slowly add in the dry mix until all are blended together. Stir in chocolate chips then sculpt your cookies on a greased cookie sheet. Bake around 10-12 minutes.

NOTE: do NOT overbake these. I’m pretty sure they would taste like rubber. Watch those cookies like a hawk and pull them out when the edges start to get lightly golden brown. Then immediately move them to a cool plate.