Large Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies -Skinnier Version

A large cheesecake cookie that won’t break the calorie bank. Drizzled with strawberry jam for total deliciousness, enjoy!

I first saw a similar recipe to this on one of Sandra Lee’s Food Network shows. The only problem is she used full fat cream cheese and lots of butter. I liked the idea of the cookie but needed to work on getting the fat and calories down without compromising the taste and texture of the cookie. So, here is my skinnier version that’s just as delicious.

Large Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies – Skinnier Version

Yields: 24 large cookies

Calories per cookie: 129

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups finely ground  graham crackers
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 stick unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg, you will use the white for the cookie dough and the yolk for the filling
• 4 ounces reduced fat or regular cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 for the cookie dough and 1 for the filling
• 1 tsp lemon or orange zest for the filling
• 4 tbsp all fruit strawberry jam, warmed for a few seconds in the microwave

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 2 cookies sheets lined with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder with a wire whisk to break up any lumps. Set aside for a couple of minutes.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the butter with the brown sugar using a hand held electric mixer. Add the egg white and vanilla extract. Beat until all is well mixed.
4. Now add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Don’t over mix at this point. Rinse off your beaters for the next step.
5. Okay, one more bowl for the cookie filling. Beat together the cream cheese with the granulated sugar, egg yolk and the last teaspoon of vanilla. At this point, add the zest.
6. Using a small cookie scoop, place 12 cookies on each baking sheet. Spray the bottom of a teaspoon measuring spoon with cooking spray and make an indent in each cookie for the filling.
7. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of the filling for each cookie.
8. Bake the first batch on the top shelf of the oven for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan after 5 minutes.
9. Do this until all the cookies are done. You will have enough dough and filling for 24 cookies.
10. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
11. When all the cookies are cooled, drizzle your strawberry jam over each cookie.

 

 

Take a bite and enjoy this wonderful, rich tasting cookie!