So I actually posted this recipe on Instagram back in December 2023, but I never bothered to post it on the blog itself! The main reason being that my December blog posts were already heavily backlogged with cookie posts, so I wanted to space it out a little bit. What I love about baking cookies is that they are quick to make, and there is a really cathartic feeling when I am shaping out the dough and giving the cookie a personality. I was obsessed with the Starbucks cranberry bliss bars, which are essentially a blondie with craisins and a cheesecake-like topping. So I decided to make those, but turn them inside out, in the form of a soft cream cheese cookie stuffed with a craisin-cream cheese mixture, and rolled in coconut flakes for a “snowball”-looking finish. One happy accident that did happen while I was shopping for this recipe was that I found “cream cheese chips”. Think like yogurt chips, but less tangy. I actually was pleasantly surprised using the cream cheese chips instead of white chocolate chips in this recipe, because the final cookie wound up not being too sweet. These cookies, along with a miso-hojicha one, were a part of a fun cookie swap I did with my friends Jess and Steph, and I am proud to report back that these cookies were the favorite of the bunch! They provided a fun texture, being kind of scone-like from being a thicker cookie, but with this soft, melt in the mouth texture, and the contrast from both the sweet and lightly tart craisins and the crunch of the cream cheese chips and the soft cream cheese filling made for a cookie that really has it all!

For the recipe itself, I started by making the filling first. Fortunately, the filling is not terribly complex – you just mix together cream cheese, craisins, and cream cheese chips together, scoop that into little balls, and then freeze the filling solid. That last step is highly important, since the filling needs to be frozen solid, or else the assembly of these cookies will be a mess. The dough itself is a cream cheese cookie dough, made with cream cheese and butter, and mixed with egg white, flour, craisins, and cream cheese chips. The dough is then gently pressed around the frozen filling, and rolled in coconut flakes prior to baking. The only really time-consuming part of this recipe is the cream cheese filling, since it needs to be frozen solid, and the assembly, since there is a level of delicateness needed to wrap the cookie dough around the filling. My favorite part is 100% rolling the dough balls in the coconut flakes, because it is a ton of fun to see the coconut clump up around the cookies themselves. So long as you make the cream cheese filling in advanced, the rest of this recipe is extremely easy to execute, and the end result is a delicious cookie reminiscent of the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar!

For the cream cheese filling:
8oz cream cheese
2.5oz dried cranberries
2.5oz cream cheese chips(can substitute with white chocolate or yogurt chips)
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. Fold into that the other ingredients. Either using a 1 oz ice cream scoop or 1-inch silicone half sphere molds, portion out the filling and transfer it to the freezer. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

For the dough:
4oz cream cheese
2oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
1oz craisins
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2oz cream cheese chips
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until softened and combined. Fold into that the egg white and craisins first. In another bowl, mix together your flour, baking powder, soda, cream cheese chips, and salt. Then fold that into the butter-cream cheese bowl to form your cookie dough.