Cheesecake Cookies w/Streusel Topping

Posted On March 18, 2019

My husband and I love a good Cheese Cake and I have made them for many years. A while back, I came across a simple Cheese Cake Cookie recipe and a new favorite was born. These are so easy to make and great to bring to any event. They are so creamy and the streusel topping I decided to add, just makes them complete. Make sure to have one before they disappear! They do not last long in our house!

Total time: 1 hour; 12-14 cookies

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• pinch of salt

Cream

• 1 8 oz. pack of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 8 inch square baking pan

Heat oven to 350°F.

We will start with the crust, which will also serve as the streusel topping. So we will make sure to make extra. Streusel is a popular German cake topping and when I was living there, all I wanted was streusel on my cakes. Fresh fruit cakes with streusel! Heaven! I added pecans to this one, but you can leave them out due to allergies or if you just simply do not like nuts at all.

Before we get started, I wanted to share a tip to get the pecans chopped quickly. If you do not have a small chopper, grab a medium size storage bag, add the pecans and place them on a cutting board on your kitchen counter. Use a meat pounder and start beating the pecans (flip the bag around once or twice) until they have the consistency of being chopped. You can use this method with any other kind of nuts.

Now back to the crust. Use a hand mixer to cream butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flower, the nuts and the pinch of salt. Blend together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Reserve one cup for the streusel topping and set aside. Press the remaining mixture into the 8 inch square baking dish and bake until lightly golden, about 12 minutes.

Beat the sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Let’s add the egg, milk, lemon juice, vanilla and blend together on medium speed.  Make sure any clumps have disappeared. It’s now time to remove the crust from the oven and carefully spread the cream cheese blend over the crust. Sprinkle the streusel over the cream mixture until fully covered and then return to the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the yummy cream cheese cookies from the oven and let cool completely. Cut into squares, place on a plate and enjoy!

If you have any cream cheese cookies left, store them in a food container and place in refrigerator for up to three days.