Cheesecake Cookies

Welcome to the forty-first post in my year-long Cookie Series, where I want to bring you a new and delicious cookie recipe every Tuesday of 2015!

Are you excited? I'm about to write the introduction.

The introduction.

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CHEESECAKE COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cup (about 1 sleeve) graham crackers, crushed
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. To make the "crust", start by stirring together the graham crackers, flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. Cream the butter and 1/4 cup of the sugar until fluffy.
4. Add the egg whites and mix with the butter/sugar mixture.
5. Next, mix in the graham cracker/dry ingredients to the mix.
6. Set the entire bowl aside.
7. Get a new bowl and mix the cream cheese and 1/4 cup of sugar until fluffy.
8. Add the yolks one at a time until incorporated.
9. Add the lemon juice and vanilla.
10. Using a (2 Tbsp.) cookie scoop, roll the "crust" into balls. Roll the balls until they are smooth. Set them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten the dough. Indent the center (the bottom of a 1/8 cup measure worked well). Fill the indent with 1 tsp. of filling. Smooth out. (See below.)
11. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

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