Description
Celebrate the holiday season with these playful Merry Grinchmas Cookies, featuring a soft, cream cheese-infused dough tinted green and topped with festive gummy hearts. These chewy, crackled cookies are perfect for holiday parties or gifting, combining the classic sweetness of sugar cookies with a fun twist inspired by the Grinch.
Ingredients
Units
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Cookie Dough
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp green food coloring
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Coating and Topping
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 24 gummy hearts
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar together until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract, green food coloring, and the egg, then mix until all ingredients are fully combined.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add this dry mixture to the butter mixture, stirring just until combined to avoid overmixing. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm enough to shape.
- Preheat and shape cookies: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Using a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon, portion the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in powdered sugar until completely coated.
- Arrange and bake: Place the sugar-coated dough balls on ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the tops have developed cracks and the edges are set but the centers remain soft.
- Add gummy hearts and cool: As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press one gummy heart firmly into the center of each cookie, slightly flattening the cookie around it. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
- Be sure the butter and cream cheese are softened to room temperature for easy mixing.
- Refrigerating the dough is essential to prevent spreading and to make shaping easier.
- You can substitute gummy hearts with any festive gummy candy as preferred.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- This recipe yields about 24 cookies depending on the size of dough balls.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 103 kcal
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 48 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 17 mg
