Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies
Teresa’s Bake Shop – Christmas Cookie Extravaganza – 2012
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies are spectacular! Every scrumptious mouthful is amazing. The shortbread-type cookie is filled with cream cheese which gives it such a wonderful texture. There is a hint of lemon which adds zest to the cookie. Then each cookie is filled with the taste of apricot preserves. Finally, the cookies are dusted with confectioners’ sugar. We love these luscious cookies! They have been a hit with our family and all our Christmas cookie recipients for years!
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In the late 1990s I was working at First Presbyterian Church in Duncanville, Texas, when Shirley Lotts brought a tray of these delicious Christmas cookies, Cherry Surprises, Apricot Nut Bread and Banana Apricot Nut Bread into the office for the church staff during the holiday season.
Everything on that tray was amazing including these cookies. I got 4 recipes off of Shirley that day, all of which we use regularly. The two cookie recipes we have used almost every year in our Christmas Cookie Extravaganza ever since.
If you are looking for an elegant, delicious-tasting cookie to celebrate the holiday season, you should consider trying this cookie and adding it to your regular Christmas baking repertoire. Take this cookie to your office parties or when visiting relatives over the Christmas season. Everyone will be so glad you did–there certainly won’t be any left to take home!
When I initially posted this recipe in November 2012, I was still using an iPhone 3 for a camera. My pictures were a little blurry and had way too many Christmas decorations. The pictures were a little on the gaudy side, as a result.
I recently remade these cookies (December 2016) for our Christmas Cookie Extravaganza this year. These cookies are still some of our favorites. If you plan to make them, plan ahead, because the dough must be chilled before rolling into balls and baking. Then prepare yourself for a heavenly experience.
These luscious Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies are heavenly.
Try not to salivate as you look at these luscious jewels!
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies have it all–texture, taste, chewiness, and melt-in-your-mouth goodness! Yum.
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients.
Place softened butter and softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar.
Cream with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Cream all the ingredients with an electric mixer.
Combine baking powder and UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour. (Bleached flour toughens baked goods). Add to mixing bowl.
Stir all ingredients together well with a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough. I chilled this several hours. You can’t omit this step. The dough is a lot harder to work with if it’s at room temperature. A single batch should be chilled at least an hour.
Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. Roll out dough into balls and place on cookie sheets.
With thumb or finger make an indentation in each cookie.
Each indentation will hold about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. apricot preserves. Fill each hole with apricot preserves.
Bake about 15 minutes at 350. My oven was all over the map on cooking these. Two cycles of pans took 25 minutes! Two cycles took 16 minutes, and 3 cycles took about 18-20 minutes. Just watch the cookie rather than cooking strictly by time. When they start getting lightly browned and you touch the crust and it’s starting to get fairly firm then the cookies are done.
Remove cookies from oven. Cool in pans about 5 minutes and then sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar.
Here’s a plate of these delicious goodies. Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies are sure to please everyone!
These are great cookies to take to visit family and friends during the holidays.
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies are also nice to share with your kid’s teachers, your mailman, and your neighbors.
Start drooling!
Here’s the recipe.
APRICOT CREAM CHEESE COOKIES
(Recipe adapted from Shirley Lotts, First Presbyterian Church, Duncanville, TX)
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies
Equipment
- 3 large 15x26" cookie sheet pans
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 electric mixer
- 1 wooden spoon
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- 1 spatula
- 1 lemon zester or grater
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. lemon rind grated
- 4 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup apricot preserves or as needed
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar as needed (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Combine butter, granulated sugar and softened cream cheese with an electric mixer, mixing until well blended.
- Blend in eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind.
- Add combined dry ingredients; mix well.
- Chill dough at least one hour.
- Shape level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.
- Place on cookie sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
- Using thumb or finger, indent centers; fill each with about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of preserves.
- Bake at 350° for about 15-20 minutes.
- Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks every six minutes of baking time.
- Cool; sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp. grated lemon rind
- 4 ½ cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- Apricot preserves
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Combine butter, sugar, softened cream cheese, eggs, lemon juice, lemon rind, and baking powder and mix completely with an electric mixer.
- Add flour and stir well until combined with a wooden spoon (not with an electric mixer – that will make cookies tough.
- Chill at least an hour.
- Shape dough into balls.
- Place on cookie sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
- Using thumb or finger indent centers; fill each with about ½ tsp. of preserves.
- Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. (Some cookies took 25 minutes to cook!)
- Remove from oven and place pans on wire racks.
- Cool approximately 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.
Don’t Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies look incredible?
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies are elegant enough for company — that is if your kids let you give any of them away!
Everyone loves these cookies. You will too!
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies
Equipment
- 3 large 15×26" cookie sheet pans
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 electric mixer
- 1 wooden spoon
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- 1 spatula
- 1 lemon zester or grater
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. lemon rind grated
- 4 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup apricot preserves or as needed
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar as needed (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Combine butter, granulated sugar and softened cream cheese with an electric mixer, mixing until well blended.
- Blend in eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind.
- Add combined dry ingredients; mix well.
- Chill dough at least one hour.
- Shape level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.
- Place on cookie sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
- Using thumb or finger, indent centers; fill each with about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of preserves.
- Bake at 350° for about 15-20 minutes.
- Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks every six minutes of baking time.
- Cool; sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp. lemon rind grated
- 4 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- apricot preserves as needed
- confectioners’ sugar as needed (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Combine butter, sugar and softened cream cheese, mixing until well blended.
- Blend in eggs, lemon juice and rind.
- Add combined dry ingredients; mix well.
- Chill dough at least one hour.
- Shape level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.
- Place on cookie sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
- Using thumb or finger indent centers; fill each with about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of preserves.
- Bake at 350° for about 15-20 minutes.
- Cool; sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.