Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies

5 from 1 vote

These decadent Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies are triple chocolate cheesecake in cookie form! They start with a soft and chewy chocolate cookie that are stuffed and frosted with a chocolate cheesecake filling and then topped with a luscious chocolate ganache! No mixer is needed for the cookie dough so clean-up is a breeze! If you're a chocolate lover...this is the recipe for you! Best yet, these chocolate cookies are gluten free, egg free, nut free and can easily be made vegan!

Prep Time30

Cook Time16

Freeze Time30

Total Time1 16

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: large cookies

Calories: 456kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cheesecake

8 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
½ cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use 1 tablespoon Natural Unsweetened and 1 tablespoon Dark

For the Chocolate Cookies

1 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
½ cup cocoa powder (I use ¼ cup Natural Unsweetened and ¼ cup Dark
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar , packed
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Ganache

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick
6 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Topping

2 tablespoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a medium bowl, use a spatula to mix the 8 ounces of cream cheese, ½ cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder until combined.
Use two teaspoons to make 10 dollops of filling. Place them on a small parchment lined dish and freeze.
Place the rest of the cheesecake filling in the fridge.
Place the ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick in a heat safe bowl. Place a paper towel on top of the bowl so the butter doesn't splatter. Microwave in 11 second increments until just melted. Do not let it bubble or brown. Set aside to cool.
Do not microwave it too much. Microwave it until there is just a little bit of butter left unmelted and then whisk it until the residual heat melts the rest of the butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons multipurpose gluten free flour, ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch and the 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
Into the cooled melted butter, combine the 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, the cornstarch water and the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Whisk until it is all fully combined. It may appear chunky. That's normal.
Starting and ending with the flour mixture, whisk half the flour into the melted butter mixture. Then add the ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk and whisk to combine.
Add in the second half of the flour gently with a spatula. Do not over mix or the dough will become shiny and too sticky.
The dough will be very sticky. Add it to a freezer safe bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and pop the entire bowl of dough in the freezer for 30 min.
When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Do not grease.
After 30 min, using a large cookie scoop, make 10 scoops with the dough. (I use a 2 ounce cookie scoop).
If the dough is sticking to the cookie scoop, wash the scoop half way through to get off any stuck on dough.
Take one of the dough balls and press your thumb into the center to make a well. Shove one of the cream cheese balls into the hole.
Cover up the cheesecake filling with the dough that’s been pressed to the side to reform a dough ball.
Place the dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 16 minutes.
I only bake 6-8 at a time. Pop the rest of the dough balls in the freezer while the first batch is baking.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them into a circle.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack.
Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the tops of the completely cooled cookies with the extra chocolate cheesecake mixture. Don't go all the way to the edge of the cookie. Make sure you can see the cookie on the edges.
Once all the cookies are all frosted, pop them in the fridge to get them cold for the next step.
Place the 6 tablespoons of chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a heat safe bowl.
Microwave them together in 10-15 second increments, stirring after each time, until the chocolate chips and butter are fully melted and incorporated. This will take a few min.
Take the cookies out of the fridge. Spoon 1 tablespoon ganache on top of each cookie. Make sure you leave the cheesecake topping visible. Immediately sprinkle some mini chocolate chips into the wet ganache.

Video

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk, vegan cream cheese and vegan chocolate chips. (See the section above entitled "substitutions and variations" for more info).

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but in the cookie dough, use 1 ¼ packed cups of flour (210 grams), ½ packed cup cocoa powder (58 grams) and 3 tablespoons of milk.

Storing: Store the frosted cookies in a single layer, in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Do not stack. Do not leave the cookies at room temperature.

They're still soft when in the fridge but you can let them come to room temperature before eating if desired.

Freezing Baked Cookies: To freeze already baked cookies, place cookies (not stacked) on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer uncovered. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are completely frozen. Once frozen, you can store them stacked in a freezer safe airtight container or zip top bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. To defrost, take the container out and leave at room temperature until soft. 1-2 hours.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition