Background:
I had to bake approx 20 doz cookies to take to the soup kitchen I am volunteering at tonight. I didn't have enough ingredients on hand to make all one kind of cookie, which is fine, no particular kind of cookie is required.
I made 7 doz drop sugar cookies and 6 doz chocolate chip cookies. I was going to make peanut butter cookies for the remaining 7 doz, but when I opened my jar of peanut butter, I found dead ants in it! I have NO idea how ants got in a sealed (not new, but the lid was screwed on tight) jar of peanut butter! Yuck! Had to throw that out!
Now what? I didn't have time to go to the store. Then I remembered I had 8 cups of cream cheese icing in the freezer left over from a bunch of cakes I'd made for the church bake sale a couple months ago. Myself, I thinks to myself, cream cheese icing is part way to cookies, it has the fat and the sugar in it all ready. All I need to do is add flour, levening, and eggs. So I get out the icing, defrost it, realize that I don't have enough flour on hand to use all of the icing. Put 2 cups of the icing in the fridge to use later this week on cinnamon rolls, throw the other stuff in my KA and voila...Cream Cheese Icing Cookies. 
So, here's the recipe of my new creation!
Cream Cheese Icing Cookies
6 cups cream cheese icing*
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
9 c AP flour
Blend cream cheese icing, eggs, and flavoring.
Sift together dry ingredients and slowly add to the icing mixture.
Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
Chill one hour.
Scoop using small scooper (1 tbsp) onto parchment lined baking sheets (12 per sheet).
Moisten fingers and flatten cookies lightly.
Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes.
Move immediately to racks and cool completely.
Ice with glaze of lemon juice and confectioner's sugar.
Top with almond slices before glaze dries.
Makes 7 doz cookies.
*My personal recipe is 2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 lb), 16 oz cream cheese, 2 lbs confectioners sugar, and 2 tbsp sour cream blended, makes approx 6 cups.
I am hungry and these sound so GOOD! May I use your recipe?
Sounds yummy! You gotta put these in the recipe section!
yes give us the scoop on the flavor/texture of them.....oh and also if you have any photos.....I'm picturing a beautiful pale cookie that looks like velvet! lol
I saw a recipe recently for sugar cookies that had cream cheese in the batter and I thought "that has to be good"......but cream cheese icing?? You're a baking genius!
PS - or you can just dust them w/ PS which is what I ended up doing this time b/c I didn't have time to do the glaze and almonds, which is what I WAS going to do, so I actually don't know how well the glaze would work (but would be pretty) now that I think about it would give it a much stronger lemon flavor, when I try the glaze next time I make these, I'll let y'all know. Might add vanilla and almond extract to the glaze to help balance out the lemon juice.
They are incredibly yummy. Soft and kinda cake-like. Sweet and yet tangy. None of the flavorings or the cream cheese over power, kind of all meld together very nicely.
Please feel free to use this recipe and to share it with others. I just ask to be credited!
- Promise Terrell-Whitley (aka prterrell)
This sounds interesting. Can this recipe be halved?
What's the spread on these in the oven? I'm wondering if they can be further adapted for use as a cut-out cookie, or as a cream cheese dough for pastry.
And why all the different flavors of extract? Is that a personal preference, or were they all needed to create flavor in the dough? I personally do not like almond extract, and I'm sure I could sub more vanilla, but what about the lemon? Was it really necessary?
Theresa
This sounds interesting. Can this recipe be halved?
What's the spread on these in the oven? I'm wondering if they can be further adapted for use as a cut-out cookie, or as a cream cheese dough for pastry.
And why all the different flavors of extract? Is that a personal preference, or were they all needed to create flavor in the dough? I personally do not like almond extract, and I'm sure I could sub more vanilla, but what about the lemon? Was it really necessary?
Theresa
I have no idea about halving the recipe, having only made it the one time.
They spread slightly, but not much. Way too sticky as is to use as a cut-out cookie, would have to add a LOT more flour.
I mixed the 3 flavors to simulate wedding/creme bouquet/princess emulsion type flavorings, which I didn't have on hand. It would probably be fine with just the vanilla flavoring.
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