Slice and Bake Cream Cheese Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

These lemon poppy seed cookies will be a dose of extra sunny cheerfulness on your cookie platters. They’re easy to make and the cream cheese adds an amazing depth to the flavor.

Okay so they’re not chocolate and mint or gingerbread. Is that a Christmas sin?

Oh well. If lemon poppy seed is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

And slice and bake cookies clearly fall within the Christmas-spirit camp. Especially since you can prep this dough weeks in advance and slice and bake when you need them. I mean, it’s too late for that now if you’re reading this the day the recipe goes live…but it’s never too early to plan ahead for next year. Not to mention, these would be great all year long. I guess that’s one of the perks of them not being chocolate & mint or gingerbread.

Although I have no issues whatsoever eating those year-round either. It’s always a good time for cookies. Can I get an amen?

These cookies are a twist on an old recipe on my site – cream cheese cocoa nib slice and bake cookies. I’ve also done an apple cheesecake shortbread variation that tastes just like apple cheesecake. The addition of cream cheese in all three variations makes these cookies super flavorful, super rich and they practically melt in your mouth.

Used for this recipe:

• parchment paper
• baking sheet
• poppy seeds
• lemon extract
• yellow sugar

Slice and Bake Cream Cheese Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Yield: 48 cookies

Total Time: 33 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

These lemon poppy seed cookies will be a dose of extra sunny cheerfulness on your cookie platters. They’re easy to make and the cream cheese adds an amazing depth to the flavor.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

•  4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

• 4 tablespoons poppy seeds

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 6 ounces room temperature cream cheese

• 1 1/4 cups sugar

• 1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

• yellow sugar for decorating edges (optional)

Directions:

 

1. Whisk flour, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds in a large bowl; set aside. Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes). Add sugar, vanilla and lemon extract and mix until combined. While mixer is running on low-speed, add flour mixture, and continue to mix until just combined.

2. Transfer half of dough to a large sheet of parchment paper. Shape into a long log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in parchment paper and repeat with other half of the dough. Freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 weeks.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Unwrap one log, roll in yellow sugar if desired. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space approximately 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake cookies until golden around edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing from trays and letting cool completely on wire racks.

All images and text ©Rachel Cooks.

Verdict: Love these – the brightness of the lemon with the richness of the cream cheese is the perfect pairing.
Husband’s take: Although these lemon poppy seed cookies stray far from his beloved whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, I’ve definitely seen him grabbing these out of the freezer to snack on.
Changes I would make: None.
Difficulty: Easy!

Actual nutrition may vary depending on how recipe is prepared.

Looking for more cookies with cream cheese? Try these from other great bloggers:

• Cream Cheese Pecan Cookies from Simply Recipes
• Blueberry Lime Cream Cheese Cookies from Girl versus Dough
• Red Velvet Cream Cheese Thumbprints from Something Swanky