A dark molasses gingerbread dough rolled in granulated sugar, pressed into a well and filled with a chilled cream cheese centre before it goes into the oven.
Two short chills, ten to twelve minutes of baking, and twenty-four cookies. The white chocolate drizzle is optional and the cookies are finished without it.
Why This Recipe Works
- Dark brown sugar and a third of a cup of molasses together. The molasses is what makes this gingerbread rather than a spice cookie, and dark brown sugar reinforces it where light brown would thin the flavour.
- Four warm spices rather than ginger alone — two teaspoons of ginger against a teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter each of cloves and nutmeg. The two quarter-teaspoons are small and they are the difference between gingerbread and ginger biscuit.
- The filling carries a tablespoon of sour cream. It loosens eight ounces of cream cheese just enough to pipe or spoon, and its acidity cuts a very sweet, very dark cookie.
- Rolling in granulated sugar before the well is pressed gives the crackled sugar shell, and it also stops the dough sticking to your thumb at the next step.
- Ten to twelve minutes with soft centres. A gingerbread cookie baked until the middle looks done is hard by the time it cools, and this one has a cheesecake centre that would split.
Nine Steps, Four Stages
The filling is made first, which reads as odd until you see why: it needs half an hour in the fridge, and that half hour is exactly the time the dough takes to come together and chill.
Stage 1 of 4
The filling, before anything else
Steps 1–1 of 9
Cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, a tablespoon of sour cream and a pinch of salt beaten smooth, then chilled 20 to 30 minutes. Made first because a warm filling will not sit in a well — it spreads across the cookie in the oven.
- Make and chill the fillingIn a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, sour cream and a pinch of salt until smooth and fluffy. Chill 20 to 30 minutes to firm up.
Stage 2 of 4
The dough
Steps 2–4 of 9
Dry whisked, butter and dark brown sugar creamed two to three minutes, then molasses, egg and vanilla, then the dry in two additions on low. Stopped as soon as a soft dough forms, and chilled 30 minutes.
- Whisk the dry ingredientsIn a large bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.
- Cream the butter and sugarWith a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses, egg and vanilla until combined, scraping the bowl.
- Combine and chill the doughAdd the dry ingredients to the wet in two additions, mixing on low just until a soft dough forms. Cover and chill 30 minutes for easier handling.
Stage 3 of 4
Shape and fill
Steps 5–7 of 9
Twenty-four balls of about a tablespoon and a half, rolled in granulated sugar, a shallow well pressed into each, and about a teaspoon of chilled filling spooned in. Cracks are pinched closed around the filling — the centre stays exposed.
- Heat the oven and set upPreheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the rolling sugar in a small bowl.
- Shape and press the wellsScoop 24 balls of dough (about 1 1/2 tbsp each). Roll in sugar. Use your thumb or the back of a teaspoon to press a shallow well in the centre of each ball.
- FillSpoon or pipe about 1 teaspoon chilled cheesecake filling into each well. If the dough cracks, gently pinch the cracks closed around the filling while leaving the centre exposed.
Stage 4 of 4
Bake and finish
Steps 8–9 of 9
Ten to twelve minutes at 350°F. Edges set, tops slightly puffed, centres still looking soft — the recipe says explicitly not to overbake. Five minutes on the sheet, then a rack, then the optional white chocolate and gingersnap finish.
- Bake, and stop earlyBake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are slightly puffed. The centres will look soft — do not overbake. Cool on the sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- FinishDrizzle with melted white chocolate and sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps or coarse sugar if desired. Chill 10 minutes to set.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsulphured molasses
- A third of a cup, unsulphured. Blackstrap is far more bitter and would dominate a cookie this size; the recipe is balanced for the milder kind.
- Cream cheese, softened
- Eight ounces, full-fat block and properly softened. Cold cream cheese will not beat smooth with only a tablespoon of sour cream to loosen it.
- Granulated sugar, twice
- A third of a cup for rolling and a further third in the filling. Two separate measures — keep them apart on the counter.
- Dark brown sugar, packed
- Three quarters of a cup, packed and dark rather than light. It carries the molasses note through the crumb itself.
- White chocolate and gingersnaps
- Both are an optional topping. The cookie is finished at step 8; this is decoration.
How to Make It
Make and chill the filling
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, sour cream and a pinch of salt until smooth and fluffy. Chill 20 to 30 minutes to firm up.
Whisk the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.
Cream the butter and sugar
With a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until light and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses, egg and vanilla until combined, scraping the bowl.
Combine and chill the dough
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two additions, mixing on low just until a soft dough forms. Cover and chill 30 minutes for easier handling.
Heat the oven and set up
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the rolling sugar in a small bowl.
Shape and press the wells
Scoop 24 balls of dough (about 1 1/2 tbsp each). Roll in sugar. Use your thumb or the back of a teaspoon to press a shallow well in the centre of each ball.
Fill
Spoon or pipe about 1 teaspoon chilled cheesecake filling into each well. If the dough cracks, gently pinch the cracks closed around the filling while leaving the centre exposed.
Bake, and stop early
Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops are slightly puffed. The centres will look soft — do not overbake. Cool on the sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Finish
Drizzle with melted white chocolate and sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps or coarse sugar if desired. Chill 10 minutes to set.
Success Tips
- Make the filling first so its chill runs alongside the dough's.
- Press the well after rolling in sugar, not before.
- A teaspoon of filling is genuinely enough — overfilled wells run over.
- Pinch cracks closed around the filling but leave the centre open.
- Pull them while the centres still look underdone; they set on the sheet.
Serving Ideas
A cookie-tin and cookie-exchange cookie. They hold their shape well enough to stack once the filling has set.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days. These carry a cream cheese filling, so the fridge rather than the counter.
Freeze
Freeze baked and cooled cookies for up to 2 months. Freeze the drizzle until after thawing — white chocolate blooms.
Reheat
None. Twenty minutes out of the fridge softens the dough without loosening the filling.
Frequently Asked Questions
My filling spread out across the cookie.
It was not cold enough. The filling needs its full 20 to 30 minutes in the fridge before it goes into the wells — warm cream cheese has nothing to hold it in place once the oven heat hits.
They came out hard.
Overbaked. Ten to twelve minutes, edges set and centres still looking soft, is the whole instruction. Gingerbread firms considerably as it cools and a cookie that looks done in the oven is done for.
Do I have to chill the dough too?
For a well that holds its shape, yes. Warm dough spreads under the thumb and the filling ends up sitting on a flat disc rather than in a hollow.
How is this different from the gingerbread pudding cake?
Entirely different formats. That is a slow-cooker pudding cake eaten with a spoon; this is twenty-four hand-shaped cookies with a baked cheesecake centre.
