Cherry Cheesecake Hearts recipe

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Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (0.13 ounce) package unsweetened cherry-flavored soft drink mix (such as Kool-Aid®)
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice, or as needed
1 teaspoon milk, or as needed
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or as needed

Nutrition Info

146.2 calories
carbohydrate: 17.9 g
cholesterol: 25.6 mg
fat: 7.5 g
fiber: 0.3 g
protein: 2 g
saturatedFat: 4.7 g
servingSize: -
sodium: 88.3 mg
sugar: 8.4 g
transFat: : -
unsaturatedFat: : -

Directions

  1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, beat until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, soft drink mix, and almond extract, beat well.

  2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Add to cream cheese mixture, beat until well mixed. Add maraschino cherry juice, milk, or lemon juice to loosen dough, mix to incorporate. Divide in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight.

  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

  4. Roll dough to 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, transfer cookies to the prepared sheets.

  5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.

Recipe Yield

36 servings

Recipe Note

This is the result of my trying to create a cut-out cookie homage to the cherry cheesecake martini my friends and I enjoy at our local martini bar. Unsweetened Kool-Aid® gives these cookies their pretty pink color with just the right balance of sweet and tart. You could certainly substitute strawberry, tropical punch, or even pink lemonade Kool-Aid® if you prefer. Just be sure to use the unsweetened powder. Glaze with your favorite frosting or icing and decorate as desired. I glazed my cooled cookie hearts with Sugar Cookie Icing by JBS BOX and sprinkled with purple decorating sugar, as I was sending these hearts to wounded soldiers at a military hospital. Tint the icing the same color as your decorating sugar for an intensely vibrant, colorful cookie.

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