Lemon pudding cookies with cream cheese are soft and chewy, bursting with sweet lemon flavor, and easy to make in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
2 ¼cupall purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
13.4 ounce package lemon instant pudding
1cupsalted buttersoftened
6ouncescream cheesesoftened
1cupgranulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1large egg
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cupwhite chocolate chipsdivided
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉ and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and pudding mix. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer; cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed.
Add the egg and vanilla, mix until combined, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as needed.
On low, add half of the dry ingredients and mix until mostly combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. The dough should be difficult to mix.
Fold in ¾ cup of white chocolate chips.
Use a medium cookie scoop to drop balls of dough onto the sheet pans 1” apart. Press a few of the remaining baking chips into the top of each dough ball, and press down to flatten the cookies slightly.
Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just turning light golden brown. Let them cool on the sheet pan for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for this recipe as the dough is stiff and may be too difficult to mix for your hand mixer.Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. For longer storage, fully cooled cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, place fully cooled cookies in an airtight container of freezer baggie.