Description

These lemon cheesecake cookie cups have a sugar cookie cup that’s filled with a lemon cream cheese frosting and topped with your choice of berries. They are festive enough for the 4th of July, or any summer party when fresh berries are at their peak.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Cookie Dough

3 cups blanched almond flour
6 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons coconut flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup granulated or organic white sugar (see notes)
2 eggs, room temp
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Lemon Cream cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese (1 brick), room temp
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temp
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
zest of 2 lemons
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar (see notes)

Options for toppings

fresh blueberries
fresh strawberries, sliced
fresh raspberries
fresh blackberries

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Instructions

Prepare: Preheat your oven to 330 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a mini muffin tin and set aside.
Make the cookie dough: In a small bowl add the almond flour, coconut flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt – use a spoon to combine. Set aside. Either using a bowl for a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl for a hand mixer add the 8 ounces room temp butter along with sugar, beat until the butter and sugar are well creamed together, scrape down sides as needed. Add the eggs and beat until well incorporated, then add the almond extract and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in increments of 1/2 cup, mixing in between each addition of dry ingredients. Once everything is well incorporated allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.
Form the cookie cups: Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cookie dough (I like to use a medium sized ice cream scoop) and place it into each greased mini muffin tin cavity, repeat until all of the muffin tin cavities are filled (you will have some extra dough leftover – see notes). Place a small dish of cool water next to the baking dish, wet your fingers to prevent sticking and use your fingers to press an indentation in the cookie batter and then sort of push it up the sides. Repeat until all of the cookies are formed into a cup.
Bake: Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, rotating the pan during the last 4 minutes of cooking time. You will know the cookies are done when the edges turn golden brown and your kitchen begins to smell delicious. Remove from the oven and immediately use the end of a wooden spoon (I use the back end of a drink meddler – pictured in the post – that works perfectly) to reform the cup of the cookie. Be careful not to press down too far.
Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely. Once the cookies are cooled carefully use a butter knife to run the around the edges of each cookie and gently remove them from the muffin cups.
Make the lemon cream cheese frosting: To make the frosting (do this while the cookies are baking, or cooking), add the cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or to a mixing bowl for a hand mixer. Beat until well combined. Add the salt, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice – mix again until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and everything is smooth.
Assemble: Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before frosting. To assemble spoon about 1 tablespoon of the frosting into the cookie cup, or until the cookie cup is filled. Just before eating top with your choice of fresh berries. Our favorite is strawberry, but blueberry is a close second favorite.
If not serving the cookies immediately: The cookies are best if they are assembled just before eating. To store any cookies you’re not eating right away, store the frosting in the fridge and the cookie cups in an air tight container on the counter. Allow the frosting to come to room temp for 1 hour before filling the cookie cups. The cookies will last for 4 days at room temp.
If serving at a party: The cookies tend to get a little soggy after a while when the frosting in the center, so I recommend trying to add the frosting and fruit just before serving. I Imagine they will be okay for 30 minutes to 1 hour. It’s fun to allow guests to add their own desired fruit combos, so you could fill them with the frosting and then have the fruit in little bowls for guests to create their own.

Notes

Sugar for cookies: You can use coconut sugar in this recipe, just keep in mind that the color of the cookies will be a light tan.

Powdered sugar for frosting: I didn’t use as much powdered sugar as most frosting recipes call for since this is more of a filling and we don’t need it to be as thick for frosting a cake. It is perfectly sweet, without being tooth-achingly sweet, in my opinion. Taste as you add the powdered sugar. I did test this recipe with my cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar recipe and found it to be way too rich since you’re eating about a tablespoon of it in the cookie. The powdered sugar yields a lighter, melt-in-your-mouth filling that worked best with these cookies. I do prefer to use natural sweeteners when possible, but this recipe is an example that sometimes the regular stuff works best.

Leftover cookie dough and frosting: You will have some cookie dough and frosting leftover (about 10 cookies worth). You have a few options: 1) make extra cookie cups if you have 2 mini muffin tin pans. 2) save cookie dough in fridge for up to 1 week. Scoop them into balls, place on a greased baking sheet, and flatten with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees fro 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown – allow to cool completely. Top with any leftover lemon cream cheese frosting just before eating, if desired. Note: the cookie dough freezes really well. Not sure about the frosting, but it will last in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.