I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, but I really do love to make mini-sized things. Maybe it’s because I’m 6-months pregnant with a tiny little human growing inside me and buying tiny little human things, but everything tiny and mini just makes me so happy these days. So when I found this recipe for raspberry cheesecake cookies from Baker by Nature, I thought, “Well, these are basically mini cheesecakes, so I’m definitely trying these!”

But also, this recipe basically combines two of my favorite things: cheesecake & cookies. Not to mention there’s a serving of fruit, so it’s basically healthy, right?!

The original recipe seemed easy enough. You make some cookie dough. You press your thumb into the cookies. And you top with jam. So I thought I’d make it a little more challenging for myself and make some homemade jam. As I learned with my strawberry cheesecake, making jam is actually pretty easy. So adding that step actually just made for an easier way to kill time during the inactive parts of this cheesecake cookie recipe. Trust me… if I think it’s easy, then homemade jam is nothing to be intimidated by! So let’s get started…

Obviously using the stand mixer that my loving & supportive husband surprised me with a few months ago, I beat together the room temperature cream cheese and butter until it was light & fluffy. I always get so nervous that I haven’t left enough time to allow my ingredients to come down to room temperature, so I tend to leave them out on the counter a little too long. This time, I took my ingredients out before we ventured out to Target for the first time in months since quarantine, so I also did not account for the July heat and how excited I’d be just to browse through the aisles at my beloved Tar-jay (and yes, you have to say it that way when referring to it ever-so-endearingly). Needless to say, my cream cheese & butter were barely holding up their once rectangular shapes in their wrapping. I go into this detail as a warning: learn how long it actually takes to get your ingredients to room temperature. And if you’re in a pinch, watch this amazing trick to do so quickly from one of my favorite baking blogs, Sally’s Baking Addiction. Otherwise, you don’t really get that light & fluffy texture that recipes call for. I did not… at least I didn’t think I did, but the cookies still turned out fine. I’d either chalk that up to luck or the extra chilling time I allowed later to make up for it. More on that later.

Anyway, once the cream cheese and butter are beaten (until light & fluffy), add in the sugar and beat well. Then add in the flour, a little bit at a time, until just incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. Given the state of my cream cheese & butter, I let it chill for the full 2 hours.

While the cookie dough was chilling, I started on the homemade raspberry jam. This only took two ingredients: raspberries & sugar. I learned another trick this weekend: warm sugar dissolves quicker. And since my cookie dough was so melty, I figured I had time.

In an oven heated to 250F, place your sugar in a shallow, oven-safe pan and let it warm up for 15 minutes. While it’s warming, bring the raspberries to a boil in a sauce pan, squishing them down and stirring constantly as they heat up so that it turns into a liquid. Add the warm sugar, stir, and return the mixture to a boil. You’ll know it’s done once the mixture is thick enough that when you dip the back of a cool metal spoon into it, the liquid comes together first before dripping off the spoon when the spoon is turned horizontally. That might sound confusing, but it’ll make sense when you try it and see what I mean.

Once your dough is chilled, remove it from the fridge, pre-heat the oven to 375F, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop — mine is about 1.5 inches — scoop out evenly sized balls of dough, roll them in your hands until smooth, then press down onto each ball with your thumb. Place onto lined baking sheet and repeat until you’ve scooped out all your dough. I was able to get 19 cookies with my cookie scoop.

Since the dough warmed up again from my hands, I placed them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes to make sure they’d keep their shape. Once they were cool again, I filled each cookie with the jam.

Last, place the pan in the oven and bake for 11-12 minutes until golden around the edges. Cool them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack to cool completely. It’ll be tempting to try them while they’re still warm from the oven, but I think the cooling is actually very necessary here since it is part cheesecake and so that the jam doesn’t spew out everywhere.

And there you have it! Raspberry cheesecake cookies. Enjoy!