Gingerbread cheesecake cookies are a festive holiday cookie made from perfectly spiced and chewy cookies and rich white chocolate cream cheese filling. Think classic gingerbread sandwich cookies but with a silky cheesecake center. Perfect for the holiday season, gifting, or adding to your favourite Christmas cookie board, they’re a festive twist on classic gingerbread.
Recipe Snapshot
✅ Recipe Name: Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies
⏲️ Ready In: 20 minutes + chilling
👥 Serves: 12 sandwich cookies
🍽 Calories:
🌏 Cuisine: American / Christmas Baking
🍕 Recipe Type: Main / Snack
🧀 Ingredient Highlights: molasses, gingerbread spices, white chocolate, cream cheese
⭐ Why You’ll Love It: chewy texture, super creamy filling, perfect Christmas gifting
This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.
This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids' Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.
Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.
Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
Table of contents
These chewy gingerbread cookies are everything you want in a festive bake! They taste like the best parts of Christmas, made with warm spices, molasses, and a super creamy vanilla cheesecake center. Perfect for the holiday season, quick gifting, or adding to your favourite Christmas cookie recipes.
The cheesecake filling is inspired by my popular White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, which makes a super creamy vanilla cheesecake frosting that pipes beautifully and tastes delicious!
These cookies are great for Christmas dessert boards, edible gifting, or pairing with a warm drink. Looking for more cosy and festive bakes? Try my Molasses Crinkle Cookies, Chewy Molasses Sandwich Cookies, reader favorite Gingerbread Cookies without molasses or Starbucks Style Snowman Cookies.
Hanelore's Note
I absolutely love these cookies with a steaming mug of hot chocolate or matcha chai. There’s something magical about the warm spice meeting a creamy drink. You can enjoy the cookies plain or topped with frosting. I always make mine as sandwich cookies, because why settle for one layer of gingerbread cookies when you can have two?!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Round-up
For the gingerbread Cookies
- Butter: For the cookie dough, the butter needs to be pliable. Leave at room temperature for at least 1-2 hours before using.
- Dark brown sugar: Helps create that perfect brown sugar cookie texture with a caramelised bottom.
- Molasses: Essential for depth and classic gingerbread flavour. I recommend using unsulphured molasses.
- Spices: Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves give that warm holiday aroma. Or buy ready made gingerbread spices.
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies crack and stay soft. I don’t recommend swapping with baking powder.
For the cheesecake Filling
- White chocolate: Adds richness without making the frosting too sweet. I recommend using good quality white chocolate chips for the best flavor.
- Cold cream cheese: It’s essential to use full-fat cream cheese blocks, not spread.
- Cold butter: Unsalted butter works best and ensure it’s fully cold before using.
How to Make Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies
- Make the dough: Beat butter and sugars until light, then mix in molasses, egg yolk and vanilla.
- Mix dry ingredients: Whisk flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
- Combine wet and fry: using a hand mixer or spatula, mix the flour into the wet ingredients just until a soft dough forms.
- Scoop and bake: Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour, then scoop into even cookie dough balls. Arrange on lined trays and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 10–12 minutes. Cool fully.
- Make the cheesecake filling: Melt white chocolate, beat cold butter until pale, then mix in the chocolate, cold cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
- Assemble: Pair cookies by size, pipe a generous layer of cheesecake filling on the flat side of one cookie, then top with the second to create soft gingerbread sandwich cookies.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Do not overmix the dough: Only mix the cookie dough until just combined. Overmixing makes the cookies tough and dense.
- Chilling is key: The dough needs time to firm up before baking. If used unchilled, the cookies will spread too much and be flat.
- Refrigerate after filling: Once assembled, keep cookies chilled for the cream cheese frosting to firm up.
- Use a cookie scoop: Ensures evenly sized cookies for perfect sandwiches.
- Bake until just set: Slightly underbaking keeps them extra chewy.
Substitutes & Variations
- Serve unfrosted: Enjoy them as classic gingerbread sugar cookies.
- Frost on top only: Instead of sandwiching the cookies, only pipe the cheesecake frosting on top. Decorate with sprinkles.
- Chocolate: Swap the white chocolate for milk or dark chocolate for a different twist.
- Extra spice: Add more ginger or cinnamon for stronger holiday flavour.
- Add-ins: Fold mini white chocolate chips into the dough for extra sweetness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Bake the cookies a day ahead and store unfrosted at room temperature.
Store filled cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Always let them rest 20–30 minutes before serving so the center softens.
Freeze unfrosted cookies for up to 2 months. Add the filling after thawing.
This usually happens when there's too much flour in the dough. The cookie dough should feel pliable, but still quite sticky. If they're difficult to scoop, chill the dough well beforehand, instead of adding more flour.
Flat cookies usually mean the dough wasn’t chilled long enough or the cookie dough is too runny (not enough flour). For best results, chill the dough for at least 1-2 hours.
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If you’ve tried this recipe out, please don’t forget to rate and comment on this post. I love hearing from you, so feel free to reach out to me on social media as well and tag me in your posts!
Recipe
The Best Holiday Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- ⅓ cup butter softened, room temperature
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
- 1 medium egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves optional
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- ⅓ cup white chocolate chips
- 3 ½ tablespoons butter cold
- ⅓ cup cream cheese cold
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and both sugars using a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and milk, then mix until fully combined.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, then mix again for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
- Mix on low speed until a soft dough forms. Avoid overmixing.
- Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 2 hours. This firms up the dough and makes it easy to shape the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough roll into balls and arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centres remain soft.
- If the cookies haven’t cracked, gently tap the tray on the counter or lightly press the tops with a spatula, then bake for 1 extra minute.
- Cool 5 minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Cheesecake Filling
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave again in 15-second intervals. Keep repeating until fully melted. Let cool to room temperature.
- Beat the cold butter in a medium bowl until pale and fluffy.
- Add the cooled melted chocolate, cold cream cheese, and vanilla. Mix until just combined and smooth. Add to a piping bag and use immediately for best piping consistency.
Assemble the Sandwich Cookies
- Pair cookies by size and flip half of them upside-down.
- Pipe or spread a generous layer of cheesecake filling onto the flat side of one cookie.
- Top with the second cookie and gently press to create an even sandwich cookie.
Notes
- I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 120g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead.
- Chill the cookie dough well before baking to prevent it from spreading too much in the oven.
- Use full fat cream cheese, such as Philadelphia original. For US readers, use cream cheese block, not the spread.
- If your butter is really yellow, add a small drop of purple food colouring to cancel out the yellowness.
Nutrition
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer
About Cookies for Kids’ Cancer:
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer. Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.
How it all started:
When 2-year-old Liam Witt was diagnosed with childhood cancer in 2007, his parents Larry and Gretchen were shocked to learn of the lack of effective treatments for pediatric cancers due to lack of funding. They pledged to support the funding of research for safer, more effective treatments for children battling cancer. With the help of 250 volunteers, his mom Gretchen baked and sold 96,000 cookies, raising more than $400,000 for research. Word spread, and people nationwide began asking, "How can I help?" From that giant cookie bake, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was born.
Fast Facts:
- Cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease of children in the U.S.
- More than 40,000 U.S. children are actively battling cancer right now.
- The average age of a child diagnosed with pediatric cancer is 6.
- The combined 12 major groups of pediatric cancers receive 4% of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) federal budget.
- ⅔ pediatric cancer patients will develop long-term side effects, many life-threatening—a result of the treatments that "cured" them.
- Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is committed to funding research for new, improved and less toxic treatment options for kids.
- There are 300,000+ new cases of cancer affecting children worldwide annually. That’s more than 800 new kids affected every day.
Matching
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, who will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
About The Author
Hanelore is the creator of SugarYums and winner of Netflix show Crazy Delicious. She shares delicious Korean street food, East Asian desserts, and playful fusion recipes that bring global flavours to everyday kitchens. Inspired by the food markets of Seoul and beyond, Han combines tradition with creativity to make cooking feel bold, cozy, and fun!
Erin Parker says
Hanelore, these Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies look absolutely magical. The chewy spiced gingerbread paired with that silky white chocolate cream cheese filling is such a gorgeous twist on a classic cookie, and they would shine on any holiday cookie board or gifting tray. Truly a stunning festive treat!
Thank you so much for participating in this year's Sweetest Season and bringing another delicious cookie recipe to the virtual celebration. I am so appreciative for you and everyone who joins me in this yearly and am always blown away with the generosity. I hope you and yours have the happiest holiday season!