Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Have you ever experienced a cheesecake craving?  The kind where you just want to sit with it in your lap and eat the whole thing while you watch some perfectly wretched B movie?  Okay, maybe that’s just me then, but today’s recipe is a cheesecake cookie that not only satisfies in its petite serving but is also fun to share.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh Blueberries
3/4 cup Water
1 1/2 cups all purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 cup mild, soft, white Goat Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 large Egg
1 to 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

In a small sauce pan, combine 1 cup fresh blueberries, 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, stirring periodically, until the berries split and then the mixture reduces by half. Strain. This should yield between 1/2 and 2/3 cup of blueberry syrup. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sift together to combine and remove any lumps.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the butter and goat cheese. Beat until combined and smooth. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients, a bit at a time on low speed, beat until combined.

Take one cup of your batter and put in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the blueberry syrup (be sure to retain 2 to 3 tablespoons of the syrup for your frosting) and 1/2 cup flour. Beat by hand until combined. Pour the batter back into your mixing bowl and gently fold together with the remaining batter to give swirls.  Don’t overmix – you want it to be “swirly”.

Using a small ice cream scoop , drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden grown. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes then place on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Make your frosting by combining your reserved blueberry juice and powdered sugar. Start by adding 1 cup of powdered sugar to the syrup, whisk together. If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar a little at a time until you get a consistency that you can drizzle over the cookies.

Drizzle the frosting over the cookies and serve. These would be good with coffee, milk or tea.  Watching a B movie is optional.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.