Oh good grief, calm down.
Un-scrunch your nose and hear me out.
Yes, there is goat cheese in these cookies.
No, you really can’t taste it.
But I promise you these will be some of the best sugar cookies you’ve ever had.
The recipe is based on a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, which uses a combination of cream cheese and vegetable oil to make the perfect soft and chewy sugar cookie. It’s the same base I used for the Cherry Blossom Stuffed Sugar Cookies and the Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies from last year, but simply replacing the cream cheese with goat cheese instead.
The goat cheese itself is undiscernible. If I hadn’t told you it was there you would never have known. But, much like cream cheese or buttermilk, it brings a subtle acidity and tang to the cookies that wouldn’t be there otherwise. It takes these cookies from sugary sweet to just perfectly sweet, with mysterious savory notes that make them even more addictive.
The enduring softness of these cookies would make them perfect candidates for the cookie swap, and as I’ve proved before, the recipe is ripe for adaptation, most notably stuffing. I think these goat cheese ones, with their ever so slight hint of goaty tang, would be amazing stuffed with some soft caramel or fruit jam.
Instead of the usual sugar, I rolled these in nonpareil sprinkles for a very festive, carnival-like look.
Because everything is better with sprinkles.
Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup (3 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- nonpareil sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine sugar, goat cheese, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk until mixture forms a smooth paste (a few lumps are ok). Whisk in oil. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Fold in flour mixture until incorporated and no dry ingredients remain.
- Pour sprinkles or sugar into a small bowl. Dough will be soft, but should still be workable. If not, refrigerate it for 15 to 20 minutes until it is. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out about 1 tablespoon of dough, then roll in sprinkles/sugar to coat. Arrange on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are just set and slightly cracked. Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated.
All images and text ©Lindsay Landis / Love & Olive OilDid you make this recipe?
Let us know what you think!
Leave a Comment below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #loveandoliveoil.
I love these cookies. I always make them to start the baking season off.
Can the dough be made ahead or can the cookies be frozen??
You can definitely freeze the cookie dough balls here! Bake straight from frozen (just add a few minutes to the cook time). I prefer doing it this way, then baking the cookies fresh when I need them. They’ll be much softer and tastier that way. :)
I thought they were great. No mixer needed and I loved that.
Very curious to try these- they’re on top of my list! Any reason the oil is in there, can I just use all melted butter instead of the oil?
The oil helps keep the cookies soft! Butter has a different fat structure and while the flavor is lovely, the cookies won’t have quite the same texture or softeness.
These are good cookies! I’ve tried a few sugar cookie recipes with cream cheese in the dough, but this is the first one with goat cheese. I couldn’t see that the goat cheese added anything to the cookies that cream cheese doesn’t. The cookies are chewy, but not as pillowy soft as some cream cheese sugar cookies, possibly because of the oil? I added a pinch of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp maple extract and 1/3 cup of finely chopped toasted pecans for a flavor variation, but it wouldn’t have altered the crumb of the cookie. The dough was too soft to scoop. I chilled it overnight. I used a #20 scoop so my cookies are larger than the ones pictured; my yield was 14, not 36. The cookies spread nicely and puffed in the oven, but deflated as they cooled. Because my cookies are large they took longer to bake (14 minutes). I took them out as soon as the edges had firmed and were beginning to brown. The centers were underdone.
Thank you so much for your detailed review!
These are delicious! The recipe made 40 cookies using my cookie scoop. Used red, white and pink nonpareils to make Valentine’s day cookies for neighbors and friends. Used cream cheese as I had plenty on hand. Thank you!
I will save a morning to bake these unique cookies! Goat cheese and butter has to be good. In my dreams, I own a small farm with goats for my own cheese so I know I will love these!
I just made these and forgot 1 cup of the flour. They came out thin, crisp and delicious! #happyaccident
These turned out perfectly and are incredibly delicious. Thank you!
Hiya, just discovered your site and made these cookies. Yum! And beautiful! My almost 2 yr old called them “princess cookies”. I did make two changes, I used 1/2 c of whole wheat and 1/2 c less sugar and they were fantastic. Think I’ll use a full cup of whole wheat next time. Thanks for the recipe, love your site. I’d add a picture, but can’t see how, oh well.
I made these for a party and they were such a hit! Really delicious, flavorful with a lot of depth. I’m taking more to work tomorrow and I know my coworkers will be very happy with me!
I’m so excited to make these tonight. Quick question: do you place them as a little ball on the baking sheet and let them spread or do you squish them out???
I baked round balls, but I know one commenter above mentioned slightly flattening them first. Maybe bake a test batch, one of each, to see which works best? It may vary depending on your particular baking environment, baking sheets, etc.
I saw this recipe and just had to try it – I LOVE goat cheese, and I could only imagine what type of texture and flavour it would add to a plain sugar cookie recipe. Unfortunately, I just didn’t think they were anything special :( I was very disappointed. I guess I was expecting something with a bit more flavour, but I found these to just taste like a boring, bland cookie. They look beautiful on the cookie tray though!
The goat cheese is not a discernible flavor in these, although I bet if you compared them side by side to the same thing made with cream cheese you could maybe tell the difference, but if you were expecting a strong goat-cheese flavor I could see why you might be disappointed. I added a bit of almond extract to a batch recently and it was quite lovely!
This turned out great but I’d suggest to pat down the balls of dough once placed on the cookie sheet; otherwise, they turn out to be pretty soft in the middle. Just a bit of flattening made my batch bake up nice & even. Thanks for the great recipe!
These are wonderful. I am so happy to have found the recipe.
how well do these hold up? trying to decide how far in advance i can make them for a party…
Quite well, actually! In an airtight container they’ll be good for up to a week, although they are best if eaten within 2-3 days.
I am so excited I found this recipe! My sister owns goats and makes her own goat cheese, so I’m going to have to call her and ask her to make me some in return for cookies!
Sooo good! The texture is wonderful, soft and chewy. Made these on Sunday for a family get together half with sprinkles and the other half coated in vanilla bean sugar. Everyone loved them.
These are delish! I made a batch last night. I prefer these soft sugar cookies to crispy ones. I eventually ran out of sprinkles and used some lavender sugar I made this summer. Had those with my afternoon tea. Delightful! Thanks for the recipe!!!
These are absolutely gorgeous, Linds! And I can only imagine how soft and chewy they are with the added goat cheese. Yum!
Saw these cookies on Facebook. Love the sugar cookie & goat cheese combo! It looks fabulous! Ran to Pin on both my Treats board & community cookie board!
I can’t wait to try these. I have just the cheese in mind. Thanks for the recipe.
So excited to try these!! I work on a goat dairy so I can use super fresh cheese!! This sounds so yummy! Would you mind if I linked this to our website?
Goats cheese sugar cookies.. never heard of it in my life..! I love different and I´m definitely going to try these :-) Love photos too!!
Have a great week!
Xx
I am so intrigued. These look amazing!
I agree completely, everything is better with sprinkles! I’m really intrigued by the use of goats cheese in sweet cookies, they look fabulous.
Oh, good grief I need these! Sprinkle love!
Actually, my husband and I love goat cheese and I was really excited to see this in my email! Even my children don’t like desserts that are super sweet, and I can’t wait to try these!
Oh wow, I love the idea of goat cheese in cookies :) these look delicious!!
I love goat cheese in dessert. I have used it in posset to make a no-bake cheesecake of sorts. And I love the sprinkles too!
GENIUS! We buy Costco sized goat cheese packs every week! We love it and I love that you put it in a cookie! Goat cheese was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had so I am sure these cookies will be one of my favs as well!
What a great idea!!
Oh YES! These are so happening this weekend! And your photos are absolutely stunning!
Goat cheese is my favorite! What a brilliant idea to incorporate them into cookies! :)
I thought these sounded brilliant from the first moment. You didn’t have to convince me at all.
Love the idea of putting goat cheese in cookies for tang- especially since I always find myself with some left over goat cheese from dinner. The cookies look amazing!
Everywhere I look I see cookies but I want these the most.
Actually sounds pretty great, to me. But then again I have had sweet treats with goat cheese and they were DELICIOUS. These, no doubt, are too.
Ok, you win. You took me from scrunched nose to true believer…. making these, filling with jam, then PROBABLY filling myself… with the cookies… that are filled with goat cheese (and jam!)
Wow! This looks so interesting – a must try!
Goat cheese and sprinkles! Must try soon!
Goat cheese? I’m intrigued! I love the idea of that acidity with the sugar cookie; you’ve totally sold me.
I love a good soft sugar cookie – these look perfect! Love the sprinkles too!
These are sooooo cute! My nose is unscrunched!
These look so cute! Love the idea of using goat cheese. I actually have that in the fridge more often that cream cheese, and have subbed it in other recipes, but never cookies. Cheers!!
I love the look of them, so bright and so much fun :) I really want to take part in this cookie swap, will immediately go and check it out :D
I think this is brilliant! I would eat goat cheese any old way, but to use it in a cookie has got to be the greatest thing ever. AND sprinkles?? Perfect.
Goat cheese and cookies…two of my favorite things combined into one treat! Looks and sounds amazing!
These are the cutest things ever! They just make you smile.
Your beautiful photos sold me on these cookies. Can’t say I would have thought to put goat cheese in cookies myself, but I’m totally on board with the idea! And those sprinkles… if I wasn’t hooked already… :)
Oh my yum. This is nuts, and I have to try ASAP! xo big hugs @ Waiting on Martha
I actually got super excited when I saw the name for these!!
Your pictures are phenomenal! I feel like I can take a bite of them right through the computer screen. The goat cheese is intriguing too, I imagine it tastes almost like a tangy yogurt would within the cookie?
Actually I think the creamy, rich, tartness of goat cheese would result in a PERFECT cookie base. What an original idea! I can’t wait to try it!
You had me at goat cheese. I love goat cheese so much I eat it by itself. These sound incredibly delicious and I can’t wait to try them. Genius idea! I wish I had thought of it.
Oh my, I love goats cheese and am now absolutely dying to give these a go :D
they sound amazing, and I LOVE goat cheese, so I;m sure these will be a new favorite
Holy Moses. I’ve tried those Cook’s Illustrated cookies and they really are perfect. These look totally amazing and genius. I want to make them immediately.
I have a drawer in my fridge dedicated to *just* cheese, and goat cheese is always in attendance! These will be made soon (because I won’t be able to stop thinking about them, until I do! :) I’m a new follower, and LOVE your blog!!
is it sick that I wouldn’t mind if I could taste the goat cheese? I am seriously that big of a cheese freak! these look great ;)
Oh. My. Goat cheese. Absolutely brilliant! I think I might make these this weekend!
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!!!
Unscrunch my nose??? Never was, never will! I want… Ok, NEED these in my life.
Whoa, this is an amazing idea! Last spring, I went to a meet the maker cheese class at Antonelli’s featuring CKC Farms. At CKC, all they do is goat cheese, and their plain, young chevre was so fresh and sweet, my mind immediately turned to using it in a cheesecake. Since then, I’ve become an ardent supporter of goat cheese in sweet applications, but sugar cookies isn’t one I ever thought of. I can’t wait to make these–with CKC chevre, of course.
Yum, yum, yum! (Loved your intro, BTW :)
Love the idea of goat cheese in cookies!
oh my word…goat cheese in cookies, you’re on to something…these sound incredible!
Yes, please! Love fresh chevre and I imagine it’s even better with the crunch of nonpareil sprinkles :)
Thanks!
I try to incorporate goat cheese into every aspect of my life so these will definitely be happening!
Oh, girl…I just adore goat cheese and sugar cookies. You are a genius! I bet this recipe knocks the CI recipe on its head! I recently posted my Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Cutouts recipe and now I can’t wait to make these! Thanks for sharing, Lindsay! Pinning everywhere, LOL!
So pretty! I love the flavour too :)
“from sugary sweet to just perfectly sweet, with mysterious savory notes that make them even more addictive” — what a great hook! Love that!
And I’ve made plenty of cookies with cream cheese but never would have thought to use goat cheese. How fun! Pinned!