Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

OK, so these may just be one of my new favorite cookies. They are delicious! I made them for my husband and he liked them so much that he asked if he could take the leftovers to work. He NEVER does that! It was the nicest and best compliment!

They're soft and chewy with the perfect texture... they remind me a lot of a sugar cookie recipe I've tried with cream cheese but these are far less work and oh so good. The cream cheese is really pretty subtle and you can eat all the cookie dough you want (without any guilt) because there's no eggs!  Plus, now that I've got the cream cheese cookie base down, I can't wait to try them again with lemon zest and lemon extract for a lemon cheesecake cookie. But these Oreo ones sure are good!

Recipe Source: Collecting the Moments
Yield: The recipe says 1 1/2 dozen, but I doubled it and got 4 1/2 dozen, so it must depend on how big you scoop them.

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used salted with no problem)
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup mini chocolate chips (I didn't have minis so I used regular sized, but I don't think they need any at all)
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (Don't skip the parchment paper of your bottoms may burn more) and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and well-combined.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until the ingredients are well-combined. (I mixed my batter for awhile here and my dough got really nice and fluffy... that may be why I was able to get so many cookies from the recipe.)  Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

4. Place the Oreo cookie crumbs in a small bowl. Scoop the cookies into about 1½ to 2″ balls (the dough will be very soft but it's not nearly as sticky as I expected and the crumbs hold everything together) and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.  It's very hard to tell if the edges are golden, so I looked for a "puffed" cookie that had started to "crackle."  Once there were some good cracks along the top, I knew they were done.  Don't overbake!

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.