Cream Cheese & Vanilla Cookies

I was looking at a blog recently, Ma Petite Boulangerie and I saw a lovely looking cookie, or biscuit, made with cream cheese and vanilla.  I thought I would like to try them. The blog is actually in Spanish so I had to use a translator program to see the recipe in English, and then to do a bit of guessing to make sure I got things right.

The cookies are actually a pastry type dough which is rolled out, coated in sugar and then rolled up into a sausage shape and cut to size before baking.

It all seemed simple enough so I decided to try it.

I must say that I think the cookies turned out well, and taste very good indeed, with the vanilla flavour and just a slight creamy flavour too.  They are also simple to make. They actually are similar to palmiers, but of course not using puff pastry and are shaped differently. 

• 200g cream cheese
• 100g unsalted butter(at room temperature)
• 250g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 80g granulated sugar

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl cream the cream cheese and butter together.
2. Add the salt and vanilla bean paste and mix again.
3. Add the flour and mix until combined and clumping together.
4. Pull the dough together and place between two sheeting of parchment paper.
5. Roll out to a thickness of 2-3mm or 1/4 inch, in a rectangle shape of about 13inches x 10 inches.
6. Place in dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400 F
8. Remove from the fridge and sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of sugar over the dough.
9. Use a rolling pin to gently press the sugar onto the dough.
10. Roll up, the long side of the dough into a sausage about 13 inches long.
11. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch thick slices, so you will have about 26.
12. Place each slice into the remaining sugar, coating on both sides.
13. Place each slice onto a baking tray, lined with parchment paper, leaving a gap between each for spreading.
14. Bake in the oven for 20 to 30  minutes, or until the cookies have turned a nice golden brown. I baked mine for 30 minutes as the centres didn’t seem baked through.
15. Remove from the oven and leave for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.