These 4th of July cookies are lemon cheesecake cookies stuffed with red, white, and blue cheesecake. The lemon cookies are topped with patriotic sprinkles. Each cookie has a surprise patriotic color inside!
These Fourth of July cookies are the best way to celebrate and enjoy a delicious treat at the same time! The lemon cookies are delicious on their own, but are irresistible with the cheesecake stuffed inside. Everyone will want to know if they got red, white, or blue cookies. They are easy to make and will impress all of your Independence Day guests.
For other lemon desserts, try Lemon Donuts, Lemon Blackberry Cookies, and Lemon Rolls.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Surprise inside- Each cookie has either red, white, or blue cheesecake inside for a fun patriotic surprise! They are an easy way to impress at a block party!
- Lemon cookies- The lemon cookies are chewy and delicious cookies on their own.
- Cheesecake filling- The cheesecake filling is not just a fun way to have a surprise color in each cookie, it is delicious! Who doesn't love cheesecake?
- Easy recipe- This is an easy cookie recipe, making them the perfect treat to add to any dessert table without a lot of extra work.
- Patriotic cookies- These cookies are covered in red, white and blue colorful sprinkles and the fun colors make for a perfect dessert for any patriotic holiday. You can make them for Memorial Day, too.
Ingredient Notes
Here are some notes on the ingredients. For a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below.
- Cream cheese- Pull this out 2 hours before baking to get to room temperature.
- Food dye- I recommend using a high quality gel dye as you don't need as much and you won't get a food coloring taste. I use Americolor.
- Unsalted butter- Melt this before you need it so it has time to cool to room temperature.
- Brown sugar- I used light brown sugar for this, but dark will work as well.
- Large Eggs- Pull these out 2 hours before baking to get them to room temperature.
Step By Step Instructions - Cheesecake Filling
Here is how to make the cheesecake filling for the 4th of July cookies.
STEP 1: Beat cream cheese and sugar. Use a small bowl and a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract on high speed until it is smooth.
STEP 2: Separate and dye. Separate the cream cheese evenly into 3 bowls. Keep one white, set it aside. Use blue food dye in another bowl and mix it in with a rubber spatula. In the last bowl, mix in red food dye with a spatula.
STEP 3: Chill. Place wax paper on top of a cookie sheet. Then, scoop ½ tablespoon scoops of the cheesecake filling making sure to leave a gap between each dollop. Once all of the colors are scooped, place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Step By Step Instructions - 4th of July Cookies
Here is how to make and bake these 4th of July cookies.
STEP 1: Dry ingredients. Mix together the all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set it aside.
STEP 2: Beat butter and sugars. Use a mixer to beat the room temperature melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar on high speed for 2 minutes.
STEP 3: Wet ingredients. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, egg, and egg yolk to the butter mixture. Mix it on medium speed until combined.
STEP 4: Combine. Add the flour mixture to mixing bowl and mix them in on low speed until just combined into a thick dough.
STEP 5: Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Meanwhile, let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
STEP 6: Scoop. Use a large cookie scoop (2TBSP or 2 oz) to scoop the dough. While in the scoop, use your thumb to press a hole into the center. Place one cheesecake dollop in and press the dough over the hole to cover it.
STEP 7: Roll in sprinkles. Place the 4th of July sprinkles in a bowl. Press the top of each dough ball into the sprinkles and make sure it is coated well.
Place 6 of these cookie dough balls per cookie sheet.
STEP 8: Bake cookies. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 14-16 minutes. They are done when the edges are slightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, store the cookies the the fridge.
Expert Baking Tips
- Properly measure your flour- Make sure the flour is spooned and leveled. If you stick the measuring cup directly into the flour, it will compact the flour giving you too much flour. Compacted flour can cause the cookies to not spread.
- If the cookies are spreading too much, make sure you are using parchment paper on the cookie sheet. If they are still spreading too much this could be the butter was too warm before adding the ingredients. If it still spreads too much, you chill the cookie dough balls for 10-15 minutes.
- If you live at high altitude, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour. This will help with the spread.
- The cookies should be slightly underdone, because they will continue to cook as they cool. This helps to make sure they have a chewy texture inside.
FAQ
No, these cookies were designed to fit the cheesecake filling inside and smaller cookies will not have room for a cheesecake dollop.
Yes they can, but you will have to keep the cheesecake filling separate. Store the cookie dough balls in an airtight container or use plastic wrap. Store in the freezer for 30 days. Let the cookie dough balls thaw before filling them with the frozen cheesecake dollops and baking.
Yes you can. However, I recommend making them into cookie dough balls first before chilling overnight. Wrap them in plastic wrap. Keep the cheesecake dollops separate so that they stay frozen until you are ready to put them in the cookies and bake.
Storing and Freezing
Store the 4th of July cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Freezing
Freeze the baked cookies in an airtight freezer-safe container, such as a freezer bag, and freeze up to 30 days. Thaw for 1-2 hours before eating.
Other Cookie Recipes To Try
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📖 Recipe
4th of July Cookies
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
- 8 oz Cream cheese room temperature
- 3 tablespoon White granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- Red and blue food dye
Lemon Cookies
- 3 ⅓ cups All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 ¼ cup White granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Brown sugar packed light or dark
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 Large egg room temperature
- 4th of July sprinkles
Instructions
Cheesecake Filling
- In a small bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on high speed until smooth. Separate the filling into three bowls.8 oz Cream cheese, 3 tablespoon White granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- One bowl, keep it white, so set it aside. In one bowl, use blue food dye and use a rubber spatula to mix until combined. In the other bowl, use the red food dye and mix it in.Red and blue food dye
- Place wax paper over a small cookie sheet. Use a ½ tablespoon to scoop the cheesecake filling into dollops. Do this for all the colors. Then, freeze for at least 30 minutes.
Lemon Cookies
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.3 ⅓ cups All-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Baking soda, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Using a mixer in a mixing bowl, beat the melted butter (make sure it is room temperature), sugar, and brown sugar for 2 minutes.1 cup Unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup White granulated sugar, ¼ cup Brown sugar
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Mix on medium until combined.1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract, Zest of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon Lemon juice, 1 Large egg
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. It will be a thick dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes before scooping.
- Use a large cookie scoop (2 oz or 2 TBSP). Scoop the dough, use your thumb to press a hole into the center. Place one cheesecake dollop into the hole. Cover the hole with the rest of the dough.
- Place the sprinkles into a bowl, Press the top of the dough into the sprinkles. Make sure it covered well. Place 6 cookie dough balls per cookie sheet.4th of July sprinkles
- Bake one sheet at a time. Bake for 14-16 minutes. Bake until the edges are lightly golden. Let the cookies sit on the hot pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Store the cookies in the fridge once cooled completely.
Abby says
Made these without the lemon and added just a little extra vanilla and they were absolutely fantastic. Everyone loved them and thought they were so adorable. Love this recipe!!
Abby says
Hello! My family isn’t a huge fan of lemon, can I make the cookies just regular vanilla by leaving out the lemon and maybe add more vanilla extract?
Stephanie Rutherford says
Yes you can!