Cheesecake Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies

• 8 ounces of cream cheese (227g)
• 3 tablespoons of light brown sugar (40g)
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (13g)

• ¾ cup of browned butter (170g)
• ¾ cup of light brown sugar (150g)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (5g)
• ⅓ cup of molasses (113g)
• 1 large egg (50g)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (6g)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (3g)
• ½ teaspoon of ground ginger (1g)
• ½ teaspoon of ground cloves (1g)
• ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg (1g)
• ½ teaspoon of ground allspice (1g)
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda (3g)
• 2 and ½ cups of all purpose flour (312g)

Start with the cheesecake filling. In a glass bowl, Add room temperature, softened cream cheese with the brown sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk this for a few minutes until it was smooth and well combined. On a parchment lined sheet pan, Portion the cheesecake filling into 3 ounce balls, using a cookie scooper and put these in the freezer for an hour.

In the meantime, Make the gingerbread cookie dough, starting with browning the butter. In a small pan, over medium-heat, Let the butter melt and simmer, while constantly stirring, until it was an amber brown. Then, Add the brown butter into a large glass bowl, along with the sugar, vanilla bean paste, salt, and molasses. Whisk this for 2 minutes, then added the egg in and whisked for another 2 minutes.

After, Add in the flour and baking soda. Fold the dry ingredients into the cookie batter, until the dough formed. Take the cheesecake filling out of the freezer and portioned the cookie dough out by 6 ounces. Then, I wrapped the cookie dough around the cheesecake filling and formed it back into a ball until the cheesecake filling was completely enclosed by the cookie dough.

Roll these cookies in brown sugar mixed with cinnamon and baked for 15-17 minutes at 400°F (205°C).