Step 1

Place the softened cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer bowl and fix the paddle attachment to the mixer to cream them until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and light brown sugar, vanilla extract, gel food coloring, and mix until just combine. I need to scrap the side of the mixing bowl halfway to make sure it gets everything. Add eggs one at a time and continue to mix until mixture is just combined. Do not over cream the mixture. The idea is not to whip it until fluffy, we just want to combine ingredients

Step 2

Sift in dry ingredients using a flour sifter or a sieve. The dough is very sticky at this point. Do not be tempted to add more flour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or best, overnight

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop about 1 Tbsp of the cookie dough out using a cookie scoop

Step 4

Spray your palms with some cooking spray or lightly oil them. Roll them into dough balls

Step 5

Roll each dough in granulated sugar first. This prevents the cookie dough from absorbing the icing sugar later. Then roll it into the icing sugar. Coat 2 times with icing sugar. Place on a parchment paper, about 2 inches apart as the cookie will spread

Step 6

Pop them into the oven. I bake them one tray at a time. Let it bake for 13 minutes or 15 minutes if you want a crispier edge. They appear to be still very soft when you pull them out from the oven, but they will toughen up a bit as they cool down. Let them cool down on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to the cooling rack to let them cool down completely

Step 7

The cookies can be kept at room temperature in an air-tight container for 4-5 days

Step 8

For longer storage, freeze them unbaked or baked. See post for details