Snickerdoodles with cream cheese, the way Briella baked them on day three of Winterfest.
The “baking therapy” discussed on this blog refers to my personal experience using baking as a self-help and relaxation tool.”
Hey everybirdy! Robby here, and welcome to Day 3 of Winterfest Baking. This one started in Briella Ponder’s kitchen too.
On December 5, 2019, Briella made cinnamon cream cheese cookies for Winterfest, and she warned her viewers right at the start that these take some time, so start earlier in the day. She was right then and the warning still stands in my real kitchen: the dough has to chill, so make it before the craving arrives, not after.
These are the soft ones. Ooey, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth soft, the opposite of a crunchy holiday cookie. Cream cheese gives them a velvety, pillowy middle that stays soft for days, and the cinnamon sugar crust makes the whole house smell like a cozy winter morning. Same as the first two updates, I am folding Briella’s chapter into this post instead of making a new one. The story and the recipe are the same cookies.
You still get the real recipe and the real costs here: $2.87 a batch at Walmart, $2.39 at Costco, and $2.09 the food bank way, when the cream cheese was given to me. And now you get Briella’s version too.
One note I always keep on this post: when I say baking therapy, I mean my own way of finding calm in the kitchen. I am not a professional therapist. I am just a baker who knows that a warm oven and a simple recipe can make a hard day feel smaller. This recipe even builds the calm in. The dough takes a nap for an hour, and so can you. More on that below.
Meet Briella Ponder
Sul Sul, Gerbits! Briella Ponder here! Today we are making cinnamon cream cheese cookies. They are ooey and gooey and soft all the way through. Before we start, a warning: these cookies take some time, because the dough has to chill. Start earlier in the day, and future you will be so glad you did. The full recipe, like always, is in the description for Ponder-ing Life.
What You Will Need
For the cookies:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
For the coating:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Makes 26 cookies. These amounts are from my real recipe card. The recipe comes from Yummiest Food, and Briella linked to it in 2019 the same way my card credits it now.
My notes before we start. Margarine is my budget-friendly secret for extra-soft holiday baking, and it works here. Powdered sugar instead of granulated in the dough is the secret to that fine, melt-away bakery texture.
Let’s Get Baking
First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I like to do this while I start mixing, so the oven is ready when I am.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until combined and silky. Then add the egg, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt, and mix until combined. Gradually add the all purpose flour until it is completely combined and you have a soft dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about an hour, or until it is completely chilled.
While the dough chills, mix the cinnamon sugar in a small bowl. When the dough is ready, scoop it with a tablespoon or a cookie scoop, roll it into a smooth ball between your palms, and roll it in the cinnamon sugar until fully covered. Place the balls on your prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. A fair warning from Briella, and she is right: these cookies do not brown, so do not judge them by colour. Let them rest for 10 minutes when they come out, then enjoy. Thank you for watching this video. Vadish! Dag Dag!
Questions and Robby
Is this a real recipe, or just a Sims one?
Both. Briella’s version came first, in 2019, and the recipe she follows is a real one from Yummiest Food. This page is the real kitchen version, costed three ways, like everything here: $2.87 a batch at Walmart, $2.39 at Costco, and $2.09 the food bank way, when the cream cheese was given to me. Cream cheese is the ingredient that matters in this one. Having it given saves $0.78 a batch. One honest note: my recipe card still prints $4.75 a batch and $0.16 a cookie, and those two numbers do not even agree with each other. The three way figures above come from my October 28, 2026 price sheet, counted ingredient by ingredient, and they are the ones I trust now.
Why don’t my cookies brown?
Because they are not supposed to. Powdered sugar and cream cheese keep these cookies soft, delicate, and pillowy, and pale is what done looks like. Look for puffed, set tops and trust your timer. This was Briella’s warning in 2019 and it is the top question on my real post too. Some things do not change between kitchens.
What is the best way to store these?
In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They also freeze well. Thaw them on the counter for about an hour and they are ready.
Why update this post instead of making a new one?
Because Briella’s chapter and my real recipe are the same cookies. Splitting them would make readers choose between the story and the recipe, and I do not want that. This post keeps its home, its readers, and its recipe card, and now it carries the whole story of where the cookies came from.
Where can I read more of Generation B?
The whole story started on my Tumblr, robbybirdy, in 2019. I am bringing the baking chapters home by folding them into the matching recipe posts, because those are the chapters where this blog really began.
Closing
Briella’s own tag on the 2019 chapter said it plainest: these cookies taste like snickerdoodles with cream cheese. She was right, and it might be the best one line review any of my recipes has ever had.
This is also the part where I always ask a question, and this post has its own: when the dough took its nap, what did you do with your hour? Did you dance to a playlist, or read a few chapters of a book? Tell me in the comments after a warm cookie, or three.
And because the real post carries this too, I want it carried here: feeding people is not a side note in my work. One October, I walked 31 miles for Feeding America. Different kitchen, same reason. Nobody should feel small for needing food, and good food should not belong only to people with big grocery budgets.
Thanks for reading a piece of where this blog came from. You are not alone in the kitchen, in either world. Happy baking, everybirdy!
Bake the real thing. The full recipe card is on this page, with Briella’s story above it and my real costs beside it: $2.87 a batch at Walmart, $2.39 at Costco, $2.09 the food bank way. Print it, save it, or bake straight from the screen.
Join the Flock. My newsletter is where the new recipes, the real costs, and the next chapters land first. It is free, and you are welcome at the table: Robby’s Baking Therapy on Substack.
Support the kitchen. Tips and printables live on my Ko-fi, and $1 of every $5 goes to the Geneva Center of Concern, the food pantry where I volunteer: Robby’s Baking Therapy on Ko-fi.
Shop the story. The tools and ingredients from my kitchen are gathered on Benable, if you want to bake along: Robby Birdy on Benable.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cookies
Ingredients
For cream cheese cookies:
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
For coating:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- Cream with Care: In a large bowl or stand mixer, gently cream your margarine and cream cheese together. Keep a steady, rhythmic pace until the mixture is beautifully smooth, uniform, and light.
- Build Your Foundation: Slowly add your powdered sugar and beat carefully until the mixture becomes wonderfully silky and creamy. Gently blend in your egg, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt until everything is fully combined.
- Bring It Together: Gradually add your all-purpose flour to the wet base, watching with satisfying calm as the dry pockets fade away and a soft, fragrant dough completely forms.
- Rest & Relax: Gather your dough, wrap it gently in plastic wrap, and pop it in the fridge to chill for an hour. Take this peaceful hour to step away from the kitchen, stretch, and let your mind completely unwind.
- Prep Your Space: When you are ready to create, let’s get our kitchen warm and welcoming! Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with a smooth sheet of parchment paper.
- Mix the Spice: In a small bowl, mindfully mix your sugar and cinnamon to create a fragrant, warm coating, then set it aside. Scoop the dough using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop, roll it into a neat, smooth ball between your palms, and coat it completely in the comforting cinnamon-sugar mix.
- Bake & Breathe: Arrange the coated dough balls about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet so they have plenty of room to breathe. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes—the centers will still look very soft and won’t get golden brown, but watch with joy as they puff up beautifully right when they are done.
- Rest & Reward: Let the cookies cool right on the warm baking sheet for 10 minutes so they set perfectly. Transfer them over to a wire rack to finish cooling completely, taking a deep breath to enjoy the cozy aroma filling your home.
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