Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies

Ok, first of all, the filling was a mistake. I was making the filling for my Red, White, and Blue Brownies, and, in my rush, I went and put the preserves in. So I froze the filling, and yay! I actually remembered that it was there, and found a way to use it…. Enjoy

1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk
2 1/4 cups flour

Filling:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 24-miniature-cup muffin tins. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the salt and egg yolk and beat until fully incorporated. Switch to the lowest speed, and gradually add the flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk, combine filling ingredients. Beat at high speed until smooth.

Press 1-inch balls of dough into the prepared muffin tins, so that the dough is about 3/8 of an inch thick (the dough will not come all the way up the sides — see picture below). Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven pat down the bottoms, as they may have puffed up slightly. Bake for another 7 minutes. Use a small teaspoon to fill each cookie with the raspberry cream cheese filling. Bake for another 8 minutes.

Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes in the muffin tins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.