Egg and Nut Free Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Another random food that my toddler just loves is cream cheese. He loves it on toast, banana bread, or straight off the spoon. I never used to like cream cheese or cheesecake, until I met my husband and we went to Cheesecake Factory one too many times (and I ordered the peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake one too many times) :P Now I love cream cheese and I've replaced my beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cream cheese and jelly sandwich or a cream cheese and banana sandwich. You might think that's weird, but until you've tried a cream cheese sandwich with cinnamon raisin bread you don't know what you're missing!

I thought this would be a fun little cookie that's not only egg and nut free, but kind of different too. They're not too sweet and extremely soft and chewy. You'll notice that there's no sugar in these. Instead I've used real maple syrup - a great healthy alternative to sugar in baked goods! You can play around with the recipe and use strawberries, cherries, dried fruit or even chocolate chips. You could use frozen fruit that has been thawed, but just know that it will probably turn your cookie a blue-purple color. Enjoy!

Egg and Nut Free Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies
 2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce
3 oz. cream cheese (regular)
1 Tbsp.whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl with a wire whisk.  In a mixer, blend the butter, maple syrup, applesauce, cream cheese and vanilla. Slowly add the dry mixture until full mixed. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 24 cookies depending on size.