1 c butter -- softened
1/2 c confectioner's sugar
1 ts vanilla
2 1/2 c flour, all-purpose
1/2 c walnuts -- chopped
: candy mixture
1/4 lb peppermint candy -- crushed
1/2 c confectioner's sugar
: The Filling
2 TB cream cheese -- softened
1 ts milk
1 dr red food coloring
1/2 c confectioner's sugar
3 TB candy mixture -- see above
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until
fluffy. Add the flour and walnuts and blend to form
dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Candy mixture: In a small bowl combine both
ingredients. Set aside. Three tablespoons of this
mixture is used in the filling and the remainder is
used to garnish the cookies.
The filling: In a bowl blend together the cream
cheese, milk, food coloring and the conf. sugar until
smooth. Blend in 3 T of the cnady mixture.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and for each
cookie pinch off a rounded teaspoon of the dough.
Form into a ball and shape around your thumb to make a
little compartment in the middle. Place about 1/4
teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in the
depression. Pinch the dough back together and roll it
back into a ball. Repeat the process with the
remaining dough and filling. Place the balls on a
nonstick cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 oven
for 10-12 minutes. Do not brown.
Remove cookies to a cooling rack. To garnish, roll
the cooled cookies in the remaining candy mixture.
