Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies

Mother’s Day is around the corner and that means its time to pull out all the stops for the one that brought you into this world. After all, she did listen to you, love you, and put your hair in oh-so-cute ponytails for most of your life. These cookies are sure to satisfy any sweet craving mom. So save your calories and share this batch of made from the heart goodness.

The recipe for these cookies came from the Martha Stewart Cookie Book. If you haven’t seen this book, you must. It’s basically THE cookie book. Just flipping through and looking at the pictures will amaze and inspire you to get baking. Here we go:

Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies

4 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp salt
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 tbsp + ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 ½ cups walnut halves (1 ½ cups toasted and coarsely chopped, 1 cup finely chopped)

Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl and set aside.



Cream butter and cream cheese together in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.



Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.



Mix in toasted walnuts.



Transfer dough to a work surface.



Divide in half and shape each into 8 ½ inch long log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in parchment paper and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. This dough can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.



Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap 1 log and roll in chopped walnuts.



Cut into ¼ inch thick rounds. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper 1 inch apart.





Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cook on baking sheet on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining log.



These cookies turned out soft and crispy all at the same time. You can really taste the the cream cheese, and that combined with the toasted walnuts creates an irresistible flavor. It's an addiction that will have you reaching your hand into the cookie jar time and time again. This recipe will make about 4 dozen, the perfect amount to share and keep a few for yourself. Enjoy!




~T