Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies*

Cream Cheese Walnut Cookies
PREP 45 MIN | TOTAL 1 HR 30 MIN

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 pound unsalted butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, not whipped
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Sift together flour and salt. Cream butter and cream cheese on medium until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, and mix until just combined (do not over mix). Mix in toasted walnuts.

Divide dough into two equal amounts and shape each piece into an 8 1/2 inch long log (about 2 inches in diameter). Wrap each log in parchment and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Remove one log from freezer. Roll in 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts. Cut log into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Transfer to baking sheets.

Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until cookies are golden around the edges, 18 - 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool. Repeat the process with remaining dough using cooled cookie sheets.


*I posted about these cookies last year but thought they deserved another turn in the limelight!