Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies with Walnuts
These cookies are everything you want in a shortbread cookie–buttery, crumbly–with the bonus of also being nutty and loaded with vanilla flavor.
Permit me to sneak in one more cookie post before the year is over? It’s been years since I’ve tried a new cookie recipe and this one won me over. It had been patiently waiting for me to discover it in a cookbook that has sat on my bookshelf for years (a gift from a good friend). For the return of an annual cookie exchange with some of my blogger friends this year I wanted to try something new and these cream cheese shortbread cookies caught my attention.
Simple with only a handful of ingredients but everything a shortbread cookie should be–buttery and crumbly and with the added bonus of being loaded with walnuts. In fact, the author calls them her “Jane” cookies but they’re not plain at all. They have a low-key quality but after one taste, you’ll quickly reach for another.
There’s a fresh batch of these delightful shortbread cookies on my counter now. After my first bake a few weeks ago, an idea to prepare them differently came to mind. Also, since vanilla seems to be my flavor of the moment, this second batch ended up with more vanilla bean paste. The original recipe is excellent as is so I will leave it up to you how much vanilla you’d like to add.
Back to the preparation. The original recipe calls for scooping the dough, shaping them into rounds, arranging them on a baking sheet and lightly pressing them with your fingers. As pictured here, you can see they are beautiful little cookies but yours truly is lazy and likes shortcuts. Last night, for the second batch, I divided the dough in two, shaped each into logs, froze them briefly and sliced them into disks. The slice-and-bake method saved time and I liked the edgier look of the cookies (pictured below). Again, feel free to choose which method you’d prefer, original or lazy.
With two logs of dough I was tempted to bake only one of them but I quickly came to my senses. Who’s silly enough to bake only a half batch of cookies during the holidays…especially when they’re as delightful as these shortbread cookies?
[This Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies with Toasted Walnuts recipe is from the book, One Girl Cookies by Dawn Casale and David Crofton; Clarkson Potter (January 2012). The recipe has also been published with the authors’ permission on Cooking Channel and also appears in various other recipe pages.]Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies with Walnuts
These cookies are everything you want in a shortbread cookie–buttery, crumbly–with the bonus of also being nutty and loaded with vanilla flavor.
Ingredients
Adapted from "One Girl Cookies" by Dawn Casale and David Crofton
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (6 ounces), room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (See Note)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
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Toast the chopped walnuts. You can either toast them in the oven for five to six minutes or what I do is toast them on medium-low heat on the stove in a cast iron skillet. Set aside in a bowl and allow to cool before using.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt then stir in the toasted, cooled walnuts.
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Using a hand mixer, in a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and cream cheese together until the mixture is light and fluffy, about three minutes. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined, about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour/nut mixture and mix on low for half a minute.
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Two options for shaping the cookies: 1) The original instructions call for using a small 1 1/2 inch scoop, forming a round and gently pressing the ball. Arrange one inch apart on the baking sheet. 2) I've found that dividing the dough in two and rolling each into a log (1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter )in plastic wrap works well, too. If you opt for this second method, place the wrapped logs in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until they're firm enough to slice easily. When ready to bake, slice in 1/2-inch disks and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are just lightly brown. They will remain pale-colored. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy.
Recipe Notes
Vanilla Extract: The original recipe uses 1 teaspoon. For a more pronounced vanilla flavor I use more and prefer vanilla bean paste when available.
All of your recent recipes sound so delicious!!! I’m sure your holiday gathering with be wonderful!!
Happy Holidays. Pam & Chip
Thank you, Pam!! And thank you for the holiday card. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!