Cream-Cheese Walnut Cookies

163 Ratings
  • 5 35
  • 4 58
  • 3 49
  • 2 17
  • 1 4

Package some of these buttery, nut-edged cookies in a pretty jar as a gift.

Martha Stewart Living, December 2004

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Recipe Summary

Yield:
Makes about 4 dozen
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in sugar and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Mix in toasted walnuts.

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  • Transfer dough to a work surface. Divide in half; shape each half into an 8 1/2-inch long log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes or up to 2 weeks.

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Unwrap 1 log, and roll in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, coating completely. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

  • Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden around edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Repeat with remaining log and remaining 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Cook's Notes

The dough can be shaped into logs and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

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Reviews (27)

163 Ratings
  • 5 35
  • 4 58
  • 3 49
  • 2 17
  • 1 4
Martha Stewart Member
11/15/2017
This recipe is da bomb! I made these one Christmas, and now I need to bring them every year. My family doesn't care about any other cookie that I bring, just these! They are not difficult to make and aren't too sweet.
Martha Stewart Member
03/23/2017
Awesome cookies and really easy to make. I made them and froze them so all I had to do was slice and bake when needed. I was able to get walnuts to stick on the log by letting it sit at room temp for about 30 minutes. The outside was soft and sticky and easily held the chopped walnuts. The texture is tender and flakey. They are not very sweet and perfect for coffee or tea. My family loves them.
Martha Stewart Member
12/13/2015
LOVE these cookies at the holidays. They are like shortbread but much more consistent. I have not been able to get the nuts on the outside to stick so I am going to try dipping them in chocolate. Yum!
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Martha Stewart Member
12/08/2011
A Christmas 'must have' around our house. If you don't have a powerful mixer, mix the dough with your clean hands by squeezing it together until it forms a ball and then roll into log shapes. Excellent for freezing ahead. These are one of our 'most requested' cookies for the local cookie exchange.
Martha Stewart Member
10/31/2011
However did you work with this sticky dough to shape it?
Martha Stewart Member
02/05/2010
these were great! buttery and crisp. Excellent with black coffee! i agree: be careful with amt of salt you put in, they can get quite salty if you over estimate.
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Martha Stewart Member
01/17/2010
Oh YUM! As I always do with a new recipe (so far so good) I make a quarter batch. I simply followed the directions using as close to 1/4 of each ingredient. I also didn't roll, freeze, etc. I made balls of the dough, pressed down with a fork and baked the same time at the same temp. OH MY - were they good - coarse salt and all. unsalted butter is a must. I also used almonds rather than walnuts. nicely sweet. only slightly salty, crunchy and soft centered -- gotta make a full
Martha Stewart Member
01/16/2010
To Jnetti: They were out of this world with macadamias. The nuts toasted up very nicely and had a lovely flavor. I then tried chopped almond slivers, which were also good, but the macadamias were best.
Martha Stewart Member
01/01/2009
they are a delicius and soft cookies like shortbread
Martha Stewart Member
12/22/2008
Gee, I don't see any leavening in this recipe..no eggs...no baking soda or baking powder..what are these things little bricks?? I mean how can they be soft at all, or are they hard cookies? No eggs or other leavening to me shows a rather hard cement like cookie? am I right? salt for what...no leavening here to react with..confused here...
Martha Stewart Member
12/21/2008
All I tasted was salt. These are definitely not my thing. I dipped them in melted chocolate to try to mask it but it did not work. I used coarse kosher salt by the way.
Martha Stewart Member
12/20/2008
That's odd, it cut off 1/2 of my post. Anyhow, after I frosted them, I dusted them with toasted walnut crumbs, and they were divine!
Martha Stewart Member
12/20/2008
I made these last week, but I topped them with a cream cheese frosting
Martha Stewart Member
12/20/2008
I, too, loved these cookies. I had some problem, however, when taking the cookies from the freezer, the dough did not adhere to the walnut pieces. I let it thaw a bit more and it worked out just fine after that. Excellent!
Martha Stewart Member
12/10/2008
I made these cookies last night, they are wonderful. I love the texture, they are not too sweet which I like also.
Martha Stewart Member
12/05/2008
Yes that would mean Kosher Salt, or the large grained salt which now is more readily available. Measurements for coarse salt would differ from normal table salt. If using regular table salt I would cut the amount in half. Yes on the regular beaters in place of paddle or whisk attachment. Most of these recipes are made using the Kitchen Aid Mixer. Regular beaters would do just fine.
Martha Stewart Member
12/04/2008
Try dipping one edge in melted chocolate and then roll in the chopped nuts... Killer and beautiful also! poopshinsmom
Martha Stewart Member
12/04/2008
My mixer does not have a paddle or whisk attachment. Can I still do these recipes with the regular beaters?
Martha Stewart Member
12/02/2008
Actually I have a question.The recipe asks for course salt,do they mean Kosher salt?I'll Be making them this week.can't wait!!!!!
Martha Stewart Member
12/02/2008
This is one of my favorite cookie recipe. I make them up ahead of time and wrap them and freeze them. They are easy and soooo good. They keep for a few weeks too. I don't use so much salt since my little dog who is now in doggy heaven had heart failure. Use what feels right to you. I love the idea of using chopped macadamia nuts.
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
BTW, I'm making these this weekend using chopped macadamias instead of the walnuts. I'll keep you posted on how they turned out. SMD
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
Mykele is correct about the salt. Also, the recipe calls for UNSALTED butter. If you're using SALTED butter (which I hope you're not), omit the salt.
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
Ladies, about the salt quantity.....it is indeed correct. For any recipe regular table salt is finer grained and packs more saltiness to a recipe than Coarse or Kosher salt. Always use twice as much Kosher as table salt. I am a real follower of the America's Test Kitchen PBS show...they are experts whom I trust.
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
Wow 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt is not very much for 4 dozen cookies plus the recipe did not mentions Kosher salt, it says course salt. I thought the proportions were fine.
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
Am SO GLAD you mentioned about the salt. Kosher salt seems to explode with taste and a little goes a long way. Almost humorously, Martha (and other TV chefs) add a generous pinch with quite a flair and then add more. This is dangerous; hypertension, fluid retention, etc. Grammababy
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2008
I've found that coarse or "Kosher" salt is saltier than regular table salt. AND that many times Martha's recipes call for more salt than I like personally. It's all a matter of individual taste, apparently. SO, I usually cut down the salt in her recipes. I liked the fact that these cookies weren't too sweet. Again, individual taste.
Martha Stewart Member
09/24/2008
These cookies were excellent. Except that we felt they needed about more sugar and less salt. Thanks
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