Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium bowl cream butter, margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla, stir to combine. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Place egg whites into a small bowl and whisk with a fork until frothy. Place chopped walnuts into a separate bowl.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Dip the balls into the egg white then roll them in the chopped walnuts. Place 1” apart on the baking sheet.

Using your thumb or the end of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and lightly press the center of the cookie again in case the indentation has risen in the oven. Cool completely

To make the cream cheese filling: In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and enough milk (1 – 2 tablespoons) to make a stiff filling.

Place filling in a zip-top bag with a small corner cut off (or use a piping bag) and fill the indentation of each cooled cookie with the filling. Top with an almond M&M (I place them writing side down so you don’t see the M on them).

If you want to freeze these for a couple of weeks, you can make and bake the shells and freeze them in a Ziplock bag or an airtight container before filling them. When you want to eat them, defrost on the counter in the container that you froze them in. Then fill them with the cream cheese filling and M&M.

Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Recipe can easily be halved if you don’t want a ton of these hanging around callin’ your name!

Note: Filling can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks.