Recipe - Philly Cream Cheese Cookie Dough

1 pack Cream Cheese; (8 Oz.)
softened
Three fourths cup Butter
1 cup Powdered sugar
2 One fourth cup Flour
One half teaspoon Baking soda

Beat cream cheese, butter and sugar in large mixing bowl at medium speed
with electric mixer until well blended. Add flour and soda; mix well. 3
cups dough

Chocolate Mint Cutouts:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add One fourth teaspoon mint extract and few drops
green food coloring to 1 One half cups Cookie Dough; mix well. Chill 30 minutes.
On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4inch thickness; Cut with
assorted 3inch cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to
12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool on wire rack.

Melt 'A cup mint flavored semisweet chocolate chips in small saucepan over
low heat, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Approximately 3
dozen

Prep time: 20 minutes plus chilling Cooking time: ~2 minutes per batch

Variation: Sprinkle cookies with nonpareils before baking.

Snowmen:

Preheat oven to 325'. Add One fourth teaspoon vanilla to 1 One half cups Cookie Dough;
mix well. Chill 30 minutes. For each snowman, shape dough into two small
balls, one slightly larger than the other. Place balls, slightly
overlapping, on ungreased cookie sheet; flatten with bottom of glass.
Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden
brown. Cool on wire rack. Sprinkle each snowman with sifted powdered sugar.
Decorate with icing as desired. Cut miniature peanut butter cups in half
for hats. Approximately 2 dozen

Prep time: 15 minutes plus chilling and decorating Cooking time: 20 minutes
per batch

Coco Orange Slices:

Preheat oven to 325". Add 1 One half teaspoons grated orange peel to 1 One half cups
Cookie Dough; mix well. Shape into 8 x 1 1/2" log. Chill 30 minutes. Cut
log into 1/4inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 18
minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool on wire rack. Melt 1/3 cup
BAKER'S SemiSweet Real Chocolate Chips with 1 tablespoon orange juice and
1 tablespoon orange flavored liqueur in small saucepan over low heat,
stirring until smooth. Dip cookies into chocolate mixture. Approximately 2
One half dozen

Preserve Thumbprints:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add One half cup chopped pecans and One half teaspoon
vanilla to 1 One half cups Cookie Dough; mix well. Chill 30 minutes. Shape dough
into 1inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Indent centers; fill
each with 1 teaspoon Kraft Preserves. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until light
golden brown. Cool on wire rack. 3 One half dozen

Prep time: 15 minutes plus chilling Cooking time: 16 minutes per batch

Chocolate Candy Thumbprints:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add One half cup chopped pecans and One half teaspoon
vanilla to 1 One half cups Cookie Dough; mix well. Chill 30 minutes. Shape dough
into 1inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Indent centers. Bake 14
to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately place milk chocolate
candy kiss in center of each cookie. let stand 1 to 2 minutes or until
chocolate is slightly softened; spread over top of cookies. Cool on wire
rack. 3 One half dozen

Prep time: 15 minutes plus chilling Cooking time: 16 minutes per hatch
Posted to recipeludigest Volume 01 Number 220 by "Diane Geary"
diane@keyway.net on Nov 8, 1997