Title: Peppermint candy cookies
 Categories: Christmas, Cookies and
      Yield: 36 Servings
 
 
        1 c  butter -- softened
      1/2 c  confectioner's sugar
        1 ts vanilla
    2 1/2 c  flour, all-purpose
      1/2 c  walnuts -- chopped
  :          candy mixture
      1/4 lb peppermint candy -- crushed
      1/2 c  confectioner's sugar
  :          The Filling
        2 TB cream cheese -- softened
        1 ts milk
        1 dr red food coloring
      1/2 c  confectioner's sugar
        3 TB candy mixture -- see above
  
  Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until fluffy. Add the
  flour and walnuts and blend to form dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and
  chill for 1 hour.
  
  Candy mixture: In a small bowl combine both ingredients. Set aside.
  Three tablespoons of this mixture is used in the filling and the
  remainder is used to garnish the cookies.
  
  The filling: In a bowl blend together the cream cheese, milk, food
  coloring and the conf. sugar until smooth. Blend in 3 T of the cnady
  mixture.
  
  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and for each cookie pinch off a
  rounded teaspoon of the dough. Form into a ball and shape around your
  thumb to make a little compartment in the middle. Place about 1/4
  teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in the depression. Pinch the
  dough back together and roll it back into a ball. Repeat the process
  with the remaining dough and filling. Place the balls on a nonstick
  cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 10-12 minutes. Do not
  brown.
  
  Remove cookies to a cooling rack.  To garnish, roll the cooled
  cookies in the remaining candy mixture.