Christmas is the feast commemorating the birth of Christ. It is fixed in the liturgical year as December 25th and is preceded by four week of fasting called Advent.Peppermint Cookie Balls
The dough:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
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 for the Garnish:
- ¼ lb. of peppermint candy
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
In a small bowl, combine both ingredients. Set aside. Three tablespoons of this mixture will be used in the filling and the remainder is used to garnish cookie balls.
The Filling:
- 2 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp. milk
- 1 drop red food coloring
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tbsp. candy mixture
In a bowl, blend together the cream cheese, milk, food coloring, and the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Blend in the 3 tbsp. candy mixture.
Remove the dough from the fridge and for each cookie pinch off a rounded teaspoon of the dough. Form into a ball and shape the dough around your thumb to make a little compartment in the middle. Place about ¼ tsp. of the cream cheese filling in the depression. Pinch the dough back together and roll it back into a ball. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and filling. Place the balls on a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not brown.
Remove the cookie balls to a cooling rack. To garnish, roll the cooled cookie ball in the remaining candy mixture.
