Cream Cheese Snowball Cookies - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup finely-chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco(R))
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift the confectioners' sugar into a shallow bowl, stir in the walnuts, and set aside.
Beat the shortening, butter, cream cheese, and sugar together in a bowl until the mixture is creamy and thoroughly blended. Mix in the almond extract, vanilla extract, and flour; stir to combine. Scoop up dough by rounded tablespoons, and roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies turn slightly golden at the edges, about 6 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 1 minute, then roll in the confectioners' sugar-walnut mixture while still a little warm.