Cherry Dots - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
34 candied cherries
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in milk and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour and salt.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces, and shape each half into a 12 inch roll on a sheet of waxed paper. Place 17 candied cherries side by side on top of each roll, and press into the roll until the cherries are centered. Mold dough around cherries. Sprinkle the outside evenly with chopped walnuts. Wrap the dough in the waxed paper, and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cut each roll into 1/4 inch slices, and place the slices onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes.