It's Christmas in July here in the kitchen this week

We're having a triple play in the kitchen today.  Every year my grandmother would make these traditional cookies for Christmas but I happen to think they make awesome summer cookies too.  So today in the kitchen we are going to celebrate Christmas in July with some Kolacky, Thumbprint Cookies and Nut Roll!

The great thing about today's recipes is one dough does it all.  So get your Santa hats on and let's head into the kitchen for some yum!


The Dough:
6 oz. cream cheese
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour

The Kolacky & Thumb Prints:
1/2 cup preserves(various flavors) (NOTE: I like to use apricot & raspberry but you can also use some additional cream cheese sweetened with honey or sugar or apple butter is tasty in these too...whatever preserves you like will taste great)

The Nut Log:
1/2 pound ground walnuts
1/2 stick margarine softened (Note from the kitchen: yes I know I said margarine and not butter, for whatever reason I do prefer margarine in this)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp maple extract 
1/8 cup warm milk (i just leave my milk out while I'm working on everything else and don't actually warm it)

For everything:
1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

For the dough:
Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. 
Slowly add flour  until well blended. 
Shape into a 2 balls and chill overnight.

OK let's do this!
Preheat oven to 350.
Roll both dough balls out to 1/8" thick on a surface dusted with powdered sugar (you can use flour if you like but the powdered sugar makes it taste better) and square off.  

Roll any of the cast off from squaring the dough into 1" balls.

Cut one of the dough portions into 2" squares and place 1/2 tsp of preserves on an angle down the center. 
Overlap opposite corners and pinch together. 
Place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. 
Let cool. 
Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Place any 1" balls on cookie sheet and place a thumb print in each to flatten
Fill each thumb print with preserves

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. 
Let cool

Last but not least the nut log:
Mix together all ingredients as above and place in the center of the last portion of dough.
Slightly overlap the two sides and the flip the whole thing seam side down onto an ungreased pan.
Cut small slits in the top in a pattern so that your nut log is pretty ( I like to cut on an angle every 1/4 inch)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. 
Let cool. 
Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

And there you have it my lovelies...Merry Christmas in July!

Special smooches to Sister Cid for once again inspiring my blog this week!!!