Recipe: Cream Cheese Christmas Cookies

Cream Cheese Christmas Cookies
From: Betty.Athens,.Ga.

These cookies look as pretty as you will ever find!

1 cup butter
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans -- finely chopped
red & green sugar crystals
pecan halves

In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla. With electric mixer at med. speed, beat until light and fluffy. In med. sized bowl, combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. On four sheets of aluminum foil, shape dough into four 6-inch rolls, 1 1/2-inch in diameter. Wrap each roll tightly in foil and refrigerate over night. Preheat oven to 325*F. Line cookie sheets with foil. Remove rolls of dough from fridge one at a time. Coat each roll with red or green sugar crystals; cut dough into 1/4 in. slices. Place on prepared cookie sheets; top each cookie with a pecan half. Bake for 15 min to 18 min, or until bottom of cookie is lightly browned when lifted. These look so nice for Christmas.