First, set out your cream cheese and butter to soften and get juuust right for mixing I test for readiness by smushing it with the spoon. Pretty sophisticated method huh?
Then grind the grain for your flour
Then the sugar, and the homemade Tahitian Vanilla. Any really works well but I like to make my own. 🙂 I’m that kinda gal.
I like to mix in the spices with the butter and cream cheese. The moisture starts to release the aromas and flavours and the awesome!
Then cream it all together as best you can by hand
The add the “addins” this can be pretty much whatever you want. I added chopped walnuts and zante currants and come to think of it, a spoonful of chopped dates.
and a touch of fresh chopped lemon zest from fresh picked organic lemons grown on a friend’s land. 🙂
Then add in the flour mixture and just combine. you don’t want to over work this or any cookie dough, really. Overworking can turn a tender cookie into a hockey puck 🙂
Then roll into a log ( I made two) and place in plastic wrap. or place on plastic wrap and use the wrap to form it into a roll. Then chill either for an hour or overnight. I chilled mine overnight. 
then sliced into half inch rounds and baked! don’t they look pretty?
This is how they turned out! not too sweet though I did think they could use a drizzle or a dusting..maybe next time. 
- ½ lb butter
- 8 oz cream cheese
- ¼ c sugar (1/2 for sweeter cookies)
- 1 Tb vanilla or the caviar from one bean
- 2 c flour (I used half ap half ww)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- addins- currants, nuts, chips all optional but this would be a boring teacake without them 🙂
- Preheat oven to 350 (bake 15-20)
- Cream the butter, cheese and sugar together with the vanilla until combines, mix in the spices, then in another bowl, combine the dry ingredients then add to wet and just combine.
- roll into logs in plastic wrap or parchment then chill 2 hours to overnight. cut into coins ( I cut mine ½ inch) then bake on parchment 15-20 minutes. If you cut them thinner, this drastically cuts down on the time to be sure to watch the oven if you make them Very thin!
- Enjoy!
