Christmas cookie season has descended and for me, it descended while I was home.  My mom recently broke her finger and cooking for her has been somewhat of a slow process, to say the least. She asked if I would make her cookie exchange cookies for her while I was home, and I happily agreed.

These are one of two “Jones Family Cookies” as we put it, the other being Polish chruscikis (which I will show here eventually, don’t worry). Everyone has their version of this cookie – from ingredients to name to shape, but the base is an almost shortbread-like cookie with finely ground nuts in the dough and then rolled in powdered sugar. And these are no different. My mom uses pecans and other than that, these are some of the easiest cookies ever.  The only messy part is rolling them in powdered sugar, but hey – that’s a fun mess, right?

 

 

—

My Mom’s Snowballs (Mexican Wedding Cakes)

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted sweet cream butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup very finely chopped pecans
• More powdered sugar for rolling (about 2 cups)

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 375° F with rack set in center of the oven. Line at least 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2.) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, pecans, and salt and beat until combined, but still somewhat crumbly. The dough should be very loose, but stick when you press it together.

3.) Using either a cookie scoop or your hands, measure out 2-teaspoon sized portions and roll into balls. Set close together on cookie sheets. I can usually fit about 28 cookies (7 rows of 4) on  large sheet, so you only have to bake 2 sets.

4.) Bake 10-12 minutes until the cookies are fragrant and the bottoms are golden brown. This can be tricky – the tops will look almost raw but feel dry to the touch and be heated through.

5.) Let cool 5 minutes, then roll in the powdered sugar. Set aside to cool completely.

6.) Once all the cookies are cooked and rolled in the first round of powdered sugar then cooled, re-roll them in a second coating.  Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight container.

8 Responses to “snowballs (mexican wedding cakes)”