Wedding Cookies aka Snowballs
Italian wedding cookies, Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, butterballs, snowballs—whatever you like to call them, critics agree; they’re a crowd-pleasing treasure no matter what corner of the globe you hail from. These delicate, sugar-dusted confections are nutty, rich, and buttery in flavor with a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth consistency similar to a shortbread cookie in texture. I can eat them all day.
What’s in a name? That which we call a cookie by any other name would taste as sweet
I personally like to make mine with pecans, but traditionally I’ve known them to be made with walnuts. Feel free to get creative with your cookies and toss in whatever nut you prefer, but I think pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds are the best options to use when baking Italian wedding cookies... Or Mexican wedding cookies. Uhh, Russian tea cakes. Actually, snowballs— wait, no, I mean butterballs. @#$%!
The kitchen smells amazing right now
It’s also a good idea to go the extra mile and toast the nuts before grinding them and adding them to the flour. It not only heightens the flavor but makes the nuts crunchier too. I highly recommend not skipping this step. It makes all the difference; trust me. I tossed my pecans with butter before toasting, but some people might like to add sugar or a drizzle of Amaretto or bourbon to dress the nuts before putting them in the oven.
This is my favorite part of the recipe because it makes my kitchen smell so good after. I mean, who needs a candle when you have a bag of nuts and a working oven?
I don’t know about you, but I love grinding things in a food processor
It sure as hell beats doing it by hand
Why is this so oddly satisfying?
Once your nut of choice is toasted, blend them in a food processor until finely ground and add them to your flour and salt mixture. Set them aside and combine the rest of your ingredients— the unsalted butter, sugar, and extract until they’re smooth and creamy.
Make sure everything is properly blended, so you don’t run into any hiccups later on. I’ve found that if the nuts aren’t ground fine enough, they will make the cookies crack. You can easily hide imperfections under a layer of powdered sugar, but it definitely pays to be mindful during these two steps.
You spin me
…right round, baby
…right round
Now that everything is completely mixed, cover the dough and put it into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or longer. This will make the dough easier to handle, and it will also help the cookies not overspread on the baking sheet. This step is important because it keeps the dough moist, helps retain the texture, and prevents the cookies from flattening and losing their shape.
Fresh out of the oven and ready to hit the powder
Make like Fred Durst and keep rollin’
I don’t like a lot of sugar on my cookies for health reasons, but if you prefer your desserts to be sweeter, roll the cookies in the powdered sugar while they’re still warm so the sugar can bind to the cookie. After you set them down on a drying rack and let them cool, roll the cookies around in the powdered sugar once more so that they’re entirely coated.
It's powdered sugar. It's delicious
If you want to get real fancy, line a tin with tissue paper and place the cookies into small baking cups inside the box. If you don’t have any patience like me, stack them onto a pretty serving dish or shove them all into your mouth and keep eating until you can’t get up from your couch. Whatever works, but keep in mind that these cookies are messy. The powdered sugar will cover your nice black hoodie in fresh snow so maybe wear a bib or dress accordingly!
It’s impossible to only eat one
Dainty in texture, strong in flavor
Cookie Ingredients
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of toasted, ground pecans
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract (or vanilla)
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting
1/2 teaspoon of salt
(optional): 1/2 teaspoon of ground anise or anise extract(optional): Or alternatively, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Toasted Pecan Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of pecans
2 tablespoons of butter
(optional): Sugar to sprinkle(optional): Amaretto or bourbon to drizzle
Toasted Pecan Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over 1 1/2 cups of pecans, tossing the nuts until evenly coated.
Lay the pecans out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast for 20 minutes, tossing the pecans halfway.
Cookie Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Finely grind pecans and combine with flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside for later.
Using an electric mixer, combine butter, sugar, and extract until creamy.
On low, gradually add in flour and pecans until all the ingredients are blended well.
Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or longer.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, roll the dough into one-inch balls, separating them by a couple of inches in between.
Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Remove the cover and bake the cookies for 13 or 14 minutes maximum, rotating halfway. Do NOT over-bake.
Let the cookies cool, or alternatively, if you like your cookies sweeter, roll them around the powdered sugar while they’re still warm first, and then set them aside to cool.
Pour powdered sugar into a bowl and roll around the cookies until they’re completely coated.
