mexican wedding cookies

Hold the Macarons!!! I didn't have much time today to experiment with the Macarons so I quickly whipped up a batch of Mexican Wedding Cookies (aka Russian Tea Cakes, Butterballs, Snowballs, Italian Butter Nuts, etc...). Every Christmas (9 years and counting...), one of Mom's customers bakes these sweet melt-in-your-mouth treats for us. They're soft and buttery like shortbread, with a pleasant nutty crunch.

During my trip to San Francisco in early December, Mike and I baked the Christmas version of Mexican Wedding cookies with pistachios and dried cherries (get it? green pistachios and red cherries=Christmas colors? haha! ). They were delicious thanks to Mike's excellent baking skills. The smooth nuttiness of the pistachio went really well with the tartness of the cherry. They were addictive but we made sure to have just one a day due to the 2 cups of butter that went into the whole batch... oh WHY must they be so unhealthy!? (as I bite into another one...)

Here is the recipe that I used for this batch (adapted from joyofbaking.com):

2/3 cup (65 grams) toasted nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans)

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1 teaspoon (2 grams) pure vanilla extract

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1 cup (110 grams) powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar, sifted

Toast Nuts til golden. Cool completely. Grind in food processor or blender with 1-2 Tbsp of flour from your 2 Cups so that the nuts don't stick or become pasty.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the remaining flour and salt and beat until combined. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour or until firm.

Form the dough into 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls and place them 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove and cool completely. Roll cookies in confectioners sugar.

Tip: Be careful not to touch the cookies while they're hot because they are delicate and crumble easily. Also make sure the cookies are cool before covering in powdered sugar because the sugar will melt.

i think i've had my share of cookies for today... (gotta hit the gym tonight!)
Bon appetite! :-)