These buttery cookies, called Mexican wedding cakes, are served at festive occasions. Cookies similar to Mexican wedding cakes are found around the world with different names: Russian tea cakes, Viennese snowballs, and Greek kourambiedes, to name a few.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Add 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and mix together until smooth.
Blend in the vanilla.
Finely chop the pecans.
Stir the flour, salt, and pecans together in a bowl.
Add to the mixture in three stages and blend thoroughly.
Break off walnut-size pieces of the dough and shape into balls.
Place on the cookie sheet, leaving 1 inch of space between the cookies.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and set.
Let the cookies cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the cookie sheet.
Sift 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar onto another cookie sheet.
Transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet that has the sugar.
Sift the remaining 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar over them.
Let the cookies cool completely.
Roll them in the confectioners’ sugar.
Store with the confectioners’ sugar in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Per serving: Calories 141 (From fat 79); Fat 9g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 17mg; Sodium 6mg; Carbohydrate 15g (Dietary fiber 1g); Protein 1g.
