Faith&Samuel: Snowballs

I haven’t done a ton of Christmas baking this year. The days seem to just be scurrying right along and with all the activities going on, it has been trickier to find the time to fit it all in. I guess my waistline will appreciate it even though my tummy doesn’t. ;)

One holiday treat I love making with Tess is Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Snowballs….whatever you choose to call them. The list of ingredients you need is minimal which is so nice when keeping a little one focused. However, the mess is maximum so make sure you’re ready for some good not-so-clean fun!

Here’s my recipe. I’m not quite sure where it originally came from; maybe my grandma? Regardless, here ya go!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I usually use pecans or almonds)
powdered sugar for rolling (lots!)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Mix butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Stir in the nuts. If dough is too soft, chill it in the fridge for a bit.

3. Scoop or roll balls of dough and place on cookie sheet.

4. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes until bottoms are just slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool for just a minute, until you can handle them. Fill a small bowl with powdered sugar and roll each cookie in the sugar until coated.

5. Place on a rack to cool.

6. Once cookies are cooled, I re-roll them in more powdered sugar!

I never seem to get the bake time quite right even after all these years. When it says to wait until the bottom is slightly brown; don’t. They keep cooking and they are oh so fragile. (Mine are too crispy again this year; whoops!)

Here’s the fun part; rolling them in powdered sugar! I always do the first “roll” because the cookies need to still be warm for the sugar to stick. After that, it’s a free for all for Tess and she goes wild!