With the colder weather of winter, I originally was looking for a nice, hot soup recipe, but then decided that we rarely make soup. So I thought I would do a cookie recipe as baking cookies can be a great activity to do when it is cold outside. These cookies are called Snowball cookies but they go by many other names – Italian wedding cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, and Pecan balls to name a few. I remember making these every Christmas as a kid. Yummy!!!
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Ingredients
1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 cup powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In stand mixer cream butter and powdered sugar. Turn to low and mix in salt, vanilla, flour and pecans. Roll into one inch balls. Place on parchment covered baking sheets a few inches part. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until very lightly browned. Do not over bake
- Remove from oven and allow to cool just enough to handle them. Pour 1 cup powdered sugar in large Ziploc bag or in a wide bowl. Gently add 3-4 cookies at a time and roll them gently in the bottom of the bag. Use fork to scoop under each cookie and gently shake to remove excess powdered sugar. Place on cooling racks. Once completely cooled roll in powdered sugar bag again.
Yield: 30-36 cookies
Into Another World 