I've always known these to be called Mexican Wedding Cookies, but I've discovered after a few years on Pinterest that they go by many other names. Italian Wedding Cookies, Snowballs, Southern Pecan Butterballs, and Russian Tea Cakes are just a few of the names I have heard them called.
No matter what you call them, they are truly simple and crazy delicious! My kind of cookie! I am not an elaborate baker. As a matter of fact, the kitchen and I are not great friends. I do however have a few things I love to make and these have become a holiday tradition in our house.
You only need a few simple ingredients, most of which I often have in the house.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1⁄4 cups sifted flour
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar (for rolling baked cookies in)
- optional: chopped pecans or walnuts (we don't bake with nuts so I leave them out)
Whisk the sifted flour and salt. After creaming the soften buttered with the powdered sugar and vanilla, slowly add flour mixture being careful not to over mix.
If the dough seems to soft to roll into balls place it in the fridge for just a few minutes to chill.
This scoop has become one of my favorite kitchen tools and I especially love it for baking! I use it for cookies, muffins, mini-brownies....you name it!
For this recipe I take one scoop of dough and the round the scoop just a tad and then place it on an ungreased cookie sheet. I use silicon baking mats on my cookie sheets, but you could also use parchment if you prefer.
I think the hardest part about making these cookies is knowing exactly when to take them out of the oven. The sweet spot for me is somewhere around 11 minutes. I take them out just before they look done, because I've found if I wait till I think they "look" done they are almost always a little too golden for my liking once cooled.
I leave them on the cookie sheet to cool for about 5 minutes. Then I toss each cookie in a BIG bowl of powdered sugar while they are still warm, being sure to coat each cookie well. Place them on a wire rack to cool completely, and then toss in the powdered sugar again for one final coating.
These cookies are often called Snowball Cookies and with good reason! They look like perfectly beautiful white, fluffy snowballs when finished. So much so, that your Elf on The Shelf just might want to bring some and suggest building a snowman with them!
If you happen to be in search of some additional ideas for your Elf on The Shelf check out these previous posts and visit my Pinterest Board and then scroll to download a free printable version of this recipe, and some free holiday bookmarks and gift tags too!
Follow Mom2punkerdoo's board Elf Antics on Pinterest.
Be sure to click to download this free printable recipe for Mexican Wedding Cookies and then hop on over to my visit my friends from Classroom Tested Resources for more delicious cookie recipes!
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I also call them sand tarts. LOVE these cookies.
ReplyDeleteSand tarts! I've never heard that one! I love them too Sandy. They disappear very quickly around here!
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