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Mexican Wedding Cookies

5.0(1881)

This recipe was brought to The Times in a 1990 article about traditional Christmas cookies, but we think these butter-rich confections are delicious any time of year. Sometimes called Mexican wedding cakes (or polvorones or Russian tea cakes or snowballs), their provenance is often debated, but this much is true: they are dead-simple to make and addictive to eat. This version is done completely in a food processor, so you can clean-up in minutes, and get to the important business at hand: eating cookies and licking your fingers.

by Dena Kleiman·published 1990-12-19

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MexicanDessert

Servings

2 dozen

Total time

35 min

Calories / serving

164 kcal

Ingredients (6)

serves

1/2 cup pecan halvespecan
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugarsugar
pinch of saltsalt
1 cup unsalted butterbutter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extractvanilla-extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flourflour

Instructions (4 steps)

01Put pecans, 1 cup of the sugar and salt in food processor and blend until nuts are ground fine. Cut the butter into tablespoon-size pieces and add it to nut mixture with processor running. Process until smooth. Add vanilla extract. Add flour and continue blending, using pulse mechanism of processor.
02Scrape dough into a bowl. Cover tightly and refrigerate one hour. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
03Scoop dough with tablespoon and form 1-inch balls by rolling dough between palms (lightly flour hands, if necessary). Place balls 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
04Bake 15 minutes or until the cookies barely begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes. Use small spatula to lift cookies from sheets. Roll the cookies in the remaining sugar.

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Rich recipe — supports nutrition-aware planning.