Snowball Cookies

A tender melt-in-your-mouth pecan shortbread cookie recipe - also called Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cakes - perfect for holiday baking!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. JUMP TO THE RECIPE
2. WHY ARE THEY CALLED MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES AND RUSSIAN TEA CAKES?
3. 8 RECIPE NOTES WORTH READING
4. MORE HOLIDAY SWEETS TO TRY

These are my all-time favorite cookies! EVER!  And that kinda blows my mind because you’d think my all-time favorite would have some chocolate in them somewhere. But nope. These are in the #1 spot.

They literally MELT in your mouth.

Paired with a cup of hot tea or coffee?? Man, dang, that's good stuff right there!

I can remember going to Aunt Teeny's house at Christmas and heading STRAIGHT for these cookies (then to the Sausage Balls) and being blissfully satisfied.

I'd have powdered sugar all over my sweater and fingers like a pudgy little fiend. I'm pretty sure there's a Polaroid somewhere with that exact likeness.

Aunt Teeny was actually my dad's aunt but I loved going to her house because A) her granddaughter was one of my favorite cousin's and she was always there too and B) Aunt Teeny had a hair salon built in to her garage so we would play and play and PLAY in her swivel chairs and with all the fantastical stuff like hot rollers and industrial strength Aqua Net. 

WHY ARE THEY CALLED MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES AND RUSSIAN TEA CAKES?

There is no definitive answer to this question but the theory that pops up more than others (and that makes sense to me) is that they were most commonly called Russian Tea Cakes until the Cold War then folks didn't like the communist moniker and started calling them wedding cookies which then morphed into Mexican Wedding Cookies. They're all the same cookies except that you will often find walnuts used in Russian Tea cake recipes instead of pecans.

8 RECIPE NOTES WORTH READING

1. You MUST use real butter in these.
2. If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 full teaspoon (I use salted butter in this and in all of my recipes).
3. You'll want finely chopped nuts in these. I find the ones you can buy that are already chopped to be too chunky for this recipe. If you have those, simply chop them down more with a chef's knife or run them through a nut grinder.
4. I've never roasted my pecans before making this recipe. I find that the low and slow baking method brings out their flavor nicely without the need to roast them
5. I use a cookie scoop to portion these out and leave them flat on the bottom. The scoop makes perfect little domes and I don't have to worry about them rolling around on the pan.
6. These don't expand too much when baked (no leavening ingredients) so you can place them pretty close together (I usually shoot for about 1.5 inches apart). 
7. Keep an eye on these around the 30-minute mark. You want to take them out of the oven when the bottom is JUST starting to brown.
8. You can dust these with powdered sugar right in the pan, move them to a cooling rack or roll them around in the sugar but you'll want to do it when they're still a bit warm for the sugar to stick the best.

MORE HOLIDAY SWEETS TO TRY

Below are the sweet treats I make every year for Christmas. I'd love to know your favorites too so comment below and share your baking list!

WHITE CHOCOLATE TRASH - A sweet and salty snack mix made with chex cereal, pretzels, peanuts, M&M’s and white chocolate. h

THE VERY BEST THUMBPRINT COOKIES - A tried-and-true family recipe with the perfect cookie dough base filled with fruit jam or preserves. 

AVALANCHE BOMBS - An easy no-bake recipe that’s somewhere between rice krispy treats and peanut butter fudge. 

JIM JAM COOKIES - An old-fashioned heirloom cookie recipe for molasses cookie sandwiches filled with raspberry jam. 

EASY GERMAN CHOCOLATE FUDGE - A simple, fool-proof recipe for chocolate fudge layered with coconut pecan German chocolate filling. 

COCONUT MACAROON KISSES - A tender and light recipe for chewy coconut cookies topped with Hershey’s Kiss chocolate drops. 

Recipe for How to Cook Snowball Cookies

Snowball Cookies

Yield: 24 Cookies

Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

A tender melt-in-your-mouth pecan shortbread cookie recipe - also called Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cakes - perfect for holiday baking!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (see notes)
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• Additional powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth and creamy. 1 cup butter, 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 tsp)
3. Slowly add flour, mixing on low to combine. 1.75 c. flour
4. Mix in pecans. 1 c. pecans
5. Roll into 1-inch balls or use a cookie scoop then bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 275 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until cookies just start to brown on the bottom.
6. Remove cookies from oven. Cool 5 minutes then dust with or roll in additional powdered sugar. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Notes

• If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 full teaspoon.
• You MUST use real butter in these.
• You'll want finely chopped nuts in these. I find the ones you can buy that are already chopped to be too chunky for this recipe. If you have those, simply chop them down more with a chef's knife or run them through a nut grinder.
• These don't expand too much when baked (no leavening ingredients) so you can place them pretty close together (I usually shoot for about 1.5 inches apart). 
• Keep an eye on these around the 30-minute mark. You want to take them out of the oven when the bottom is JUST starting to brown.
• More notes and tips are listed in the post above the recipe card.

https://www.southyourmouth.com/2013/12/snowball-cookies.html

Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2013

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