A Cookie by Any Other Name

Oh, the holidays. A time of gluttonous indulgence, where more butter and cream is required and everyone’s pants start getting a little tighter. Holiday foods like cookies and cakes, roasts and potatoes make my palette happy, though illicit a deeper fear of the scale. A healthier recipe will be posted later this week, but until then…

Please stare at these temptations. They are worth the extra salad and additional 20 minutes on the treadmill you must endure in order to eat them. I made these for the office, and the vultures tore through the whole bag in less than two hours. These Mexican Wedding Cookies are traditional holiday fare; some of you may know them as Russian Tea Cakes (just omit th cinnamon and they change nationalities). I have also heard these called Italian Wedding Cookies or German Tea Cakes. Call them whatever you want…they will disappear quite quickly no matter how you name them. The ground nuts create a crumbly texture and how can one go wrong with two sticks of butter? These have quickly become my favorite cookie to make.

Mexican Wedding Cakes
Adapted from Epicurious by Smitten Kitchen (and then adapted by me again)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup pecans toasted and finely ground (can use walnuts or hazelnuts, but I prefer pecans)

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. Beat in flour, then nuts. Divide dough in half; form each half into ball. Wrap separately in plastic; chill until cold, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and cinnamon, if using, in pie dish to blend. Set cinnamon sugar aside.

Working with half of chilled dough, roll dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between palms into balls. Arrange balls on heavy large baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheet. Gently toss warm cookies in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough. (Cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature; reserve remaining cinnamon sugar.)

Sift remaining cinnamon sugar over cookies and serve.

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