Mexican Wedding Cookies

I love Mexican food.   I love the Mexican culture.  I love the history, minus The Mayans saying the world is going to end this year.  You might have seen a little bit of my love with the taco recipes I’ve shared.  Tacos for breakfast, tacos for a veggie lunch, tacos during vacation (well mexican), tacos, tacos, tacos.  We really make tacos at least once a week,  I need to share more recipes with you. I need to make more recipes for you.

Yes, my love is a little coated with tex-mex.  I’ve had real authentic dishes and boy are they good.  My Mexican cousin, who won’t share her secret recipes, has cooked a few times (well my aunt really).  I’m gonna have to go live in Mexico to learn them or figure out how to bribe my cousin.   I think I’m just gonna have to get her drunk of tequila and steal her family cookbook.  Uuummmm….

Well, anyway, right before we left we met up for a little dinner and a dessert just for her.  She loves Mexican wedding cookies, she asked me to make her some, as I had made them before.   I couldn’t locate my previous recipe, so a quick search on Epicurious occurred.   What caught my attention about the recipe I found was the powder sugar mixed with cinnamon.  Hello ?! such a simple thing, why didn’t I think of that before??

These cookies are great for a sweet powdery treat.  You can taste a bit of the chopped pecans, and the cinnamon.  You can make them for Christmas and call them snowballs  or make them smaller for a gumdrop sized treat.  I love them, after a yummy Mexican dish, or just with some tea.

And I’m still in search for an authentic Mexican cookbook, need one for the collection.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Recipe from Epicurious- Bon Appetit 2003

• 2 sticks of butter (room temperature)
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of pecans- lightly toasted then finely chopped
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Using a non-stick pan set on medium-high heat, toast the pecans for about  5 minutes.  Flipping over every 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool, then chop them using a sharp knife.  I tried to chop as finely as I could, if it’s a little course it’s okay.  I like the cookies to have character

Now, get your electric mixer and the paddle attachment, mix the butter until creamy and fluffy.  Add in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and the vanilla, mix until combined.  Add in the flour, and pecans.

Set up two large squares of plastic wrap on your counter.  Divide the dough in half in the mixer bowl, and place each half in the center of each plastic wrap square.  Shape into a ball as you gather the plastic wrap.  Place the balls in your fridge and let them sit for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Grab a pie dish and whisk the remaining powder sugar and cinnamon, set aside.  Now grab one of the chilled balls and begin working small balls.  I made mine a little large, size of a small ball.  You can make them the size of a quarter so they are small

Place onto a non-greased cookie sheet. Keep them about 1/2 inch apart.  Bake until the tops are a little golden brown, about 18 minutes.   Let the cookies cool a minute before removing them from the sheet, or else they will fall apart.  Place them in the pie dish with the cinnamon sugar and toss.  Let them continue cooling in a separate plate.

Let the cookie sheets cool before continuing to bake cookies.  Use all the cookie dough

You can make these a day ahead, store in an airtight container coated with any remaining cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy

~M