Easy Snowball Cookies

Every Christmas, snowball cookies are presented either as a gift or as a table centerpiece. This cookie has many names, such as Mexican wedding cake, Russian tea cake, or sandy cookies. I do not know why this cookie has so many names. I guess it depends on who makes it and for what occasion.  For Christmas, they should be called snowballs because they look like snow.  I will share this easy recipe now so that everyone can prepare these cookies at any time.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 stick of butter (at room temperature)

1 cup total of roasted pecans or walnuts or both*

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Use a food processor to chop the nuts into small pieces (add 1 tbs flour into the nuts before grinding them to prevent them from becoming a paste).

Place soft butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and use a handheld blender to beat the mixture well or melt the butter and add to the flour, nuts, and vanilla and mix together with hands or spoon. Now the dough is ready to form the cookies.

I use a small ice cream scoop to scoop dough into a small ball (roll around to form a small ball).

Place on the baking tray and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cookies cool off and roll each ball in the powdered sugar. You may have to roll the cookies twice with powdered sugar to get the really "white snow" effect.

* I both types of nuts because I love them, but you can use one or the other.