Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies - Backyard Farmgals™
Christmas means cookies to me.  I always make oodles of cookies for my favorite people, friends that I adore, and my family that is so dear to me.  It has become a tradition at our house, two weeks before Christmas, the baking frenzy begins.  I start with the cookies that I can most easily freeze (to save my sanity), and work up to the delicate little bites of sugar and butter that have to be made the day before delivery.  After everything is made, unthawed, and the final touches applied, I wrap them all up in a box with a gorgeous ribbon and deliver to those most special people in my life.

Dough rolled into balls ready to be baked.  Backyard Farmgals™
The recipes that I use vary from year to year.  Some years are bright and colorful, some years are recipes from around the world, other years are earthy and simple, and last year was grown up and sophisticated.  I guess that my baking mood changes from year to year.  This year's list is looking very humble, earthy, and simple.  Somehow, I think that the cookies I make are a reflection on my life at the moment.

First cookie up for baking this year is the Mexican Wedding Cookie.  These are my dad's favorite cookie. They are simple and sweet and almost melt in your mouth...they have enough butter to melt in your mouth and go right to your hips!!!  I have local pecans from Hurricane, Utah that I am using, which give the cookies a little something extra special.

Mexican Wedding Cookies - Backyard Farmgals™
**A little note, if you are freezing these, coat them in powdered sugar right out of the oven, let them cool.  Layer them with parchment paper in a sealed container and then carefully place them in the freezer.  They are very fragile, so place them in an area where they won't be jostled around.  Before you deliver, thaw the cookies, and then give them a final coating of powdered sugar (the final coat will take care of any uneven powdered sugar or fingerprints in the sugar).**

Ready to freeze - Backyard Farmgals ™
These are sure to please those you love (and add a little lubrication to their lives with all of that butter)!

Mexican Wedding Cookies - Backyard Farmgals ™

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
Adapted from Cooks Catalog

1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts (try to use something local)
powdered sugar for coating

Method:

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add salt and vanilla. 

Slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture just until it forms a dough.  Add the chopped nuts and mix until just combined.  

Roll dough into 1/2-inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets about an inch apart.  

Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to set the dough.  Place in a 350º oven for 30 minutes.  

As soon as the cookies are done, roll them in powdered sugar.  Be careful, the cookies are extremely hot and fragile.  Place cookies on a cooling rack.  

Once the cookies have cooled completely, roll them in powdered sugar again.  

Makes about 50 cookies...depends on how much dough my children sneak from the bowl...

Off to the freezer - Backyard Farmgals™

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 10, 2014 at 3:39 PM

    Would freezing them for 2 months before consumption be too long?

    ReplyDelete

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