Mexican Wedding Cookies

My Grandmother called me today and said that she was going to try making Walnut Balls.  I know these round cookies that are covered in powdered sugar as Mexican Wedding Cookies.  The call from my Grandmother inspired me to find a recipe and make them myself.  Instead of going online and doing a search or visiting one of my favorite cooking websites, I decided to visit my cookbook library.  The main requirement in my search was that I needed all of the ingredients already in my pantry.  I decided on the Nutball recipe from Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book.  Now if that title doesn't grab you, I can't help you!  I've made a few of Rosie's recipes and when I saw she had what I was looking for it was easy to decide to try her recipe.  The original recipe called for walnuts, but I had a bag of chopped pecans and decided the pecans would work out just fine.

Nutballs
Yields 2 dozen cookies

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or leave them ungreased.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.  Stop the mixer once or twice to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour and mix on low speed until it is blended in, about 45 seconds.  Scrape the bowl once or twice during mixing.

Add the nuts and mix until well blended, about 10 seconds.

Measure out generously rounded teaspoonfuls of dough and roll them into balls with your hands.  Place these balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies until they just begin to turn golden, about 30 minutes.  To test for doneness, remove one cookie from the sheet and cut it in half.  There should be no doughy strip in the center.

Roll the cookies in the powdered sugar while they are still hot, then cool on the cookie sheets.  Serve them when they have cooled.

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