Italian Wedding Cookies

Tonkcats's Note:

Also sometimes called 'Mexican wedding cookie', 'Russian tea cakes', or 'butterballs', can also be shaped into crescents. You can also substitute pecans and they are very good as well. This is the best version of these I have ever seen, it was given me by a friend who grew up in central Europe.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 80 cookies

• 1 ½ cups butter or 1 ½ cups margarine , unsalted
• ¾ cup confectioners' sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups almonds , finely ground
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour , sifted
• confectioners' sugar (extra)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
2. Cream butter or margarine in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add almonds and vanilla.
4. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
5. Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Do not brown.
7. Cool slightly, then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.

Reviews

[Kim]

The Cookies were really good. They were like a shortbread cookie. But I did not use the almonds. I used Fishers nut topping instead. My kids really liked them.

[Ismy Echo]

These are wonderful cookies, a wonderful standard in many cultures with variations. As previous reviews state, the choice of nuts is up to you, let your imagination, your budget and convenience be your guide. As for flavoring, there are many options as well, including some sweet spices, such as cardomom. This time I used rose water, a good quality rose water that holds up in baking, that I purchased from an Arabic store, using about 1/3 more than the measurement for vanilla. In the past, I have added lemon juice and zest, along with using walnuts, for a great result. These cookies do not spread, despite the batter being very sticky, so feel free to place them closer than you normally would on the cookie sheet, so that you can get them all done more quickly. Mine were done baking on an Airbake cookiesheet when set and a very pale golden just on the bottom, resulting in a very fine sandy cookie, heavenly. I found I needed more powdered sugar than called for, as I rolled them in powdered sugar when hot, and then again after that "set" on the cookies, so they would not have any stickiness. I was very happy with these, very good results.

[penny smiles]

I have been searching for a recipe for a cookie my mom made when I was a child. It was a mint chocolate chip snowball cookie. Couldn't find it so I decided to improvise. I made this recipe and used 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp peppermint extract and 1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. BEST COOKIE EVER!! Melt in your mouth yummy! Just exactly like I remember, maybe even better.