With the holidays right around the corner, my house is filled with the smell of freshly baked cookies. In my house, we make tins of an assortment cookies to give out as gifts to family friends and coworkers. My particular favorite is the Mexican wedding cookie, but in my family we just call the butterballs (as weird as that may sound). Essentially they're tiny balls of cookie dough (made up of mostly butter...hence the name) with some nuts inside. They melt in your mouth and are a dream. They even look like tiny snowballs so they look adorable in festive tins to give as gifts.
They're one of the few traditions my family has for the holidays. My mom and I like to switch up our tins so it's not the same thing year after year. Sometimes we make fudge, other years we add chocolate bark, when I was younger we made shaped sugar cookies even though my mom loathes cutting them all out, but these cookies were never swapped out. For some reason, we only make them at the holidays too.
I'm a firm believer in making holiday gifts if I can and baking is one of my favorite ways to do so. Getting to spend days and days baking with my mom and sometimes my brother is one of my favorite things about the holidays. Although getting to eat a bunch of amazing cookies is always good to.
Below is the recipe for Butterballs, more commonly known as Mexican wedding cookies, that my family uses every year. This particular recipe is from The Pillsbury Family Cookbook 1963 edition.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped or ground almonds or pecans
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted flour
Preheat your over for 325 degrees.
Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly add powdered sugar and salt once the butter is creamed. Continue creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the almonds/pecans and vanilla extract. The blend the flour in gradually. Mix until everything is incorporated.
Shape into balls or crescents, using a teaspoon for each. You can do this step by hand or by using a small ice cream scoop. I personally like the organic, "homemade" look of doing it by hand. Place each ball on an uncreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for about 15-20 minutes. You do not want these to brown.
To finish allow them to cool enough that you can handle them then roll them in more powdered sugar.
That's it! It's super simple to make and produces around 50 balls per recipe! If you or someone you're giving these to is allergic to nuts you can totally opt out of adding them.
I hope you can enjoy this cookie as much as I do during the holidays, and can start you're own tradition with your family. Happy holidays and happy cookie baking!
