Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Since we are well into the holiday season I thought I’d show a cookie that always makes its way to my holiday cookie tray.  They’re Mexican Wedding Cookies and they’re really easy to make.  They also go by quite a few other names and the recipes vary a little from kitchen to kitchen.  Some people call them Russian tea cakes, they’re also called nut balls or snowballs or Vienna cookies and the list goes on and on.  Some recipes use finely chopped pecans, some use almonds, but the most prevalent variety seems to be walnuts.  That also happens to be the way my mom used to make them so naturally I use the walnuts to keep her tradition alive.  But I do like to add my own little twist to the recipe with an almost imperceptible hint of both cinnamon and orange to add an even warmer holiday feel to these melt in your cookies. When you see how easy these are I think they’ll become a part of your holiday tradition too.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Prep time: 15 min

Bake time: 12 min

Ingredients 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• 1 egg & 1 yolk
• 2 ½ cups gluten free Bisquick
• 1 cup of finely chopped walnuts
• ¼ tsp cinnamon, optional
• 1 tsp orange zest (or the zest of ½ an orange),optional
• 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (or 190 °C)
2. Using either a stand mixer or hand mixer beat together the butter, sugar and the vanilla until well combined then add both the egg and yolk and beat for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. 
3. Stir together the gluten free Biquick, walnuts, cinnamon and orange zest then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until the dough is combined and holds together well.
4. Transfer the dough to a smaller bowl, cover and chill for 10-15 minutes then roll the dough into balls just under an inch in diameter and bake them for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just start to get a hint of color.
5. Cool for 3-5 min on the baking sheet then roll the warm cookies in the confectioner’s sugar and place on wire racks to cool completely. I like to store them in a covered container with sheets of waxed paper between them.
6. The cookies are best served at room temperature so be sure to take them out of the fridge a few hours before serving so they have that melt in your mouth consistency.