Today is my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. Sister’s first wedding anniversary is next week. And the Boyfriend is now the Fiancé! We got engaged on May 21st during a lovely picnic by a lake. We’re incredibly excited for this next step in our lives together! And what better way to celebrate these romantic occasions than with Mexican Wedding Cookies!
These cookies are deliciously nutty and sweet! Be sure to toast the nuts to bring out all the complexity in the nuts. I used pecans, which seems to be traditional with Mexican Wedding Cookies, but I believe hazelnuts are more common in Russian Tea Cakes (basically the same recipe, just a different nut), but you can probably make these with whatever your favorite nut is.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (more for rolling)
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted pecans, finely ground
For rolling:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans out on a cookie sheet and place in the oven, allow to toast for about 10 minutes, stirring halfway. Allow to cool, then pulse in a food processor until nuts are finely ground.
Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar together. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add nuts and stir until just combined. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Roll small balls of dough (about 2 tsp worth of dough per ball) and set on a greased cookie sheet about a 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden on the bottom. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before rolling in powdered sugar. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Save any remaining powdered sugar for sifting over the top of the cookies just before serving.
