Mexican Wedding Cookies are a salty-sweet, buttery cookie speckled with finely chopped nuts that come coated in a generous layer of powdered sugar. Yes, please. They take all of 15 minutes to make, require little effort, and an even smaller list of ingredients. Freezer-friendly and completely gorgeous, they are the perfect holiday dessert for sharing and gift-giving!
You might also know Mexican Wedding Cookies as Snowdrop Cookies, Tea Cake Cookies, Butterballs, Russian Tea Cakes, Polvorones…and the list goes on. Whichever name you should choose to call them, the heart of the cookie stays the same -- a snow-like blanket of powdered sugar on the outside and total buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie perfection on the inside.
Looking for more Christmas cookies to add to this year's lineup? Try our thick and chewy Snickerdoodles, crunchy Almond Biscotti with great big almond flavor, and perfect, little bite-sized Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies -- all popular classics everyone loves!
MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIE INGREDIENTS
Leave the baking soda, baking powder, and eggs behind -- there are no rising agents or binders (i.g. baking soda or eggs) in these cookies. This is the reason behind their addictively delicious, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Keeping in line with most standard cookie recipes, you will need to have all-purpose flour, vanilla extract, and salt on hand.
This Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe calls for pecans, but feel free to sub in almonds or walnuts if preferred. Whichever nut you use, it'll need to be finely chopped before going into your dough.
You'll need two types of sugar for this Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe: Granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Granulated sugar for the dough and powdered sugar for the outer coating, giving them that festive Christmasy, snowball appearance!
Last, but not least, be sure you only use unsalted butter for these cookies. If you were to sub in salted butter, your cookies would be overwhelmingly salty.
HOW TO MAKE MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
- Prep - Preheat the oven to 325° and have ready a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Whisk Dry Ingredients - To kick off your Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour and sea salt. Set aside until ready to use.
- Mix Butter and Sugar - Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. If you do not have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and a handheld mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well-combined. Add the vanilla and mix once more.
- Add Dry Ingredients - Turn the mixer down to low, and slowly incorporate the flour mixture, followed by the ground pecans.
- Scoop Dough and Bake - Scoop the dough a tablespoon at a time, form it into a round, and place the dough balls on baking sheet about 1 ½" apart. Bake for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.
- Toss in Sugar - Place the powdered sugar in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Add about a dozen cookies to the bag at a time, and gently toss to coat. Serve and enjoy.
CAN YOU FREEZE COOKIES?
All cookies (and cookie dough for that matter) can be frozen. It's just a matter of how. This practice comes in handy during the holidays as cookies are perfect for budget-friendly, heartfelt gift-giving! Here are a few cookies recipes that are ideal for freezing:
- Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Cowboy Cookies
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Drop Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies, in particular, are extremely easy to freeze and require little-to-no extra effort on your behalf. You can either freeze them before or after you roll them in the powdered sugar. Freeze the cookies either in an airtight, freezer-safe container or a freezer-safe zip-top bag for up to three months, but make sure the Wedding Cookies have cooled completely before sealing.
Thawing Mexican Wedding Cookies is even easier. Leave them out on the counter at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. You'll notice that if you froze them after rolling them in sugar, the sugar may no longer be a vibrant white once thawed. If you care to, roll them in powdered sugar once more.
6 MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
- Almond Cookies are soft, chewy, and buttery with a double dose of almond flavor and a melt in your mouth texture!
- Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies feature a soft and chewy, homemade peanut butter cookie dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with chopped peanuts!
- Easy Sugar Cookies with Icing feature a homemade sugar cookie with the best buttercream frosting ever! They're as tasty as they are beautiful!
- Strawberry Butter Jam Cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth, buttery cookie filled with strawberry jam and a sprinkle of sparkling sugar on top.
- S'more Cookies are easy to make and loved by all! Topped with a gooey marshmallow and melty chocolate, they are perfect for parties, gift-giving, and everything in between!
- Chocolate Coconut Macaroons are gluten-free, chewy cookie paradise. They make for wonderful gifts come the holidays and are a gorgeous centerpiece on any dessert table.
A recipe for Mexican Wedding Cookies (also know as snowball cookies), a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie rolled in powdered sugar.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature (do NOT use salted butter)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup ground pecans
- 1 ½ cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
-
Preheat the oven to 325° and have ready a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
-
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour and sea salt. Set aside until ready to use.
-
Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. If you do not have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and a handheld mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well-combined. Add the vanilla and mix once more.
-
Turn the mixer down to low, and slowly incorporate the flour mixture, followed by the ground pecans.
-
Scoop dough a tablespoon at a time, form it into a round, and place dough balls on baking sheet about 1 ½" apart. Bake for 15 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.
-
Place the powdered sugar in a gallon-sized zip top bag. Add about a dozen cookies to the bag at a time, and gently toss to coat. Serve and enjoy.
Makes 36-40 cookies.
Do NOT substitute salted butter for this recipe!
