Name: Mexican Wedding Cookies
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 2 cups pecans or walnuts; 2 cups (10 ounces/283 grams) all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 16 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened; 1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces/66 grams) superfine sugar; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces/170 grams) confectioners' sugar

Why This Recipe Works

In order to really reinforce the nut flavor in our dough, we found it necessary to use equal amounts of nuts (we liked pecans or walnuts) and flour. But with all of those nuts, we found it hard to get the dough to hold together. We tried adding eggs but even one made these cookies too cakey. The trick, it turned out, was to grind some of the nuts very finely into crumbs (almost to a butter) to release their natural oil. When we tried grinding all of the nuts this fine, the cookies tasted great but were too dense; grinding half the nuts was just right. The cookie dough was cohesive, the texture of the cookies was delicate, and each bite still included the pleasing crunch of the coarsely chopped nuts.

Before You Begin

We found it best to roll the cookies in powdered sugar twice to ensure a thorough coating. The thick confectioners' sugar coating is a defining characteristic of Mexican wedding cookies.

Instructions

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process 1 cup pecans in food processor until texture of coarse cornmeal, 10 to 15 seconds; transfer pecans to bowl. Process remaining 1 cup pecans in now-empty food processor until coarsely chopped, about 5 seconds; transfer to bowl with ground pecans. Stir flour and salt into pecans.

Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and superfine sugar at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and slowly add nut mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl and continue to mix on low speed until dough is cohesive, about 7 seconds. Give dough final stir by hand to ensure that no dry pockets of flour remain.

Working with 1 tablespoon dough at a time, roll into balls and space them 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake until tops are pale golden and bottoms are just beginning to brown, about 18 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Let cookies cool completely.

Spread confectioners' sugar in shallow dish. Working with several cookies at a time, roll in sugar to coat. Before serving, reroll cookies in confectioners' sugar and gently shake off excess.