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Recipe: Mexican Spiced Wedding Cookies

2009_3_23-mexican-cookies.jpgI usually associate these nutty, round, powdered-sugar dusted with Christmas because my grandmother made them every year of my childhood. We called them Mexican Wedding Cakes, but they're known by many names like Russian Tea Cakes and Snowballs. A light, buttery shortbread, usually formed into a ball and rolled in confectioners' sugar, my version here is spicier, rolled into a 2-inch disk instead of a ball, and just dusted across the top.

 
 

I served these recently at a Mexican-themed dinner topped with a scoop of homemade lemon ice cream. You could also serve them with some rum-spiked whipped cream and berries, or a cup of Mexican hot chocolate.

2009_3_23-mexican-cookies2.jpgSpiced Mexican Wedding Cakes
Makes 12

1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ground almonds, pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually add the flour, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, cardamom, clove and salt. Add the ground nuts and stir until well-blended. Form dough into a 2"-wide log, cover and chill in refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.

In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Set aside.

Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into twelve equal disks, evening out edges into an even circle if needed before placing on parchment, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack until cool enough to handle, but still warm. Using a small sieve, dust the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Cookies will keep in an air-tight container for 2-3 days.

Comments (4)

Oh! This idea would save me HOURS of rolling smoking hot cookies in powdered sugar. I'll have to see if my mom'll go for it. They're traditional Christmas cookies for us so changes aren't always welcome.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on March 23rd 2009 at 12:36pm
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We call this "international wedding cookies" in our family, because everyone seems to claim them as their own, for weddings. And yet, we only make them at Christmas.

posted by cakekick on March 23rd 2009 at 4:56pm
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Yum. My mom makes these at Xmas too, only in crescent shapes. Yours look so pretty.
I love eating this cookie so much, but think I kinda like the idea of only getting to eat them once a year. (Although I did make some speeculaas the other day and those are certainly Xmasy too...)

posted by Bunny Cucina on March 23rd 2009 at 5:08pm
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ooh baby, these are my favorite cookies! Lark cake shop in silverlake makes a tasty one. I was sad the last time i went and there weren't any.

posted by chusmabilly on March 24th 2009 at 12:13pm
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