Pecan Snowballs
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Heat oven to 350u0b0 F. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.
- With an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the pecans.
- Shape the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Transfer half the balls to a second parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.
- Place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Toss the warm cookies in the sugar and return to the baking sheet. Sift the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the cookies before serving.
- An egg carton provides protection for light and crumbly snowballs. Snip off the carton lid, nestle the cookies in paper candy cups, and wrap the whole thing in a sheet of cellophane, Tootsie Roll-style.
- Instead of refrigerating the balls of dough, freeze them on the baking sheet before storing them in bags for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, baking from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.
pecans, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla, almond, kosher salt, flour
Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-snowballs (may not work)