SNOWBALL COOKIES!!!!!

Yes, when it comes to Christmas cookies, I am head-over-heels crazy for what my grandmom always called “Snowball Cookies”!  While they do call for nuts, you can make them without for those who may have nut allergies. We grew up using walnuts, but the cookies I made last night in the image above we used my handy-dandy Vitamix and ground up two cups of almonds... because although the recipe called for pecans, I happened to have almonds in the house.

Instead of regular organic vanilla extract I used an organic vanilla paste, as I wanted the punch of extra vanilla flavor and the tiny flecks of vanilla in the dough.   And… as a self-confessed butter snob, I had to use Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter – it just tastes better than any other butter on the planet in my humble opinion.  Don’t you love a flexible recipe???  While I do my very best to eat clean and healthy, when it comes to baking and especially Christmas cookies, all bets are off and I bake the old, traditional ways.  I’d love for you to comment below on your favorite holiday cookies, and share your recipes as well!

The recipe I used is from Land O’Lakes, and is super-simple.  It makes about 36 cookies.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (you can experiment with different flour to taste)
2 cups finely chopped pecans (or other nuts as mentioned above)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
2.  Combine all ingredients except powdered sugar in bowl.  Beat at low speed until well-mixed.  (My dough was a bit crumbly, so I added several tablespoons of water, one at a time, until I got enough moisture into the dough to mold the cookie balls.)
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake 18-25 minutes until lightly browned.
4.  Cool on rack about 5 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar while still warm.
5.  I also sifted about 1/4 cup more powdered sugar on top right before serving.

I brought some into my colleagues, and here is the results after a remarkably quick amount of time!!!!

I think they liked them!!!