Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies are a holiday staple. It seems like no season would be the same without them and I make them every year for Christmas! They're fun and easy with only 5 simple ingredients. They don't use any eggs and there's no leavening agent. So, they're really more like simplified biscuits than cookies. But this makes them exceptionally simple to toss together!
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Oven
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1 c. butter softened (16 tbsp.)
- 1 ½ c. powdered sugar divided 1/2 c. + 1 c.
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c. walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whisk until light and fluffy.There is also no over beating at this point! This is when you want to really go for it. Whisk until as light as possible. Airiness during this step is absolutely essential. When you think that you've whisked them enough, whisk a little bit longer!
- Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until barely incorporate.This is the exact opposite of the butter mixing process! When you add flour, over mixing will make thee cookies dense and texturally unpleasant. In order to keep the airiness, mix as little as possible to stop seeing white pockets of flour.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on on ungreased cookie sheet.There are no eggs or leavening agents in this recipe, so crowd away. These cookies will not expand! As long as they're not touching, you can put the cookies as close together as you want.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just barely golden brown.
- Meanwhile, add about 1 cup powder sugar to a small bowl. The exact amount isn't necessary. You need just enough to be able to roll the cookies in.
- When the cookies are cooked, remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for one minute.The cookies need a minute to cool enough to handle and roll in the powdered sugar without melting. But don't let sit any longer than that! The cookies still need to be slightly warm for the sugar to adhere to them.
- Roll the cookies in powdered sugar.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- For more information on the Fundamentals of Baking Cookies, check out my article on the matter. For instance, I recommend making cookies by hand with a fork and adding slightly less flour than called for.