25 Days of Christmas Cookies: Day 2 - Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Yes indeed, Mexican Wedding Cookies! Originally I had intended to bake a batch of Russian Tea Cakes, but when I described the cookies to my boyfriend he looked confused and said "Oh, you mean Mexican wedding cakes?" which apparently his mom used to make for Christmas every year. Upon further investigation, I discovered that Russian Tea Cakes and Mexican Wedding Cakes/Cookies are essentially the same thing. The only difference I noticed is that Russian Tea Cakes generally call for walnuts while Mexican Wedding Cakes generally call for pecans. I personally used both!

In any case, these turned out pretty well! Boyfriend approves (he ate four right off the bat) and I found them quite tasty also. They're very light and sugary and the nutty flavor and texture balances out the sweetness of the powdered sugar. Overall, a good cookie!

I didn't manage to take any photos of my own batch but I've shown a few pictures here of the different forms these little cakes can take. The recipe is from Paula Deen!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
• 1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces (I used 3/4 cup pecans, 1/4 cup walnuts)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.

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