At the end of last quarter one of my friends was having a pretty hectic cook in our co-op and I decided to help him out a bit by making dessert. Knowing that we didn't have a lot of ingredients left at the end of the quarter I decided to go for a super simple cookie which would be quick to make. So I made these. It seems to have been a pretty great decision.
Mexican wedding cakes, Russian Teacakes, Butterballs, you name it, this cookie has been called it. Basically a shortbread cookie with nuts, people were surprisingly excited when I made these telling me that they were like the German cookies they liked to make or similar to their Peruvian grandmother's cookies. I didn't quite realize it until then but it seems to be a rather universal cookie, beloved by many cultures likely because of the extreme simplicity of making it combined with its shear deliciousness. My family usually makes them at Christmas time but they're a great go to recipe for any time of the year and being so universal, people are bound to love them!
Butterballs (adapted from a recipe for Russian Teacakes in my mom's cookbook)
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup confectioners' sugar + extra for rolling
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup finely chopped nuts
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, throughly mix butter, sugar and vanilla.
2) Work in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together.
3) Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4) Bake 10-12 minutes until set but now brown.
5) While warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.
