Giving Snowballs in my Christmas Goodie Bags - Noel Cookie Recipe

I like to call this recipe Snowballs - many other call these Cookies Noel Balls, Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes to name a few titles.

I have made a double batch of these wonderfully sweet, crumbly, buttery and all around tasty cookies this year.  As I roll them in the powdered sugar - I just want to take one and throw it...as they look like little snowballs. 

Boy I couldn't imagine if I ever acted on that impulse - my boys would be joining in right away with the "snowball fight".  What a mess that would be :)

I think it is a must to drink a hot cup of your favorite coffee with these delectable bites.  It helps to cut the sweetness and crumbly texture.  One of my favorites is a cup of Decaf coffee from Pears Gourmet http://www.pearsgourmet.com/ .  They have such a great selection of seasonal coffees also.  They are a wonderful homegrown (Nebraska) company that has a fabulous assortment of coffees, nuts, and more. 

Their shipping and customer service is top notch!  So you could order your coffee and your walnuts for this recipe if you want - they are having a sale currently on their baking nuts -15% off - http://www.pearsgourmet.com/Category/Pears-Buy-the-Pound/Baking-Nuts.aspx

Here's the recipe to these fun and tasty Snowballs.


Ingredients:


1 cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth.

Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended.

Mix in the chopped walnuts.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack.

When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar.

If you are giving these away as gifts - you may want to re-roll them in the powdered sugar before adding them to your goodie bag.