My mother used to make these popular cookies once a year, only at Christmas time. It was several years of living on my own before I realised I could make them any time I wanted!
Warning: very rich and very addictive.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup room-temperature butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup pecan meats (or walnuts, if you prefer)
- 1 cup flour
- confectioner’s sugar
To cook:
- Preheat the oven to 300°.
- Beat the butter until soft, then add the sugar.
- Beat until creamy, then add the vanilla.
- Break the pecans into little pieces (or grind in a nut grinder, if you have one) and add them and the flour to the mixture.
- With your hands, roll the dough into 1″ balls. Place on a large (ungreased) baking sheet. (You don’t need to space them out at all, since they will mostly retain their shape while baking.)
- Bake for about 30 minutes.
-While still very hot, roll in confectioner’s sugar. (This will make a nice almost-glaze.)
Makes about 40 cookies.
When you make these with pecans, the Joy of Cooking ladies call them pecan puffs; Russian tea cookies use walnuts, also delicious. That was what my stepmo always used. Difference between Oregon and Florida, is all. They’re good with that orange-spice tea (Constant Comment style)