Mexican Wedding Cookies

My mom made Christmas cookies for our neighbors every year.

She made all the yummy ones - snickerdoodles, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip cookies and my favorite at the time, Mexican wedding cookies.

The funny thing was, she only ever made enough for the neighbors. She didn't do this to be mean, or anything like that, it's just that in her calculating, she made enough for each plate, and that was that.

She had my brothers and I deliver them each year. Each time we rang the doorbell, someone would come out, greet us warmly, and often they would invite us in for a bit. While we were there, it wasn't uncommon for them to open up the cookies from our mom, and graciously ask if we wanted any. And the truth was, my friends - we did! Ha!

So, we grew up loving our mom's cookies - but for the most part we ate them at the neighbors' houses. We were always careful not to eat too many - of course they weren't for us - but I was always happy if I could get a Mexican wedding cookie.

Now I'm an adult, and although I recently discovered chocolate crinkle cookies, which have quickly shot to the top of my "favorites" list, these still have a soft place in my heart.

They aren't super sweet, and crumble in your mouth. They are delicate, and look like little balls of snow. The perfect Christmas cookie!

Ingredients:

 

1 cup butter or margarine at room temp.

6 tsp powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups cake flour (or regular flour with a tbs taken out of each cup.)

1 cup walnuts or pecans chopped as finely as possible

 

+Extra bowl of powdered sugar for rolling.

 

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients to make dough. 

 

2. Roll into teaspoon-sized balls, place on un-greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 F 175 F for 7-8 minutes.

 

3. Once out of the oven, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, roll them in the powdered sugar.  

4. That's it! Store them in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze them up to 3 months. 

Makes approx. 50

 

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I decided to try something new this year for one of my Christmas cookie "slots", and honestly, it is EVERYONE'S new favorite cookie!

It is basically a brownie in cookie form. It is chewy, and chocolatey, and the powdered-sugar-crinkle outside is just the prettiest thing around. Another bonus is that it uses oil, so you don't have to wait for your butter to come to room temperature!

So, without further ado, and no more gilding the lily, I present to you my chocolate crinkle cookie recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup (100 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups (400 grams) white sugar

1/2 cup (120 ml) sunflower oil 

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups (250 grams) all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

+ powdered sugar for rolling (approx. 1/2 cup or 60 grams)

Directions:

1. Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, mix together the cocoa, sugar and sunflower oil.

2. Beat in eggs one at a time.

3. Add vanilla extract.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Carefully add flour to cocoa mixture, while your mixer is going.

5. Cover your dough and chill for at least 4 hours.

6. Preheat your oven to 350 F / 175 C.

7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

8. Pour powdered sugar into a bowl.

9. Using small spoons, scoop out enough dough to make rounded tbsp sized balls. The dough is VERY sticky, and this part is a little tricky. Once the ball is formed, plop (yes, this is the technical term) it into the powdered sugar, and roll it around until it is completely covered.

10. Place the dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet, approximately 2 inches from each other.

11. Bake for about 10-12 minutes (this is a cookie you don't want to overtake, or it won't be as yummy and chewy). Allow to cool for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

12. Can be stored in an air tight container for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for 3 months.

These cookies are insanely delicious, and honestly I'm a little hesitant to share the recipe, in case as a result the world runs out of cocoa powder. :)