Italian Wedding Cookies

I promise I promise I haven’t given up on this blog!  For anyone that has been wondering “what the heck” since I’ve gone from my weekly posting schedule to once…. a…. [insert very irregular posting schedule here] arrangement, I promise it’s been for a good reason.

Dave and I bought our first house!

The process has been ongoing since December between looking at places on the weekend, going through escrow, watching all our money drain away, and finally getting to move in!  And, of course, the move-in process has been complete with DIY projects galore much to Dave’s chagrin.  (Hey- that’s just what happens when you let a food blogger/ oil painter get her hands on her own place!)   So here we are- late March- and we’re only halfway through the unboxing.

But! The kitchen is finally set up (minus the miter saw that has a permanent space now in the middle of the dining room table), and that means I can *finally* get back into food creation and blogging.

This post is actually one that I intended to post in February.  We went up to San Francisco for a close friend’s wedding and I made these cookies in my friend, Emily’s, kitchen.  And she’s just that amazing that she let me do my awkward food-blogger photoshoot thing AND even agreed to be a hand model.  😉   These cookies are a very traditional Italian Wedding Cookies recipe.  They were used in the dessert bar at the wedding.  They are basically a combo of finely chopped almonds, flour, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract baked up and doused in a generous helping of powdered sugar.

I think they also go by the names of Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, and- for Christmas – Snowballs or Butterballs.

And they are basically melt-in-your-mouth cookie bliss.

The amount of butter is generous, but this is what makes them so melty and amazing.

I definitely recommend doing a double dosing of powdered sugar- once when they are still warm, and a second once they’ve cooled.  These are seriously an addictive treat that any cookie lover is sure to enjoy.

Italian Wedding Cookies

Barely adapted from All Recipes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 cups butter softened
• 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
• pinch of salt add a little extra if using unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups ground almonds I do not recommend using almond flour/meal- I suggest grinding your own in a food processor or manually.
• 4 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
• Extra powdered sugar for coating cookies

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, powdered sugar, and salt with a hand mixer on medium speed.
• Mix until butter is light and fluffy.
• Then add in ground almonds and vanilla.
• Mix until well combined.
• Gradually add flour in 3-4 additions, until just mixed.
• Roll cookies into balls or crescent shapes, using about 1 teaspoon of batter per cookie.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes (be careful not to brown).
• Cool just slightly (until you can handle them without burning yourself), and roll into the powdered sugar.
• Set aside and cool completed, then roll again in powdered sugar.

Did you make this recipe? Head on over to Instagram and tag me @thegourmetgourmand or share on the hashtag #thegourmetgourmand. Happy cooking!