Pecan Snowballs

Heat oven to 350°F. Bake pecans for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Let cool.

Finely grind pecans with 3/4 cup sugar in a food processor. Add butter, vanilla, and salt; blend, scraping bowl often. Add flour and process until dough starts to form a ball, about 20 seconds.

Line baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on sheet. Bake at 325°F for 22 minutes, or until tops are dry and bottoms are light brown. Keep cookies on sheet and let cool on wire rack.

Melt chocolate in microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Spread on bottom of half the cookies and sandwich together with remaining cookies to form balls. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens, 15 or 20 minutes, then roll cookies in a medium bowl filled with remaining sugar.