Pecan Snowballs

These ground nut cookies are always a favorite at the holidays. Plus they're easy to make.

from Parents Magazine

Pecan Snowballs
Yield: 25 snowballs

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup pecans
  • 1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 ounces white chocolate

Make It

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

2. 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.

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

4. 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.

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