Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo over the weekend with some friends and I have to say that it was the perfect party. Good friends + yummy Mexican food (my favorite) = the perfect combination!  I wanted to make a dessert to share but every recipe I found online was fried. That's when I found this recipe for Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies. I've tasted similar cookies in the past and thought they were dry and lacking in flavor but I decided to blindly make this recipe (first time ever!) for a potluck. Brave? Maybe more crazy than brave.

The reason I made these cookies was because of the recommendation source. My source was one of my favorites, Pioneer Woman. Seeing as the purpose of my site is to share recipes that I highly recommend and Ree over at Pioneer Woman has never led me astray I decided to bite the bullet and try baking the cookie. (Added bonus: these cookies have a short and simple ingredient list so I didn't have to go to the store.)

The verdict: If you're careful and don't overcook it, the cookie literally crumbles in your mouth. It's similar to a buttery shortbread but much lighter. This is definitely a recipe we'll be making again.

Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped/coarsely ground pecans
 
Toast pecans in oven at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon and salt. Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture, beating until well blended. Mix in pecans with a wooden spoon.

Divide dough in half; form each half into ball. Wrap separately in plastic; chill until cold, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Working with half of chilled dough, roll dough with palms into 1-inch balls. Arrange balls on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until light golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 16-18 minutes. Check cookies throughout baking to be sure not to over bake. If baked too long, bottoms will burn and cookies will be very dry.

Pour 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar in pie dish. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheet. Gently toss warm cookies in powdered sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again once cooled. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough, or reserve remaining powdered sugar and freeze dough for later use. Cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature. For extra powdered sugar on your cookies, save leftover powdered sugar and sift over cookies just before serving.

Who Dished it first? This is Shared Sugar's version of a combination of Bon Appétit and Betty Crocker recipes.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I'm so glad these cookies are finally eaten and no longer a temptation. Unfortunately, they're eaten and gone because I ate the three remaining cookies this morning. This recipe is so GOOD!! Thanks to my bro Steve who sent me word of this fab recipe.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix

Confectioners sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

We made these for our Christmas plates. The good and bad of remaining home for Christmas instead of driving out of state to visit family is that you can procrastinate until the 23rd to make cookies and deliver them to friends. These cookies were really easy but they have such a cute appearance that a plate of these looks like you spent a lot of preparation time. One note about this recipe is that even before refrigerating the dough it is incredibly stiff! Dan came home while I was baking these and thought the cookies were burning but he was smelling the exhausted motor of my hand mixer.
Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Pioneer Woman's Recipe (and photo)

2 sticks (1 cup) regular (salted) butter, slightly softened
1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 squares almond bark or white baking chocolate (almond bark works best and is cheaper)
Large handful of red or green peppermints
Cream softened butter with powdered sugar. Add egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix together until dough comes together. Place plastic wrap on surface of dough and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Unwrap candies and place them in plastic bags. Beat with a mallet until finely crushed, leaving larger chunks if desired.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll cookie dough in walnut-sized pieces and place on a cookie sheet. Gently press balls flat with a plain, smooth surface. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, being careful not to burn. Cookies will remain the same general size and shape after they bake.
Remove from oven and place cookies on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.
Place crushed candies in bowl. Melt almond bark and begin to dip cooled cookies, coating only half the cookie. Immediately sprinkle crushed peppermints over both sides of the almond bark. Gently set on parchment paper or other nonstick surface and allow to cool before serving.