Frosty Snowballs

Little pieces of heaven. I should leave it at that. They are that good. Really. Taste them for yourself.

I'm always on the lookout for non-chocolate recipes to bake. This one looked and sounded good. The picture showed little pastel colored balls. Reality was flat-bottomed hemispheres. But they were still absolutely delicious. I decided to forgo the colored sugar in favor of plain powdered sugar because I didn't want too much crunch going on.

The recipe calls for chopped pecans. The ones I bought on the grocery store looked more like chunked pecans. There was no way I was going to be able to make 1 inch balls with them so I ran them through the food processor until the pecans were the texture one normally associates with nut toppings.

For a few moments, I didn't think this dough was going to come together. I added all of the dry ingredients at once instead of a little at a time. It just spun in the mixer. Just as I was about to add more liquid, it jelled and became viable cookie dough. My other concern was that the dough might be too sticky to form easily into little balls. Not to worry, it was not too sticky. Twenty minutes was just perfect to bake them into the most delicious cookies I have ever made.

I took them to my monthly Master Gardener meeting and they were a huge hit. In fact, when the sign-up sheet for dishes to bring to our next big event came my way, everyone agreed I should make these cookies again!

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Frosty Snowballs

(Source: BHG.com)

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Green, pink, and purple edible cake sparkles or colored sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in water and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining floru and the copped pecans.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 325 degree F oven 20 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool completely.

4. In each of three bowls place 1/3 cup of the sifted powdered sugar. Add a different color of edible cake sparkles or colored sugar to each bowl. Gently roll and shake cooled cookies in desired powdered sugar.

Recycle: vanilla bottle