A Russian Teacake / Mexican Wedding type cookie that is not too sweet, with a crumbly melt-in-your mouth texture thanks to the “secret” ingredient: cake flour. You can use all-purpose flour in this recipe, but it is really at its very best with cake flour. This is from my grandmother’s hand-written recipe, attributed to my Aunt Judy, who says she always uses walnuts, although I prefer pecans. For the roundest cookies, mix the dough as little as possible. If you over-mix them, you’ll incorporate air, which will contribute to them flattening out a bit. If that happens…they’ll still taste great!
Ingredients
3/4 cup ground walnuts or pecans
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
extra powdered sugar
Directions
- Stir together pecans, butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla, mix well.
- Sift flour and salt, stir into nut mixture.
- Chill for about an hour. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll into 1-inch balls, then roll each ball 3 times in the extra powdered sugar (this is the original recipe, but I only roll them once). Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until set but not brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake or they will fall apart.
- Allow to chill for about 5 minutes or before moving them to a cooling rack. If you move them while they are too hot, they will disintegrate. For best flavor and texture, allow to thoroughly cool before eating. Freezes well (and are in fact perfect eaten frozen).
- Dust with additional powdered sugar before serving.