Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Ready to be put on display

No, not the kind that’s made from actual snow and ice – the snowballs I’m talking are these practically spherical, crumbly cookies dusted with a generous amount of powdered sugar, which makes for a delectable morsel that resembles – you guessed it – a snowball. Actually, before last week, I had never heard of these cookies being called “snowballs.” I had always referred to them as Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Teacakes. And yet, after learning these were also called snowballs, I went online and found out that they’re actually called a plethora of other names as well, such as Swedish Teacakes, Italian Snowballs, Snowdrops, Sand Tarts, Sandies, Butterballs, Pecan Cookie Balls – and those are just some of the ones I can pronounce! It seems to me that these cookies have a bit of an identity crisis. These short-bread like teacakes share the tradition of saving the finest and most expensive foods (quality sugar, richest butter, choicest selection of nuts) for special occasions – such as weddings, formal social gatherings, etc.

Out of the refrigerator and into the oven

The inspiration for these little tidbits came while discussing baking interests with a friend. He was telling about his attempt to make these orb-like cookies, but had ended up with half domes instead. Intrigued by the idea of a perfectly spherical cookie, I looked up a recipe for Snowball cookies and found that while the recipe was basic, the pictures of finished cookies varied greatly in shape and size! Most common were the dome, boulder-like shapes; then, there were some that appeared flat, rounded, and smooth – like river stones; crescent shapes were also depicted; as well as the typical flat, circular shaped cookie. Perhaps striving for spherical was more difficult that I expected. After turning the idea of a ball shaped cookie in my head over and over for a couple of days, I could only come up with two very similar ideas (well, three if you count the mini rotating rotisserie designed only for cookies) – either freezing or refrigerating overnight. So, without further ado, I made the dough – a simple sugar/butter/flour recipe, and substituted half of the butter for 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. Then, I shaped the dough into little balls, wrapped them in plastic, and placed half in the refrigerator and half in the freezer to chill overnight.

Like aged, cracked stones bathing in sunlight

The next morning, the sun streamed bright and strong through the windows, I baked my tester batches – four smaller spheres (two in the fridge and two in the freezer). To my surprise, besides the frozen ones needing an extra minute or two to bake through, neither the cookies from the fridge nor the ones from the freezer lost their shape during the baking process. Each ball was slightly cracked, but each one was generally and acceptably spherical. After baking and cooling on the rest of the cookies, they were rolled around and dusted generously with powdered sugar – voila! Snowball cookies! I find that these are perfectly adorable to give as favors or as small gifts. Simply place a couple – two to six – in a small decorative box lined with parchment, and dust powdered sugar over the top of the cookies.

Powdered sugar gives it a signature “snowball” appearance

The powdered exterior lends an excellent touch of sweetness to an otherwise not-very-sweet cookie. The color of the interior definitely gives it away as a whole grain tidbit; texturally, it is dense, yet soft and somewhat fluffy, and is actually quite crumbly – more cake like than a chewier cookie. A mixture of whole wheat flour and ground, toasted pecans give each teacake a deep nutty taste. And while the taste can certainly be distinguished as “healthy,” I prefer to call it a healthy indulgence that goes excellent with coffee or an afternoon tea!

Whole Wheat Snowball Cookies

When I can, like in this recipe, I like to substitute half the amount of butter for a puree that will not overpower the taste of the cookie. In this case, the original recipe calls for 1 cup / 2 sticks of butter – so I substituted 1/2 cup of butter for 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. Applesauce may work just as well. I also added a dash of cardamom and cinnamon to help play of the nuttiness of the pecans. As mentioned above, the dough is simple – I would place a stick of butter out to room temperature for a day, make the dough towards the afternoon/evening, refrigerate overnight, then bake the next day. 

1 cup pecans or almonds toasted and cooled to room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oat/spelt flour (I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used regular whole wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter
– may substitute 1/2 cup butter for 1/2 cup puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
splash of bourbon or rum (optional)

1/2 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Pulse the nuts in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of the measured out flour. Grind until the almonds or pecans become a fine meal. You don’t want to go too far as to make a paste out of them. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the pecan/almond meal, flours, and salt.  Set aside for now.

In a large mixing  bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until everything is fluffy and a light yellow color. The vanilla and bourbon go in next. If using puree, slowly incorporate into the butter – the mixture will look funny, as if the butter has separated from the puree (Although it makes no difference in the overall outcome, short of melting the butter, I’m still trying to figure out how to avoid creating this odd looking mixture).

Slowly add the flours and salt – possibly in increments of 3 or 4 – and mix until a stiff dough is formed. Scoop out level tablespoons of dough and form into balls. Place the dough balls on a place and cover securely with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight.

Preheat the oven to 335 F degrees, baking racks in the middle of the oven. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Once the oven has been heated, remove the dough balls from the refrigerator and quickly transfer to the baking sheets – the natural, yet small base created while sitting overnight should be stable enough to prevent the cookies from rolling around too much. The cookies should not spread very much, but just in case, place dough at least 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes until the exterior looks golden and the bottoms of the cookies begin to darken.

Cool completely. Place the powdered sugar, along with 5-6 cookies in a plastic bag and shake to coat well. Gently brush off any “caked on” sugar and then gently sift additional sugar over the tops for a freshly powdered look.

Makes 5 dozen cookies