Christmas Cookies/ by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor
Over the weekend I went to my last Hanukkah party (on the miraculous NINTH night of Hanukkah) and ate delicious, hot, right-out-of-the-pan latkes, fried expertly by my cousin Jonathan, baked off Christmas cookies to give as gifts, and painted sugar cookies with a mixture of egg yolks and food color before baking them with my friend Linda and her kid.
Since I’m leaving town the day after Christmas on a family cruise, I considered not baking any cookies for gifts this year. Then I considered baking a lot of new recipes believing I was bored with the old stand-bys. Finally I decided to bake a modest amount of cookies and just the two favorite recipes: sugar cookies- because you have to have a cut-out and decorated cookie, and Russian Tea Cakes -aka Mexican Wedding Cakes- because everyone loves them the best. ( Note: sugar cookies- decorated with glaze and colored sugars- not egg yolk paint, are in the photo left and Russian Tea Cakes in photo right).
Here’s my recipe for Russian Tea Cakes, which I’ve been using forever (not sure of the yield- a fair amount):
2 1/4 cups toasted pecan pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar as needed
Grind pecans in a food processor, using some of the measured granulated sugar to help grind them. Set the pecans aside. In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream the butter until soft. Add the remaining granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and mix. Add the ground pecans and finish mixing.
Roll into small (3/4 inch) balls. Do not flatten. Arrange cookies on parchment covered baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven (rotate the pans once in a while), until the cookies feel firm when pressed and the bottoms of the cookies are starting to get a little golden. Remove the cookies from the oven. Let the cookies rest just a couple minutes.
While the cookies are still warm, carefully transfer them to a container of powdered sugar and turn them gently to coat. (If you let the cookies cool completely the sugar will not stick.) Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in covered containers or tins.
Note: when mixing the dough, it may seem a little dry at first, but it will come together. Also you may think the dough is not sweet enough, but the powdered sugar coating adds a lot of sweetness so the cookies end up just right.
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