Ours are called "Pecan Balls." I got the recipe out of a book called
McCall's Cookie Collection (1965) that I garbage picked from the "free stuff" cart that was leftover from a yard sale in rural Illinois. It's a bizarre book, with strange dolls modeling the cookies.
I found some of the images
here,
here, and
here.
Let me give you the recipe. They are so much better than the typical snowball-type cookie. They are mostly nuts, barely sweetened, and barely held together by anything. I make them smaller than recommended because these literally fall apart when you bite them.
The powdered sugar is structural.
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectioner's sugar
1. Combine all ingredients except powdered sugar. I like to cream the butter, add sugar and salt, cream again, add vanilla, cream again, and then add the flour and pecans. I use a stand mixer.
2. Refrigerate 30 minutes minimum, overnight preferred.
3. Preheat to 375.
4. Roll into 1" balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper) for 10 - 15 minutes until just until set, starting to turn slightly golden (original recipe calls for 1.25" balls, 15-20 minutes baking)
5. Let sit for a minute on the cookie sheet. Cool partially on wire rack.
6. Roll in confectioner's sugar while still warm.
7. Reroll before serving.
Makes ~3 dozen.
sonidero wrote:Mike wrote:Currently accepting bribes on a plate of these...
SNICKERDOODLES!!! Are any of them spicy???
Nope, no spice. This year we actually cut back. Usually we do 14 varieties, including two candies. Oddly enough, we miscounted on the snickerdoodles. I made all the plates, and realized I had a whole bin of snickerdoodles left over. That's like 12 dozen.
