Mexican Wedding Cookies [aka Russian Tea Cakes]
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
Mexican Wedding Cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies, are delightfully nutty little balls of powdered sugar covered goodness! These classic holiday cookies come out every year at Christmas and everybody loves them!
If you love holiday baking, be sure not to miss my collection of 35+ of The Best Christmas Cookies and Easy Homemade Christmas Candy Recipes!
This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the Christmas Cookies Week recipes. As always, all opinions are mine alone.
These buttery pecan cookies getting rolled in a generous coating of powdered sugar TWICE after baking, just to be sure they are coated in plenty of powdered sugar. The first roll sort of melts into the cookie, but that second roll builds up a good layer of powdered sugar that makes these extra delicious.
I have no idea why these Mexican wedding cookies have so many names, if they are even from Russia or Mexico originally, if they really were/are served at weddings or at tea time (is there a Russian tea culture?) or what the story is behind them.
But what I DO know is that these are yummy and perfectly perfect at Christmas time. There is so much goodness going on in these cookies from the butteriness of the slightly crumby cookie to the sweetness of the powdered sugar to the ubiquitous chopped nuts.
But really the BEST thing about these Mexican wedding cookies (or Russian tea cakes or snowballs or whatever you want to call them) is their melt-in-your-mouth quality.
That quality is unique to Mexican wedding cookies because the butter-to-sugar ratio is 2:1.
In most cookie recipes, there is more sugar than butter, so switching that up creates a really unique, rich cookie experience unlike others.
They don’t flatten and spread though because of the amount of flour in the dough that helps the cookies hold their signature round snowball shape.
I like to use pecans in Mexican wedding cookies, but you can use almost any nut you like: walnuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, and almonds all would work well and can be used interchangeably in the recipe.
How to Make Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Beat the butter and vanilla in a mixer until light.
- Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt, then add to the butter and mix until combined.
- Stir in the chopped pecans then roll into small 1-inch balls and bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
- As soon as the cookies are cool enough to handle, roll in powered sugar, then cool completely before rolling a second time.
- Store in an airtight container.
More Classic Christmas Cookies for Your Holiday Baking
- Perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Authentic Italian Pizzelles
- Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Classic Buttery Spritz Cookies
- Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Almond Rocky Road Cookies
- Hazelnut Lingonberry Linzer Cookies
- Chocolate Thumbprint Turtle Cookies
- Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies
- Lime Meltaway Shortbread Cookies
You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and TWITTER for more great recipe tips and ideas!
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies, are delightfully nutty little balls of powdered sugar covered goodness! These classic holiday cookies come out every year at Christmas and everybody loves them!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecans, chopped fine
- Additional powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- In a medium bowl, beat butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar and salt, then stir into the butter, mixing just until combined. Mix in the chopped pecans.
- Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms. Remove from oven and wait just until they are cool enough to handle but still warm, then roll in powdered sugar and transfer to a separate plate of baking sheet. Wait until cool, the roll in powdered sugar again to generously coat.
- Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
42Amount Per Serving: Calories: 85 Saturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 11mg Sodium: 52mg Carbohydrates: 6g Sugar: 1g
#ChristmasCookiesWeek Thursday Recipes
- Celebrating Sinterklaas with Speculaas by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Chocolate Mint Thumbprints by Family Around The Table
- Chocolate Shortbread by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Cinnamon Spice Sugar Cookies by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Cream Cheese Buttons with a Dark Chocolate Drizzle by Kate’s Recipe Box
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies by The Freshman Cook
- Empire Cookies by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Iced Peppermint Cookies by Jonesin’ For Taste
- Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Cookies by Palatable Pastime
- Mexican Wedding Cookies by House of Nash Eats
- Mint Chocolate Thumbprints by Family Around the Table
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cereal Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Peppermint Brownie Bites by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Peppermint Patty Bars by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Red and White Pinwheel Cookies by Hardly A Goddess
- Truffle Filled Cookie Tarts by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- White Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies by The Saucy Fig
Disclaimer: Thank you #ChristmasCookiesWeek sponsors: Adams Extract, Sprinkle Pop, YumGoggle and Silpat for providing the prizes free of charge. The #ChristmasCookiesWeek giveaway is open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. All entries for the winner will be checked and verified. By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. Four (4) winners will be selected at random from entries received. The prize packages will be fulfilled by and sent directly from the giveaway sponsors. #ChristmasCookiesWeek bloggers are not responsible for the fulfillment or delivery of the prize packages. Bloggers hosting this giveaway and their immediate family members in their household are not eligible to enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or any other social channel mentioned in the #ChristmasCookiesWeek posts or entry.
Something is wrong with this recipe. Initially it refers to creaming butter and sugar and vanilla. but in the actual instructions it does not include the sugar, just butter and vanilla. Cookies are not particularly sweet
No, these are not an overly sweet cookie since they are rolled in powdered sugar twice. The cookie itself is buttery and pecan flavored. I found the mistake in the post and corrected it, but the recipe card was correct where the butter and vanilla are beaten, and then the powdered sugar is added with the flour. Thank you for pointing out the inconsistency for me!