Mexican Wedding Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup, toasted, finely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts)
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, for rolling the cookies

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

To toast the nuts, spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake just until they are lightly brown and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Cool completely. Once the nuts have cooled completely, grind them in your food processor with 2 tablespoons of the flour from the recipe until they are finely ground. Be careful not to turn them into a paste.

Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of your electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the remaining flour and salt and beat until combined. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about one hour or until firm.

Form the chilled dough into 1 inch balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.

Sift 1 cup of confectioners' sugar into a bowl. While the cookies are still hot, toss them in the sugar and return them to the wire rack to cool completely. Store in a tightly sealed container for up to three weeks.