Little Snowballs Food

SNOWBALLS II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla. Mix in the flour, pecans, and salt. Roll about 1 tablespoon or so of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until bottoms are golden, about 15 minutes. Do not allow these cookies to get too brown: it's better to undercook them than to overcook them. While cookies are still hot, roll them in confectioners' sugar. Once they have cooled, roll them in confectioners' sugar once more.

MINI DATE-NUT SNOWBALLS

Steps:

• Spread the coconut on a plate. Put the dates, almonds, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and process until finely chopped.
• Form rounded 1/2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls with your fingers, then roll in the coconut, pressing to coat.

ALMOND SNOWBALL COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse the almonds and sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Add the butter and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape the dough off the inside of the bowl, if needed. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and pulse to combine. Add the flour and salt and pulse to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a large piece of waxed paper and roll into a log about 15 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut the chilled dough into 1/2-inch pieces and roll by hand into balls. Space the cookies evenly on the prepared baking sheets and bake until slightly golden, rotating the sheets once, 15 to 20 minutes. Put the confectioners' sugar in a pie plate. Briefly cool the cookies on a rack, then gently toss in the confectioners' sugar until evenly coated. Return to rack, cool to room temperature, and then toss again in the confectioners' sugar.

SNOWBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C.) Lightly butter 2 baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour and salt; mix into the butter mixture. Stir in the pecans. Dust your hands with a little of the confectioners' sugar and roll the dough into 1 inch balls.
• Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and bake for 25 minutes or just until brown. Put on racks to cool for 15 minutes, then roll in the confectioners sugar.

LITTLE SNOWBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat over to 350 degrees F, rack in the middle position.
• Melt the butter. Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt. Add the flour and mix throughly. Stir in the nuts. (If you work quickly, while the butter is still warm, the dough will be softer and easier to mix.).
• Form the dough into one-inch ball (just pat them into shape with your fingers), and place them on an UNGREASED baking sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, until they are set but not brown.
• Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes then roll them in powdered sugar. (You must do this while they're still warm.) Place them on a wire rac kand let them cool throughly.
• When the cookies are cool, roll them in powdered sugar a second time. Let them rest for several minutes on the rack, and then store them in a cookie jar or a covered bowl.

LIME SNOWBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and cornstarch in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in lime juice, lime peel, and lime oil. Beat in flour mixture until smooth. Refrigerate dough until just firm, about 45 minutes.
• Using scant 1 tablespoon for each, form dough into balls and place on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.
• Bake cookies until pale golden on top and browned on bottom, about 23 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; immediately sift generous amount of powdered sugar over cookies. Cool cookies completely on baking sheets. (Can be made ahead. Store airtight at room temperature up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 weeks. Dust with more powdered sugar before serving.)
• *Available at chefshop.com (877-337-2491) and at Sur La Table stores (call 800-243-0852 for locations).