Russian tea balls
4 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | cup | (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened |
| 2¼ | cup | All-purpose flour |
| ½ | teaspoon | Salt |
| 2 | cups | Sifted confectioner's sugar |
| ¾ | cup | (3 ounces) chopped walnuts |
| 1 | teaspoon | Vanilla extract |
Directions
1. Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl combine the butter with ½ cup of the confectioner's sugar; beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 1 minute. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, flour, salt and walnuts to form a stiff dough.
3. Using about 2 teaspoons of dough for each cookie, shape half the dough by rolling between hands. Place about 1½ inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake about 12 minutes, until just pale golden on the bottom.
4. Meanwhile, sift ½ cup of the remaining confectioner's sugar into a 13 by-9-inch pan. As soon as cookies are removed from the oven, use a spatula to transfer them to the sugar, tossing them around to coat; let the cookies cool completely in the sugar and then sift ¼ cup more sugar over them to coat.
5. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, using a cool baking sheet to bake them and the remaining ¾ cup confectioner's sugar, divided as before, to coat.
Makes 4 to 5 dozen