Snowball Cookies
Course:
Dessert
Seasonal Event:
Christmas
Yield:
Makes About 32 Cookies
One of Maria Provenzano's favorite recipes for Christmas cookie exchanges.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup unsalted butter; room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 raw sunflower seeds; roasted and finely chopped
- More powdered sugar for rolling; about 1 1/2 cups
SNOWBALL COOKIE DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Spread the sunflower seeds into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Bake until lightly golden and fragrant; about 10 minutes
- Let sunflower seeds cool completely then use a knife to finely chop them
- If you can't find raw sunflower seeds at the store it's ok to use pre-roasted but make sure they are unsalted
- Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer)
- Stir in the vanilla
- In a bowl stir together the flour, chopped sunflower seeds, and salt
- With the mixer on low slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture
- Stir until just combined
- Pour the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use your hands to form a small disk with the dough
- Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- Use a small scoop or hands to scoop out enough dough for about a 1-inch ball
- Use your hands to roll the dough to form a ball and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- The balls of dough can be placed about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet
- Bake for 8-12 minutes or until slightly golden
- Allow to cool enough to where you can handle them
- Place about one cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl
- Roll the warm cookies into the powdered sugar one at a time to coat with the powdered sugar
- This is important to do when they are still warm so that the powder sugar will stick well
- Once I am done rolling each cookie I like to roll each one a second time
- Store in an airtight container once cooled
- Before setting them out for guests or placing in cookie boxes I like to add an extra sprinkle of powdered sugar to make them look really pretty
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