Cashew Snowballs

• Recipe by Deborah Snyder

You can substitute pecans, walnuts or macadamias for the cashews used here.

Ingredients

1. 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2. 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling
3. 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4. 2 cups all-purpose flour
5. 2 1/4 cups unsalted roasted cashews (11 ounces), finely ground in a food processor
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line 2 large baking sheets and 2 wire racks with parchment paper. In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add the vanilla extract. At low speed, beat in the flour, roasted cashews and salt. Scrape the dough onto 4 sheets of plastic wrap and form into 1-inch logs. Wrap the logs and refrigerate until firm, at least 20 minutes. 
2. Cut the logs into 1-inch lengths and roll the lengths into balls. Arrange the balls on the baking sheets about 3/4 inch apart. Bake the cookies in the lower and upper third of the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden and set; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. 
3. Fill a pie plate with about 2 cups of confectioners' sugar. Immediately roll the hot cookies, a few at a time, in the confectioners' sugar to coat; then transfer to the parchment-lined racks to cool completely. Reroll the cooled cookies in the confectioners' sugar and transfer to a plate.

Make Ahead

The sugar-coated cookies can be stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. Redust the Cashew Snowball cookies with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Notes

The snowball dough is sweetened with powdery confectioners’ sugar rather than granulated sugar. Always sift confectioners’ sugar before measuring to remove clumps that can throw off measurements.