These Wedding Cookies are a delicate treat. And they are just as easy to make as they are to eat!
Use any nut alone or in combination, including pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, and cashews to create the flavor you desire. The dough can be made ahead and stored for later and perfect for the holidays or any occasion.
These buttery, nutty cookies go by many names. Maybe you know them as Russian Tea Cakes, Italian Wedding Cookies, Snowball Cookies or Spiced Mexican Wedding cookies. Whatever you all them they are the perfect addition to a sugar-studded cookie plate.
The following excerpt is from Chile, Clove and Cardamom by Beth Dooley and Gary Paul Nabhan. It has been adapted for the web.
Desert cuisine tends to walk that intoxicating balance between rich, heady aromas and fresh, bright flavors.
Desserts play a special role in traditional meals, serving as a source of pride for the family’s cooks. Gestures of celebration, desserts tend to be luxurious, layered, and very sweet, brimming with nuts and honey, and scented with warm cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and ginger.
Pine Nut and Anise Wedding Cookies
(Cap Ghazelle, Ghorayeba, Ghraybeh, Kourabiedes, Polvorones, Qurabiya)
Greece, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, and Turkey
Makes 2 dozen cookies
The origin of this cookie’s name is unclear. Whatever the name—Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, Christmas dreams, gazelle horns!— there’s no doubt these rich, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth confections are delicious any time of year.
A touch of anise lends a mild, dreamy flavor. Pine nuts add the creamy texture, but feel free to substitute hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, or walnuts.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup (72 g) pine nuts
- 1 1/2 cups (173 g) confectioners’ sugar
- Generous pinch sea salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon anise extract
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 13/4 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
DIRECTIONS
Put the pine nuts and 1 cup (115 g) of the sugar into a food processor and blend until the nuts are finely ground. With the motor running, add the salt and the butter, one chunk at a time. Add the anise extract and orange zest and continue to process until smooth. Pulse in the flour until you have a soft dough.
Scrape the dough into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight (8 to 10 hours).
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Scoop the dough with a tablespoon and form into 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls with lightly floured hands. Roll the balls in the remaining sugar and place 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake until the cookies just begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack. Store in a covered container in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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