Favourite Russian Tea Cakes

Russian tea cakes are the snowy powdered-sugar cookie you find on every Christmas plate alongside the spritz and the gingerbread. Some kitchens call these Mexican wedding cookies, others call them snowballs or pecan butter balls; the recipe is essentially the same shortbread dough rolled in finely chopped nuts and rolled in confectioners sugar.

The dough is unusual for a cookie in that it uses no eggs and no leavener. It is purely butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, salt, and nuts mashed together until it holds. That structure is what gives the cookie its sandy, melt-in-the-mouth texture; gluten development would make these crumbly cookies tough.

Bake until set but not browned, around 10 to 12 minutes. The color stays pale by design. The double powdered sugar roll (once warm, once cool) is the move that gives the cookies their snowy finish: the first warm roll lets the sugar bind to the cookie, the second cool roll gives the white powdery exterior.

Pro Tips

• Use real butter, not margarine, for the best texture; shortening makes the cookie greasy.
• Toast the pecans or walnuts before chopping for deeper flavor.
• Roll the balls a uniform size with a cookie scoop; uneven sizes will not finish at the same time.
• Cool the cookies a few minutes after baking before the first sugar roll; too hot and the sugar dissolves and disappears into the cookie.

Variations

• For Ambrosia Balls, swap nuts for 1 cup flaked coconut and 1 tablespoon grated orange peel.
• For Surprise Candy Teacakes, decrease the nuts to half a cup and mold each ball around a piece of vanilla caramel or a small square of sweet chocolate.
• Roll some in colored sugar before baking for a Christmas variation and skip the powdered sugar finish.