Mexican Wedding Cakes

These little powdered sugar-coated cookies go by many names: Mexican wedding cakes, polvorones, Russian tea cakes, snowballs. Five ingredients, no fuss, and a distinctive crumbly-tender bite that dissolves on the tongue the moment you bite through the sugar coating.

The traditional version includes ground nuts, but this stripped-down recipe leans on pure butter richness. The result is even more tender and sandy, reading like proper shortbread. If you want the classic nut version, fold in a half cup of finely ground pecans or almonds with the flour.

Rolling the warm cookies in powdered sugar is the crucial step. Hot butter in the cookies melts the sugar slightly on contact, creating the bakery-perfect thick white coat. Wait until they cool and the sugar slides right off, leaving patchy bare spots.

A second roll after the cookies cool completely is a bakery trick that gives a second snowy coat. The first coat bonds, the second sits pristine and powdery on top.

Kitchen Tips

• Chill the dough if it feels too soft to roll; these hold shape much better firm.
• Keep cookies small (about 1 inch across); the fragile crumb breaks easily at larger sizes.
• Use unsalted butter and sift the powdered sugar for the smoothest texture.
• Store in an airtight tin with parchment between layers so the sugar coating stays intact.

Variations

• Fold in ½ cup finely ground pecans, walnuts, or almonds for the classic version.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or ground anise seed to the powdered sugar coating.
• Replace half the flour with finely ground toasted hazelnuts for a deeper, nuttier cookie.