Pecan Rolls

Pecan rolls go by a dozen names depending on whose grandmother handed down the recipe: Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, snowballs, sand tarts. Whatever you call them, the formula is the same and impossibly short. Five ingredients: butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, and crushed pecans.

The dough looks alarmingly dry and crumbly when you mix it. That’s the right texture; it’s the lack of liquid that gives these their melt-in-your-mouth, sandy crumb. Squeeze handfuls firmly into small logs and they hold their shape through the bake.

The defining move is rolling the still-hot cookies in powdered sugar. The heat partially melts the sugar, creating a thin first layer that grips the cookie. Roll them again once cooled for a thick snowy coat that holiday tables expect.

Kitchen Tips

• Use cold butter and cream it just until smooth. Overworked butter makes the cookies spread instead of holding their log shape.
• Toast the pecans for 8 minutes at 350°F (175°C) before crushing. Toasted nuts have far deeper flavor than raw.
• Squeeze the dough firmly when shaping. Loose logs fall apart in the oven.
• Roll once when hot, again when fully cool. The double coat is what makes them look right and taste sweet enough.

Variations

• Swap pecans for walnuts, almonds, or toasted hazelnuts for a different nutty profile.
• Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the powdered sugar coating for a snickerdoodle-leaning version.
• Stir 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the dough for chocolate-pecan snowballs.