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Mexican Wedding Balls | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | this vintage #recipe is perfect for #Christmas #baking & the #holidays. Rolling the #cookies in #PowderedSugar twice gives that extra bit of sweetness that's just wonderful. Great for #tailgating & office parties, too. #dessert #pecans #ChristmasDessert #PecanButterballs #SwedishTeaCakes #RussianTeaCakes #MexicanWeddingBalls

Mexican Wedding Balls

Teresa Ambra
Mexican Wedding Balls are traditional Christmas cookies that are filled with finely diced pecans and rolled twice in powdered sugar after baking. These scrumptious cookies are marvelous for tailgating or office parties, a Christmas Cookie Exchange or any type of holiday event. Festive and beautiful, this vintage cookie recipe will become a favorite with your family and friends.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 176 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 18x26" cookie sheet pan
  • 1 large mixing bowl
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • 1 electric mixer
  • 1 spatula
  • 2 wire cooling racks
  • 1 small bowl
  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • 1 nut chopper if nuts are not previously chopped

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup salted butter softened (2 sticks)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. sea salt
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
  • 1 cup finely diced pecans (measure after chopping)
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar for dusting cookies after baking

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350º.
  • With electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar.
  • Add vanilla and salt.
  • Add flour and nuts; stir into sugar mixture.
  • Refrigerate until dough is firm.
  • Roll dough into 1-inch balls.
  • Place on ungreased cookie sheets. (see note below).
  • Bake 15 minutes until lightly browned.
  • Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks after 9 minutes of baking time (if baking more than one cookie sheet at a time).
  • While hot, roll cookies in powdered sugar.
  • Cool on a rack then roll cookies again in powdered sugar to coat. 
  • Place cookies on wire cooling rack to cool completely .

Notes

NOTE: My cookies took about 19 minutes to bake completely.
 
NOTE: This an extremely DRY dough. To work the dough into balls, you will need to crush the dough in your hands and squeeze several times. Sometimes I transferred the dough to the other hand and squeezed the dough (adding or taking away dough until they were golf-ball sized balls.)
 
NOTE: These cookies are very fragile, especially when rolling in the powdered sugar. Handle with care! Even still, there will be some cookies that will break apart and crumble, no matter how careful you are.
 
NOTE: I used cooking spray on the baking sheets before baking.
 
NOTE: Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks after 9 minutes of baking time.
 
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 2gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 81mgPotassium: 32mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 239IUVitamin C: 0.05mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
Keyword christmas cookie exchange, cookies, dessert, holiday baking, pecans
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