Snow Ball Cookies (a.k.a. Mexican Wedding Cookies)

I call these Snow Ball Cookies because that’s what my little boy likes to call them.  When I was taking pictures for this post, he happily exclaimed, “Wow, snow balls!”  After he tasted one, he kept asking for more snow balls.  Of course, my Baby Girl got her fair shares as well.



By now, you probably have heard the other dozen names that these cookies also referred to. Such as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Italian Wedding cookies, Italian Tea Cakes, Russian Tea Cakes, so on and so forth.  I thought I had many nick names when I was young. I can’t believe my record got beat by some cookies! LOL…Mind you, these are not just any cookies. These are some buttery, melt in my mouth, and highly addictive cookies.  I love the crunch and nutty flavor from the chopped pecans in them.  Another big plus of these cookies? They are super simple to prepare and your kids would probably want to help out in rolling the dough.  And it’s okay to let them taste the dough, it’s eggless.    



I've packaged these Snow Ball Cookies during the holiday to share with my friends and family as they are very popular during the holiday season.  But I’ve already made more batches afterwards because they are simply amazing.  After you've tried them, you would want to make them all year round too, and not just during the Holidays.







Snow Ball Cookies: (Printable Recipe)
Makes about 48 Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or with a hand held mixer), beat butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Turn mixer to low, beat in flour and pecans, mix until just combined. Divide dough in half, form each into a flat disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill the dough in refrigerator until cold, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. With a small/mini ice cream scoop, scoop dough by one tablespoonful and roll in between palms into balls. Arrange dough balls on baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake until golden brown on bottom and pale golden on top, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Cool cookies on baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Place remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a shallow dish; gently roll completely cooled cookies in powdered sugar to coat.





This recipe is shared with:

Sweet Tooth Friday
Friday Favorite
Friday Food
Foodie Friday
Sweets For Saturday
Pink Saturday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mingle Monday

Little Old Lady Recipes Book Review—Candied Nuts Recipe And a Giveaway

Have you ever giggled while reading a recipe book?  It’s hard not to if you have the “Little Old Lady Recipes-Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom” on your hands.  I had such a wonderful time reading through the recipes and "Kitchen Table Wisdom" over the weekend.

“When it comes to comfort food, little old ladies know what's up. They know what will taste good, how to fatten up a family, and what will leave their diners craving seconds (if not thirds and fourths). Collecting these gum-smacking, finger-licking-good recipes from the matriarchs of society is Little Old Lady Recipes by Meg Favreau.”

Book Cover Image from Quirk Books’ site

“Little Old Lady Recipes honors the extraordinary women who create pot luck dinners, church socials, wedding banquets, and the best desserts you've ever tasted. Every page features their simple, no-frills recipes for pot roast, meat loaf, dumplings, corn bread, fried chicken, bundt cake, and other mouth-watering favorites-along with gorgeous photography of the chefs at work and generous portions of their kitchen table wisdom ("Butter comes from a cow. Tell me where the heck margarine comes from, and then maybe I'll eat it!").”




I followed one of the little old ladies’ advise and recipe and made some of these scrumptious Candied Pecans. “A good hostess makes big show-stopping meals, but a great hostess pays attention to the details. Place a bowl of these nuts in every room guests occupy during the cocktail hour before a dinner party; it’ll give them something to munch on and help ensure people don’t get sauced too quickly.” I took the advise a step further and packaged some of these candied pecans for guests to take home after the party. They are great for holiday gift-giving as well!



Here are a couple Kitchen Table Wisdoms that I love….”A grandmother isn’t the same thing as a restaurant. Shut up and eat the eggs.”—Ruth, transcriptionist, 77. LOL…Does that sound familiar or what?
Here’s another one, “Club soda is a wonderful thing. You can use it to remove any stain, or mix it with gin and drink until you don’t care about the stain anymore.”—Chastity, deli clerk, 72. 



While I was searching which wonderful recipe to make from the Little Old Lady Recipes book, I came across this quote on the Pumpkin Butter Recipe.  “Like good-looking people, pretty pumpkins are often really stupid on the inside.  Find an ugly, knobby variety for this recipe, because it’s likely to be sweeter.  Also keep this point in mind when looking for a husband….”  Opps…..I guess it’s too late for me to follow this advise as I’m already married to my handsome hubby for 7 years now.  hahahaha….

The Little Old Lady Recipes book is definitely a fun book to read for all.  Guess what, the size of the book will make it the perfect stocking stuffer as well!  Pack it along with a bag of these Candied Pecans and you’ll be all set.  For sure your foodie friends and family would waive about them. 

Rules for the Giveaway:

With the courtesy of Quirk Books, one lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. mailing address only) will have a chance to win a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipes Book.   You have until November 27th, 12 midnight PST to enter this giveaway.  Winner will be announced and contacted via email shortly after the deadline.

Mandatory Entry: 

Simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite holiday treat is.  

Additional Entries: (You can do any or all of the following, just leave a separate comments for each entry.  If you already did, they do count.  Simply leave a comment to tell me so.)

1) Add uTry.it to your Google+ circle.  (See sidebar to the right)
2) Click on the +1 button. (See sidebar to the right)
3) “Like” uTry.it’s Facebook page.  Here’s the link. 

4) Follow uTry.it on Twitter.  Here’s the link.

5) Tweet about this giveaway.  Or share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.
6) Subscribe to my blog via email.  You’ll receive an email to verify the subscription.  

7) Subscribe via RSS feed.

Good luck everyone!




Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipe Book free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.






Candied Nuts (adopted from Little Old Lady Recipes)
Printable Recipe
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups pecan halves or other nuts*
a dash of vanilla extract*

Whisk egg whites with a spoonful of water (*I substituted with a dash of vanilla extract instead).  Combine everything else but the nuts in another bowl.  Coat the nuts in egg whites.  Toss in sugar mixture.  Spread on a greased baking sheet and bake 45 minutes at 250F, stirring occasionally. 

*Note: The original recipe calls for 2 cups of nuts only.  I was able to cover all 4 cups of pecans halves with the same amount of egg whites and sugar mixture.


This post is shared with:

Foodie Friday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Simply Delish
Friday Food and Recipe
Friday Potluck
This Week's Craving

Spinach, Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust

Every once in a while, I love to enjoy a Sunday Brunch Buffet with my family.  The Golf Club House where my hubby and I tied the knot (years ago) offers a fabulous Live Jazz Sunday Champagne Bruch.  The quality of the food is great and the price is reasonable.  It’s only a few blocks away from where we live now.  The problem is, I tend to eat a lot more than I should at the buffet!  Don’t you want to try a little bit of everything they offer?  Well, even with a small bite of every dish, it’s still over my calories intake limits, especially with a few glasses of mimosas!  Yeah, although mimosa is in liquid form, it’s not calorie free (like how I wish).  What’s the solution?  Dine at home of course.     



So, what’s for brunch this weekend?  Spinach, Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust!  It’s really easy to prepare and you can pre-bake the crust the day before so you can still sleep-in on the day you want to make the tart.  Plus, you get to relax and dine in at home.  No need to get up early, dress up, fix your hair and get the kids ready…etc.  You can enjoy a lovely brunch in your robe and slippers!  Ha! I bet the buffet can’t beat that!   ;)  Not to mention, it’s way cheaper than dining out. 



Are you sold on this idea yet?  I hope you are because I’m really happy that I did.  This Spinach-Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust was amazing.  As I was taking pictures soon after the tart came out of the oven, I couldn’t help but noticed the wonderful aromas from it.  The texture of the pecan crust was crumbly with a nice crunch from the edges.  The flavor of the crust was buttery and nutty with a hint of sweetness.  The shallots was mild in onion flavor and complimented well with other ingredients without over powdering other flavors.  The custard was velvety and the salty prosciutto on top added a nice crunch.  The creamy brie on top melted beautifully and added a sophisticated cheese flavor.  I would definitely make this again, and again.             




I recreated the Asparagus Hollandaise Tarts into this Spinach, Brie and Prosciutto Tart for Kitchen Play. Whether your recipe calls for raw or cooked eggs, it’s always safer to prepare it with pasteurized eggs, in my opinion.  Especially, with young kids and elderly at home, it’s better to serve pasteurized eggs for the peace of mind.

Safest Choice Eggs is sponsoring a wonderful giveaway at Kitchen PLAY. Simply recreate any one recipe from this month’s Progressive Party, post about the experience on your blog and provide a link to your post on Kitchen PLAY to enter.  (To make it even easier, click here for a great coupon offer from Safest Choice Eggs.) All qualifying bloggers in each course will be entered to win $100 (6 prizes total).  The deadline is June 5, 2011. Please review the complete contest rules before entering. Good luck!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Breville.



Spinach- Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust: Printable Recipe
Servings: 4-6

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted pecan, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
8 tablespoons cold salted butter (1 stick), diced
1 Safest Choice Pasteurized egg yolk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

For the filling:

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, thinly sliced
A few handfuls of spinach, washed and patted dry
4 slices of prosciutto
3 Safest Choice Pasteurized eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt
pinch of freshly grounded black pepper
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of red pepper flakes
4 oz brie cheese, break into small pieces
a few sprigs of thyme

To prepare the crust:

In a food processor, combine the flour, pecan, sugar and butter. Pulse until the butter becomes pea size. Add egg yolk and mustard, process until incorporated. Put the mixture on a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll the chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface in between two sheets of plastic wrap to fit your preferred pie pan. If the dough tears, just gently patch it with your fingertips.

Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dry beans and blind bake for 15-20 minutes until completely done. Remove the weights and parchment paper.

Prepare the filling:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat and cook the shallots until caramelized (about 3-4 minutes), add the spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool. In the same pan, quickly sauté the prosciutto until slightly crisped. They will crisp up more during baking. Remove from the pan.

In a measuring cup, measure the milk, whisk in the eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and red pepper flakes until well combined. Layer the shallot and spinach at the bottom of the crust and slowly pour the egg mixture over it.
Top with slices of prosciutto and brie cheese.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the tart is golden brown and the custard is cooked. Sprinkle with freshly chopped thyme and enjoy.


This recipe is linked to:
Full Plate Thursday
Friday Potluck
Fresh Bite Friday
Fresh Clean and Pure Friday