Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

This past weekend, I attended a nikkah (Islamic marriage ceremony) where they served these delicious, buttery, nutty, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. I knew they were called Mexican wedding cookies, and I know they go by a bunch of other names as well. Russian tea cakes are another name for the same cookies as well.

You say potato, I say potato.

Regardless of what they're called, the ones I had were SO good that I immediately got home, didn't even change of out my fancy clothes, and got to work trying to recreate what I just ate. These cookies are similar to butter cookies and you probably have the staple ingredients in your pantry and fridge right now.

Butter? Check.
Flour? Check.
Sugar? Check.

The "special" ingredients in these cookies are nuts and powdered sugar. I made my cookies using Ziyad Brand's Shelled Walnuts. I grew up with Ziyad Brand always being used in my mom's kitchen and so many of their products are now in my own kitchen and in so many of my own recipes, too! Their products are delicious, fresh, and always one of a kind, and whenever I use them in my recipes, I always know to expect a delicious outcome.

Give these cookies a try! They're embarrassingly easy to make and your kitchen will smell like any traditional bakery. 

Mexican Wedding Cookies

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES 
Yields: 12 cookies (depending on size)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup of Ziyad Brand Walnuts

- 1 cup of flour

- pinch of salt

- 1 stick of butter, room temperature

- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water

- powdered sugar, for coating the cookies

TO MAKE:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a food processor, process only 1/2 cup of walnuts until they resemble crumbs. Place those in a medium sized bowl. Pulse the rest of the walnuts 10 times until they're roughly chopped. Add the chopped walnuts to the bowl and mix them together.

3. Add in the flour and salt to the nuts. Stir until well incorporated.

4. In a big bowl, cream the butter until it's nice and creamy. Add the sugar and beat together until the sugar is incorporated into the butter.

5. Add in the orange blossom water.

6. In 3 batches, carefully and slowly add in the flour/nut mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well until everything is well incorporated and a dough begins to form.

7. Roll cookies out with your hands into balls and place on the baking sheet, at least 1 inch apart. I used a 1.5 tablespoon measure for the size of my cookies, but a tablespoon measure would work just fine. 
8. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned.
9. Cool the cookies completely. Once they are cooled, roll them in powdered sugar twice to make sure they're nicely and thickly coated with powdered sugar.
10. ENJOY!