Gran's Pecan Snowballs Christmas Baking with SusieJ

Measurements [metric]

  • 1 c margarine(the kind that comes in sticks not 'whipped' or 'light')
  • 1/2 c powdered sugar
  • 2 c sifted flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 c chopped pecans
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • More powedered sugar for coating baked cookies

Yield: about 80 snowballs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (If you don't have an oven thermometer, get one, and make sure your oven temperature is accurate. It's $10 well spent compared to ruining batches of cookies!)

Cream margarine and sugar together until smooth. My grandmother did this by hand, but I'm a wimp and put it in the stand mixer with the paddle blade.

Sift flour with salt and pecans to mix. Add to bowl with margarine and sugar. Mix a bit, add the vanilla, then continue mixing until batter is a uniform consistency.

Shape dough into small balls - I make them about 3/4" diameter. Place balls one inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden.

Remove from oven and quickly roll in powdered sugar. When cool, roll again in sugar, and they'll look like little snowballs!

Store in an airtight container - if they last that long!

One of my earliest Christmas memories is watching my grandmother make these cookies. (My mom said she made them for as long as she could remember,too.) They were my absolute favorite cookie of all time. My grandmother passed away when I was 12, but fortunately we had a few Christmases together when I was old enough to actually learn how to make these cookies.

The recipe calls for margarine, which I had assumed was a depression-era economy measure. But I've made these with butter, and they're just not as good (and they're more prone to burn on the bottoms, too.) Even if it's not something you usually buy, use margarine for these.