Delicious Nutty Ball Cookies

Holiday time wouldn’t be the same, at least in our household, without some holiday cookie baking. Each year, I always try some new recipes that I’ve torn from my cooking magazines or printed off from my favorite blogs. But I always open my tattered binder of family favorites…the ones that make a comeback appearance in the cookie tins I give as gifts each year. Nutty balls are just that – the type of recipe typed with a typewriter on a recipe card that reads “here’s what’s cookin'”.  I don’t have the original card; that would be in my mom’s collection as I have been making them since I was a child. I now make them each holiday season with my own children. My husband eats them hot from the oven and people always comment on “those little balls with the powdered sugar”. They are melt in your mouth delicious! I suppose each culture has its own version of a ground nut cookie coated in powdered sugar. I’m not sure where this particular version came from so I can’t give credit where due, but I hope this cookie becomes your new tradition as well. Enjoy!

Nutty Balls

2 cups flour

2 cups of finely ground walnuts

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until creamy. Add the remaining ingredients until combined. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake for approximately 12 – 14 minutes on parchment of silpat liner. (They will be a light beige color when cooked and bottoms will be golden.) Let cool on the pan for approximately 10 minutes otherwise they may crumble when you try to move them. Sift powdered sugar on top.