A cookie by any other name is still. . .delicious. These simple little, sugar covered gems are commonly called Mexican Wedding Cookies, but in my family we know them as Snowballs. The cookies are crisp and light and just sweet enough. Although often overused, the phrase "melt-in-your-mouth" describes the texture of these cookies perfectly.
The ingredient list is very simple; butter, powdered sugar, flour, good-quality vanilla and pecans are all that go into these cookies. I was excited to finally get to use my homemade vanilla extract that I started a few months back, as it had aged long enough to develop a nice, smooth vanilla flavor. Using good quality butter and vanilla is especially important due to the simplicity of the flavors that make these cookies so unique. I like using pecans, but they are equally good with chopped almonds or walnuts.
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Happy Holidays everyone! I'm sure most of you probably have your Christmas cookie baking finished. But for those of you that might still need some ideas for the cookies you'll be leaving out for Santa on Christmas Eve, I'd like to share a few of my favorite holiday cookie recipes over the next few days. Today it's German Gingersnaps. A wonderful, spicy cookie sweetened with brown sugar and dark blackstrap molasses. This is a great recipe for the holidays as it fills the kitchen with the traditional holiday aroma of ginger and cinnamon.
What is your favorite holiday cookie recipe?
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Earlier this week I had a craving for pumpkin pie. Maybe it was the cool weather or the fact that Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, but whatever it was, I was feeling experimental. I've always struggled with traditional rolled out pie crusts and so I decided to take the easy way out and use a pat-in-the pan whole wheat shortbread crust. It is buttery and rich and a good base for the pumpkin custard. I adapted the classic pumpkin pie recipe from the Libby's Pumpkin label, adding nutmeg and a touch of almond extract just for fun and then topped it with a mixture of pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. I figured you really couldn't go wrong with a pumpkin and pecan pie. Why segregate your flavors, when they are so good together?
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