I decided to pull out my recipe book and whip up a recipe for my husband. I like to try my hand at some of his mom’s recipes every now and again. It’s a great way to try a new recipe and it brings him back to his youth so it’s a win/win!
Well…most of the time. I found a recipe called “Coconut-Orange Slice Candy” and it sounded delicious. It was a mixture of fresh oranges, nuts, coconut, powdered sugar and vanilla. So not a ton of ingredients and it sounded very doable. I asked my husband if he remembered the candy and he said that he did and it was definitely worth making. So, I gathered my ingredients and put it all together. Well the problem I have run into with these old recipes is that my husband’s mom wrote up her recipes with minimal instructions. I think often she just wrote notes as reminders to herself.
In the case of this recipe, there was no information on what size pan to use. So I guessed! Well obviously I guessed WRONG! I wasn’t sure what to expect with this candy but after letting it cook for the 30 minutes per the recipe it was still a soupy mess so I let it go another 25 minutes. I added the sugar and let’s just say…I ended up with a complete FAIL!
I was determined to have some kind of success so I asked my husband to look at the recipe and offer suggestions and he noticed the recipe next to it – Russian Tea Cakes. He commented that those were delicious. I read the ingredients and the instructions and knew that I could handle them. You see, his mom’s recipe for Russian Tea Cakes is what I have always called Snowball Cookies. I decided to completely scrap the candy and whipped up a batch of the Russian Tea Cakes (aka Snowball Cookies.)
I can’t remember the last time I made these cookies. I know it’s been too long because my boys have never had them. Jake is almost 10 years old…so it’s been at least a decade since I whipped up a batch! What on Earth was I thinking waiting that long? These cookies are so good…they almost melt in your mouth with just the perfect crunch!
If you’ve never tried them, don’t be afraid to put on your apron. I promise that these are easy and you can’t mess them up!
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2¼ cup flour, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup finely chopped pecans
- additional confectioners sugar for rolling cookies
- Preheat oven to 400º F.
- Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix flour and salt together then stir into the butter mixture until combined.
- Mix in nuts.
- Roll dough into 1" balls and place on un-greased cookie sheet about 1" apart (cookies do not spread.)
- Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until set (NOT brown.)
- Cool slightly on wire rack.
- While still warm, roll in confectioners sugar and cool on wire rack.
- Roll in confectioners sugar again.
Maple Buttercream Frosting
Leave a Reply