Mexican Wedding Cookies

This past weekend I went home to visit my family. My sister, Andrea, loves being in the kitchen. I talked her into trying this Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book. It didn't take much of an effort on my part to sway her into baking with me. : ) She has been wanting to make this recipe ever since we bought the book. So we gathered all of the ingredients together and baked in the comfort of my mother's kitchen. While we baked, my mom reminisced about her grandmother baking a similar style Mexican Wedding Cookie. Her grandmother use to make these cookies and then would place them in tin boxes with powdered sugar lining the bottom to give to friends.



Ingredients

5 ounces whole blanched almonds (1 cup), plus 40 more for decorating
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 large egg white, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread 1 up almonds on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until fragrant, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a shallow bowl and set aside to cool.

2. Place toasted almonds, flour, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor; process until nuts are finely chopped, about 1 minute.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla and almond extracts; beat until combined. Add the chopped-almond mixture; beat on low speed until dough just comes together.

4. Roll dough into twenty 1.5 inch diameter balls; place on two clean baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball slightly.

5. Place the 40 remaining whole almonds and 1 tablespoon beaten egg white in a small bowl; toss to coat. Press two almonds into top of each cookie.

6. Bake cookies until lightly browned around the edges, about 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer sheets to a wire rack; let rest until cookies are cool enough to handle.

7. Place remaining 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar in a fine mesh sieve. Sift sugar over cookies, reserving any remaining sugar. Return cookies to baking sheets. Let cookies cool 15 minutes, and coat with sugar again. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

I followed the recipe fairly closely this time. I didn't have whole blanched almonds so I settled for sliced blanched almonds. In addition, I left the cookies in the oven for a total of 21 minutes instead of 25 at 325, but I think this is fairly oven dependent.

The cookies turned out wonderfully. On a scale of 0 to 5 stars, I give these a 5. I was quite surprised by how delicious they tasted. I savored each bite as it melted in my mouth. Mexican Wedding Cookies are suppose to crumble in your hands and these did just that. I actually had to be careful not to drop crumbs on the ground. However this being said, I have had dry tasting Mexican Wedding Cookies in the past and these certainly did not taste dry. These were the correct moistness. The blend of almonds and sugar were just right in these cookies and I will definitely make them again. I think they are worthy of a special occasion as well. Quite possibly, these are the perfect cookies for a wedding shower. I guess they are called Mexican Wedding Cookies for a reason! : )