are russian tea cakes and mexican wedding cookies the same

I have been on a multi-decade hunt for a recipe that produces a sort of doughy center to these cookies, like the cookie my grandmother made. Anyone have one to share?

What am I looking for in a doughy-center recipe… is it the addition of an egg? powdered sugar rather than granulated? less butter? relatively less flour?

Mexican Wedding Cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies, are delightfully nutty little balls of powdered sugar covered goodness! These classic holiday cookies come out every year at Christmas and everybody loves them!
are russian tea cakes and mexican wedding cookies the same

I have been on a multi-decade hunt for a recipe that produces a sort of doughy center to these cookies, like the cookie my grandmother made. Anyone have one to share?

What am I looking for in a doughy-center recipe… is it the addition of an egg? powdered sugar rather than granulated? less butter? relatively less flour?

As I’ve mentioned before, no one cooked in my family while I was growing up. We had a very small handful of “family recipes” that were rarely cooked. The rest of the time, it was all about meals of convenience. I grew to love the ladies in the Carl’s Jr drive through.

Or the time she brought us a plate of marshmallow brownies. I distinctly remember opening the door and seeing the paper plate filled with gooey, marshmallow-studded brownies and I could actually feel my eyes light up like a cartoon character. As I took a bite, anticipating the sweet, luscious goo from the marshmallow pockets, I was instantly greeted with a terrible punch in the taste buds that contorted my face into the most hideous expression imaginable that mimicked the pain I was feeling all over. That wasn’t marshmallow — it was sour cream. And grandma, bless her terrible-chef heart, neglected to stir the sour cream into the batter properly, leaving pockets of the rancid tang throughout the precious brownies.

HOWEVER. Grandma did do something right, and that was her Snowball Cookies. In our house, we call them Snowballs, but you may know them as Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies. Same difference! They’re all irresistibly tender pecan cookies rolled in powdered sugar and they taste like heaven. And if we’re being honest, they’re actually my favorite cookie ever. Like, ever-ever. I could eat an entire batch without so much blinking, they’re that much of a favorite to me! And Christmas isn’t Christmas without them.

Not to mention the countless rolls that have been torched, cookies that turned Cajun, and grilled cheese sandwiches that were topped with *shudder* mayonnaise. Like, I’m still scarred.

While this is not my grandma’s recipe (frankly, she hasn’t made her cookies in years and I think it’s probably from a magazine), it is my favorite Snowball Cookie recipe EVER. It yields the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth, divine cookies, studded with pecans and a hint of vanilla in every bite. It makes a little over two dozen, which is excellent if you’re gifting them off (and not so much if you’re eating them all like me). You can also adapt these to make them more personalized, like by using more cinnamon inside to spice them up, adding a hint of orange zest, or rolling them in cocoa powder instead. The choice is yours!

Russian Tea Cakes

FAQ

What are the different names for Mexican wedding cookies?

Mexican wedding cookies go by many different names: snowballs, Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, polvorones, and more. I did some digging on their history while I was working on this recipe, and it turns out, we don’t really know where they originated.

What is the difference between Mexican and Italian wedding cookies?

Italian wedding cookies typically contain almonds or hazelnuts and are flavored with almond extract, vanilla extracts and spices like cinnamon or anise. Mexican wedding cookies, on the other hand, use a combination of ground nuts such as pecans and walnuts, as well as butter, sugar and sometimes chocolate chips.

Where did Mexican wedding cookies originate from?

Mexican wedding cookies were introduced by the Spanish, as they originated in Europe and still exist in many other countries today. The cookies were prepared at many California rancho weddings in the 1800s.

What are Mexican wedding cakes made of?

They’re always small, hand-formed, coated in powdered sugar, and containing ground nuts of some kind—often pecans, sometimes walnuts or almonds. They’re my buttery, crumbly Proustian madeleine, and the only cookie I make without question year after year for Christmas.

Leave a Comment