Summer Snowballs

This past weekend, Meredith held a garage sale to benefit a lovely cause (stay tuned...she will be blogging about this at a later date!) Her friends and family rallied to her cause, donating items for the sale, volunteering to help out during it, and providing baked goods for the bake sale portion of the event.  

When Meredith asked me to contribute some cookies (or such) at the beginning of the month, I had a hard time deciding what to make. Like most people, I'm in the throes of baking season in the fall and winter.  Once Thanksgiving starts approaching, you can count on my oven being cranked up and raring to go almost without stop until the beginning of January.  You know the drill: there are so many cookies, pies and cakes (not to mention casseroles and side dishes) to prepare for family events and functions.  Plus, there's nothing better than baking up something for yourself and your family on cool, crisp and even downright cold days.

In summer, the opposite is oftentimes true.  Usually the only thing I bake in summer are Rocky Road Brownies.  They remind me of s'mores!  (I was about to say they remind me of camping, but I refuse to set foot in the wilderness, often even with the enticement of being in a cabin with running water and a jacuzzi.  It's still the wilderness.  I am unafraid and unembarrassed to admit that I'm a city girl at heart...the woods and rural areas alike scare me. (I can only tolerate Ohio's beautiful Amish country in small doses before feeling uncomfortable and yearning to return home to traffic.) With the exception of beach vacations, almost all of our trips revolve around going to big cities and checking out all the man-made wonders. You just won't see me sitting around the fire roasting a marshmallow...unless I'm at someone's fire pit in their backyard! :) 

Phew...having gotten that off my chest, I considered making those brownies but decided it would result in a huge headache.  You know how chocolate is in the sun, and these brownies are topped with extra chocolate chips.  Before you know it, they'd be melting everywhere, creating a disaster for all involved.  I then thought about lemon squares, but the same thing is sort of true.  They're a good summer dessert, but you wouldn't want them sitting in the heat at a bake sale.  After much soul-searching, a revelation hit me: I would make Russian Tea Cakes! 

These lovely little cookies go by a variety of names...I've heard Mexican Wedding Cakes, Snowballs, and my mom called them by the infinitely adorable "Butterballs" when I was growing up.  I appropriated the Russian Tea Cakes moniker after re-discovering them last winter.  My mom got on a baking kick and trotted out an adapted version of the recipe she found online that used this name for them.  These cookies are everywhere at Christmas...little balls covered in powdered sugar, they are wintery white and perfect for a Christmas cookie tray.  Sadly, I used to avoid them for most of my life.  They just looked so plain and boring.  Think about it: situated next to iced sugar cookies, fudge of all kinds, thumbprint cookies and all a manner of other seasonal delights, Russian Tea Cakes look plain boring.  After tasting one that my mom made, I was in heaven.  They are delightful.


Like a lot of recipes containing only a few ingredients, they taste amazing because the true stars of the show are able to shine.  This recipe really only consists of butter (of course!) powdered sugar, vanilla, flour and ground nuts.  No eggs. No fancy flavorings or techniques needed.  And what you end up with is a buttery, heavenly-textured cookie that melts in your mouth.  Moreover, they hold up in the heat since they're compact little balls.  I got to work on making some!  Here's the recipe I use:


Russian Tea Cakes (or Butterballs, Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes...take your pick)

1 cup softened butter (Yes...that means 2 sticks.  Where do you think all the flavor and silk texture are coming from? Go for it!!)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans; or almonds; I've used all 3 and they've turned out fine.  Buy whatever's on sale, or use whatever you have in your pantry. You're the boss!)

In a large bowl combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt with a mixer on low speed. Blend well. Gradually add flour at low speed until just combined; stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls; place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes until firm to the touch but not brown. Do not overbake. While warm, roll in powdered sugar. Cool; re-roll in powdered sugar before serving.

It's that simple! You get about 2 dozen from one batch; just on Thursday for Meredith's garage sale, I whipped up a whopping 4 dozen in a half-hour.  No joke. You're not waiting forever for them to bake and the mixing process isn't intensive, so it goes really fast.

I was so pleased to trot these out in the middle of summer instead of the Christmas season.  They taste unbelievable at any time of the year and are so easy....not to mention the kudos you'll get for making something from scratch! Enjoy your Summer Snowballs!