Polvorones (Mexican Wedding Cakes)

Polvorones hold a special place in my heart, not only during the holiday season, but just in general. They so very much remind me of my mom. Their wonderful sweetness and the way they melt in my mouth, take me straight back to being a kid and in my mommy's arms.

I don't think there is any traditional connection between Christmas and these cookies, but my mom used to make them (what seems like) every year. Maybe it's because they look like snowballs? Maybe it's because they are really quite easy to whip up and no one needs unnecessary complications during this season?

Regardless, on Monday morning, K and I got to cracking on these cookies. He always has such fun helping me bake (notice he was wearing his Sir Topham Hatt costume with his pajama pants, as you do). Anyway, you start by creaming 1 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of sifted powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Once that is combined, stir it into the butter/sugar mixture. I just used a rubber spatula to do this.

Then roll them into 1 inch balls, I think I used a half teaspoon as my measure, and then bake them at 325F for 20-25 minutes.

As soon as you get them out of the oven, roll them in powdered sugar.

I find that if you use your hands to do this, the warm cookie dough and the sugar stick to your fingers and make a bit of a mess. I used two forks and it worked like a charm, although it is a tad on the time consuming side.

Once they are cooled, roll them once more in powdered sugar and they are ready to go!

While we were making the cookies, I kept telling K that the cookies are for Santa. I told him the whole story about how good boys and girls get toys from Santa, who flies from house to house with his reindeer. The more I told him about Santa, the more he wanted to know. I think I've told him the same story about a million times this week. While the cookies were cooling, we wrote K's first letter to Santa. He dictated while I wrote, it cracked me up.