The Mother Load Russian Tea Cakes

..........................

Russian Tea Cakes
Goodmama, CA

This is one of our FAVORITE cookies, and they make great gifts around the holidays. The first time I made these for my Hispanic neighbor, she said, "Oh, Mexican Wedding Cookies!" I guess the recipes are similar. Whether you call them Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies, PLEASE make them with real butter. You will have a mediocre cookie at best if you use margarine.

1 C butter, at room temperature
1/2 C powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (not imitation)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 C flour
3/4 C finely chopped walnuts
more powdered sugar

Combine butter, 1/2 C of powdered sugar, vanilla and salt on a low speed. Gradually add the flour and then stir in nuts.

Roll dough into balls about 1" in diameter and place on ungreased cookie sheet. These cookies will not expand, so it is not necessary to place them far apart.

Bake in a 400 degree oven 10 - 12 minutes. Use an oven thermometer if you are not sure if your oven is calibrated correctly or you can burn these cookies.
DO NOT let these cookies brown. After 10 minutes press lightly on one; if it has too much give, it is still raw in the center and should be baked another 2 minutes. If it feels fairly firm, remove them from the oven.

Very gently, roll each cookie in a bowl of powdered sugar to coat. Place coated cookies onto a platter which has also been moderately dusted with powdered sugar. As the cookies cool, they will probably melt the sugar on the platter and the bottoms will be a little sticky; that's normal. If you handle these too roughly when they're warm they'll break and you'll have to eat them (force yourself)! After they are thoroughly cooled, roll each cookie in powdered sugar a second time and place on a new platter that has been dusted with powdered sugar.

This recipe makes approximately 4 doz. cookies, but they go quickly. Makes lots of them!