Pecan snowballs (otherwise known as Mexican Wedding Cookies)

These are one of my favorite holiday cookies. They should be sweet, crumbly, and melt in your mouth. I know it doesn't make much sense to post about holiday cookies in March, but I can't help it if my cravings don't always follow the seasons! It's not my fault if they look like miniature snowmen.

I've eaten many different versions of these cookies, so I was curious to try Martha's version. Her recipe is very simple.

Ingredients:

1 cup (3 1/4 oz) pecans
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Grind the pecans and 1/4 cup powdered sugar in a good processor until the nuts are finely ground.

Whisk together the sugar-nut mixture, flour, and salt in a large bowl.

Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixture, cream the butter and 3/4 cup powdered sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat until combined.

Add the flour-nut mixture and beat on low speed until everything starts to hold together.

Roll small pieces of dough into 1/2 - 3/4 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake the cookies until they are lightly browned on the bottom but still light on top, approximately 10-12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets (top to bottom and front to back) halfway through baking. The cookies may flatten slightly while baking.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

After the cookies have cooled completely, toss the cookies with 1 cup powdered sugar in a large bowl. Make sure the cookies are completely covered with sugar.

Enjoy!

Perfect Popovers (Part Deux)

Remember my first attempt at making popovers? To summarize: they were a minor disaster. Popovers should not deflate after you take them out of the oven!

I was determined to try to make these again. For my second attempt, I used the popover recipe from Martha's web site, which is slightly different than the one in her book. I had high hopes for this recipe, for a number of reasons. First, it uses fewer eggs. This is a good thing, because I thought my first batch of popovers tasted much too eggy. Second, the instructions involve baking the popovers at high heat for 15 minutes, and then lowering the temperature while continuing to bake the popovers for an additional 20 minutes. I've seen other popover recipes that employ this technique, so I thought there must be something to it.



I didn't take photos of the mixing and preparation steps this time, since everything looked pretty similar to my first popover post. In case you've forgotten, this is what a popover pan looks like. You can try to make popovers with a muffin pan, but they won't turn out as well.



I mixed the ingredients together, blah blah blah, and poured the batter into the popover tin.



After 35 minutes in the oven, I removed the popovers from the oven, slit them with a sharp knife to let the air escape, and removed them from the pan. And they didn't deflate! Woohoo!




Look, perfect popovers! They're light, fluffy, and golden brown, just like they should be!

Popovers should be very airy (almost hollow) on the inside, and these were no exception.

I am ridiculously happy with the way these turned out. With the right recipe and proper technique, these are actually very easy to make. They have very few ingredients, and most of them are things you probably already have in your pantry (well, except for the popover tin). If you've had trouble making these in the past, I highly recommend this recipe. Traditionally, popovers were eaten with butter and jam, but I think popovers make a great alternative to regular bread. They are a tasty accompaniment to winter soups or stews (or pretty much anything else).

Perfect Popovers (makes 6)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Liberally spray popover tin with non-stick cooking spray, and then lightly coat with flour.

Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and butter. Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and fold together until the entire mixture is just blended. It's OK if there are a few small lumps of flour left in the batter.

Evenly distribute the batter between the 6 popover cups.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature for 350 degrees and bake until the popovers are puffy and well-browned on top, approximately 20 minutes. Warning: if you take them out of the oven too early, they will deflate. Remove tin from the oven and immediately remove popovers onto a wire cooling rack. Use a sharp knife to cut a small slit in the sides of each popover (this prevents them from getting soggy or deflating). Serve immediately.