These snowball cookies pair ginger and lime together with a buttery, tender wedding cookie to make what I truly think are the best wedding cookies ever. Serve these, and watch your diners' faces light up with surprise at the unexpected and truly delicious flavor combination
2-3teaspoonspowdered ginger(more or less, to taste)
1Tablespoonkey lime juice14 grams, fresh or bottled, such as Nellie and Joe's
zest of 3 key limes or one Persian lime
4ozpecans113 grams or 1 cup, toasted and finely ground in a food processor
10ozall purpose flour(see note)
For the Powdered Sugar Coating
6ouncespowdered sugar170 grams or 1 1/2 cups
2teaspoonsginger
1teaspoonfine salt (or coarse salt ground to a powder)5 grams
Instructions
Whisk the ground pecans and flour together (unless you added both to your blender, in which case, they're already mixed). Set aside.
In a bowl using a hand mixer, in a stand mixer, or by hand, cream the butter, sugar, salt, ginger, and zest until very creamy and smooth.
Mix in the lime juice.
Beat in the flour mixture until just evenly combined.
To Shape and Bake
Portion cookies at about 1 Tablespoon each (0.75 oz or 21 grams). Roll into balls and place on a baking stone or cookie sheet covered with parchment or Silpat. These cookies barely spread, so you only need to leave about 1 1/2" between them.
Bake at 325F for about 20-25 minutes, until fairly firm and barely browned.
Let cookies cool on the racks for about 5 minutes and then roll gently but thoroughly in the powdered sugar coating (see below). Double dip them to ensure a nice, thick coating, part of which will melt and part of which will stay white and powdery.
For the Powdered Sugar Coating
Whisk all ingredients together thoroughly. Taste and add more ginger and/or more salt if you need to. It shouldn't taste salty, but there should be a noticeable salt bite or two in the midst of the sweet. The ginger should make your tummy warm. But it should not make you sweat.
Notes
Use 10 oz all purpose flour for a crumbly-yet-sturdy cookie. Use 5 oz each of cake flour and all purpose for a more delicate-crumbly cookie. Your choice.Consider flavor variations by switching up the nuts you use and the spices and zests you choose. This is a great base cookie recipe, so make it your own.The oven temperature should be 325F. Any hotter, and the cookies might not bake all the way through before the outside starts to burn, so check your oven temperature.Note that cookies should not brown much at all except for a little on the bottoms. You'll know the cookies are done when they are firm. Straight from the oven, they'll still be soft in the centers, but they will firm up as they cool.