The Russian tea cookie, typically referred to as snowballs in American culture, originated in Russia and was intended to accompany teatime. The original recipe, from the late 1800s, was more of a shortbread cake than a cookie. Russian tea cookies typically had hazelnuts, which made them distinctive from other cookies of the same nature. Jenna Copes of the Loyola University of New Orleans elaborated on the immense history of the cookie, “The original cake-like recipe for Russian tea cookies required a large number of eggs.” Copes said. This was a big problem because without proper refrigeration the cake would go bad if not eaten quickly. “Eventually, in the 1900s, this problem was remedied with butter. By dropping the eggs from the recipe and adding a little bit more butter as a binding agent, that’s what created the crumbly cookie of modern times that can last for days without refrigeration.” Copes said. The change in the recipe helped to spread the dessert throughout Eastern Europe, not just Russia.
Recipe:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
⅓ cup powdered sugar, or more as needed
Directions:
Step 1: Gather all ingredients
Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Step 3: Cream butter and vanilla together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes
Step 4: Whisk flour and 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar together in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture and stir until just blended. Add walnuts and mix until incorporated; mixture may be crumbly.
Step 5: Take small scoops of dough and roll between your hands into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Step 6: Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are just turning golden, about 12 minutes.
Step 7: Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.
Step 8: Place remaining ⅓ cup powdered sugar in a small bowl. Roll cooled cookies in the powdered sugar once or twice.
