These Pecan Butter Balls are melt-in-your-mouth delicious!!! These are one of my favorite cookies that I make… and always a staple for my Holiday Cookie Tray!!! But I can’t take all of the credit…. that goes to Mama!!
My grandmother, whom we all call Mama, is responsible for so many of my holiday cooking traditions. She was an amazing cook. As a little girl, I was eager to learn from her… and luckily, she was a great teacher. Over the years, I learned to replicate many of her famous dishes and to this day most of my go to holiday recipes come from her. Follow me on this blog, and this will not be the last you hear of Mama’s cooking!!
Last week, I had lunch with my cousin… it’s been more than a decade since we have spent a holiday together, and we live in different states…. But we had to laugh when we learned that our holiday tables look strikingly similar… as we both still make Mama’s traditional dishes for our holiday spreads! Mama is no longer with us, but it’s nice to know that generations later, her grandchildren are still holding on to her traditions!
OK… so back to the cookies. Mama was FAMOUS for her display of cookies at Christmastime. It was always impressive. She inspired all of the women in the family to bake. Each daughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter made cookies…LOTS of cookies!! Over time, as I became old enough to bake, my mom passed the responsibility of baking all of the holiday cookies to me. It’s something I have absolutely loved to do ever since. Now that I have a daughter, I cannot wait to teach her to bake. She’s only 1, and I already have 2 aprons ready for her!! I just adore the idea of recipes being passed from generation to generation! I look forward to seeing her bake these Pecan Butter Balls and keep the tradition alive!
These cookies are so simple to make…. And only 6 ingredients! Simply mix the 1st five ingredients, shape into balls, bake, and dust with powdered sugar!
A few things to note about these cookies….
- Leave your pecans in big pieces. I buy the bag of pecan pieces for this recipe… it saves a step. If you buy the whole pecans, just be careful not to chop them too fine
- When you take them out of the oven, they will not be brown. In fact, they will almost look uncooked. That’s ok!! Resist the urge to let them keep baking!
- Make sure the cookies are warm when you cover them in powdered sugar… if they are too hot, the powdered sugar seems to melt, but if they are too cool, the sugar does not stick as well…
- My favorite method for covering the cookies in sugar.. is to place cooling racks over a deep baking tray… Place the cookies on the racks, and sift the powdered sugar. The baking trays will collect all of the excess powdered sugar. I then place each cookie in the baking trays, and carefully roll to coat. This seems to make the best use of the powdered sugar, while ensuring the entire cookie is coated
- Lastly, these cookies get better with age!! When you taste them, it will be hard to believe that they can get better… but make them now, and just wait til you taste them on Christmas morning (if you have any left!).. I keep mine in a cookie tin, on a shelf in my garage. My garage happens to be very cold this time of year, so it’s the perfect refrigeration for my cookies!!
Hope you enjoy this recipe!! Many more to come….
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter Softened
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Pecan Pieces
- Powdered Sugar
- Preheat Oven to 275 degrees F
- Combine Butter, Granulated Sugar, Flour, Vanilla, and Pecans
- By hand, roll cookie dough into 1” balls.
- Place on cookie sheet 1” apart
- Bake for 30 minutes – NOTE – the cookies will not be brown
- While warm, sift powdered sugar to coat the entire cookie
- Store in a cold location
Here are a few other recipes you may like:
Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter Toffee
Candy Cane Dipped Oreo Cookies
Thank u for making the instruction to snow ball recipe so easy to follow it was perfect 💖