My family is having a Christmas Party at my brother's house this Saturday. I thought for a while the Christmas Season would never get here and then BAM !! It is here and it is about to fly by too fast.
One of my favorite treats are these Pecan Snowballs.
I call them Pecan Snowballs now because I nearly only make them at Christmas. The original recipe was called Alicia's Pecan Fingers. I think my Mom got the recipe from another lady at our church when I was growing up, who evidently got it from another lady named Alicia. It wasn't really a Christmas treat back then as much as my Mom use to make them for baby and wedding showers and instead of rolling them into a ball, she rolled them into tiny finger shapes, about the size of a woman's little finger. They were much more fragile in the finger shape though and broke too easily.
I loved them so much that when I grew up, I adopted them over to a Christmas treat and now my family always expects me to bring some to our holiday parties.... and I don't mind at all !
I will give additional instructions together at the bottom and the slight recipe adaption I make, so although I will tell you what I did going along with the photos, it will all be together again for you at the bottom.
I use to mix it all with my hand and that is not hard to do since the recipe has a LOT of margarine. Now though, I use my mixer, but if you do that, remember do NOT over mix it as it has a bit of a cookie consistency and you do not want to over mix it and break down the sugar further.
Of course you will want to sit your margarine out before you are ready to put the recipe together so it will be at room temperature. (As a note, I love butter and you could use it instead of margarine. I just don't because it could change the flavor a little and I want them to taste just like they always did before) When you are ready to put it together, if you are using a mixer, you will put the butter in first and mix it a little to squish it up, then add the vanilla, mix a little more and then add your sugar and flour. I ALWAYS double the recipe you saw on the card as that recipe makes very little, but if you are just making some for you and two or three more people, I suppose it could suffice to only make one recipe.
After everything is mixed, you roll the dough into small balls and put them on a cookie sheet. You don't have to use parchment under them, but I always do. These are probably about a scant inch diameter. The main thing, even if you choose to make them larger, is that you make them all as close to the same size as you can so that everything bakes through in the same amount of time.
They bake in a 300 degree (F) oven for nearly a half hour, but like always, set a timer for a little less time and check them, because ovens sometimes cook differently. I usually take a pair of long tongs and turn one over on the front edge of the pan to see if the bottom is a little toasty. I like having a little color on the bottom before I call them done.
While they are cooking I set up a dish with some powdered sugar in it and another tray or large plate to put them on.
When they come out of the oven, you will want to roll them in the powdered sugar while they are still hot, carefully of course.
I take a few off of the cooking sheet at a time, place them in the sugar, roll them around till they are coated nicely and then put them on the tray
If you handle them lightly, they will not burn you.
You can see that the first coast looks somewhat thin, but that is ok because when they are completely cooled, you will roll them again.
First coat done !
When completed, they will have an very nice coating and look like little snowballs.... well.... kinda.
If you love pecans.... and I do !.... You might love these too.
I hope you are all doing well and making sure you have some fun things going on in your life.
Full recipe and instructions below.
Love you !
Jacey
Jacey's Pecan Snowballs (Below is the double recipe)
2 Sticks of margarine (1 cup) Softened to room temperature
4 Tablespoons of confectioner's sugar (I use 5 & 1/2 Tablespoons instead)
2 Cups of plain/All Purpose flour
2 Teaspoons of vanilla (I dash a smidge more in)
2 Cups of medium size chipped pecans (not ground, not real small chopped)
... and extra confectioner's sugar to roll them in
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Note: you can mix this by hand and in the same order if you want too. Your hand will be very gooey ! :)
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In mixer add butter, mix slightly to squish up. Add vanilla and powdered sugar, mix a little, doesn't have to be totally blended. Then add one cup of the flour, mix only till incorporated, then add the other cup of flour and mix only till incorporated. When using the mixer, blend as short of a time as possible just till blended. Then add pecans, mix a little and then you can use your spatula to even it out if the pecans aren't evenly blended.
Roll into balls in as uniform size as possible so they cook at the same rate of time and place on a baking sheet. You can put a lot on one sheet since they do not have leavening in them, they do not spread out. Put in a preheated 300 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. I always set my timer earlier and then check them to see how they are progressing. Like I said above, I take a pair of long tongs and turn one over on the front edge of the baking sheet to check the bottom to make sure it appears a little toasty as sometimes the tops stay quite white unless you over cook them.
After they are as done as you want them. Take the pan out of the oven and roll the hot snowballs in the confectioners sugar and place on another tray or large plate. It won't ruin them if they touch, but I try to keep them from touching until they are cold and have been rolled in the sugar once more. They should be completely cooled before the second coating.
