Sweet Treats: Snowball cookies

So with Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to try out a festive recipe and after some clever Googling, I came across a recipe on the Channel 4’s food website for snowball cookies. The picture looked so cute, as they look exactly how they sound. With lemon and nuts the main flavours, they’re fairly Christmassy as well, although I’m not tempted to try out some other combinations to see which works well! They melt in the mouth and are so light, I could easily consume the whole batch in a sitting – I won’t, mind.

Makes 28

Ingredients:

100g butter

150g icing sugar

150g plain flour

25g chopped walnuts

25g chopped almonds

Grated zest of a lemon

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4

Cream the butter and half (75g) of the icing sugar until soft and fluffy

Sift in the flour before adding the nuts and zest

Mix until it forms a dough (this took a while, because the mixture is very dry. Keep with it though and don’t be tempted to add water or milk)

Once lightly kneaded, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes

Roll into walnut sized balls and bake on a baking tray for 10-12 minutes (this was the trickiest step as the mixture is crumbly and proves impossible to knead or shape. I’m the most impatient person in the world, but I got by fine! I also baked for 15 minutes as had two trays each with 14 cookies on)

Once baked and cooled, dip in the remaining icing sugar – ensuring each cookie is coated

Happy baking!

Other possible combinations:

Orange zest and cranberry

Cinnamon and raisin

Chocolate and nut

Looks like I’m going to be busy trying those out to see which works well. Other combination suggestions are welcomed!