12 Days of Christmas Cookies: Day 1

The holiday baking madness has officially begun! I will be giving you a cookie baking video every day up to Christmas Eve. I hope you are able to try at least one of these recipes during this hectic time. The Academy of Crafts tier will be given a fancy recipe page every day as well, on a separate post that will be updated daily with the newest recipe. Enjoy!

The holiday baking madness has officially begun! I will be giving you a cookie baking video every day up to Christmas Eve. I hope you are able to try at least one of these recipes during this hectic time. The Academy of Crafts tier will be given a fancy recipe page every day as well, on a separate post that will be updated daily with the newest recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe: Pecan Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 cups (250 grams) of flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar

2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon (3 grams) of salt

1 to 2 cups (234 grams) of chopped pecans (depends on how much you want)

Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar for rolling cookies through

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 275° F (135° C)

2. Chop 1 to 2 cups of pecans (your preferred amount) to have ready to mix in dough last.

3. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed.

4. Add salt.

5. Add vanilla scraping sides of bowl before and mixing thoroughly.

6. Add flour a cup at a time.

7. Add chopped pecans.

8. Roll bite size (about the size of a quarter) dough balls and place them on a parchment lined or non-stick baking sheet. These cookies do not expand in size very much, so you may put them reasonably close together.

9. Bake at 275°F (135° C) for 30 minutes. Do not let the pecan balls brown.

10. Remove from the oven, set oven temperature to 325°F (163°C).

11. Roll each ball through powdered sugar, fully coating the cookie.

12. Bake at 325° for an additional 10 minutes. (Baking times dependent on your oven. Do not let the cookies start to brown).

13. Let cookies cool on baking sheet.

14. Roll one more time in powdered sugar.

15. Enjoy!

Decorative recipe sheets can be found in the Academy Vault