Wednesday

Russian Snowball Christmas Cookies

Moscow Basilica
Strange but true: I've worked full-time, for eight years, with a man I've never met or even spoken to. That's because he lives in Moscow and neither one of us feel like affording that long distance bill.

We freelance together. He's my designer/programmer. I email him junk, he emails me stuff, somehow we put it all together and make it look pretty. (Long live the internet.)

I've never met him, but I did meet one of his co-workers a few years back. Costya introduced us to the miracles of fine vodka. After a few hundred shots of that stuff, he taught us how to swear in Russian. Прокляните все это к черту!

Every year, I send Pasha a Christmas card. He never gets them but I keep sending them anyway. I figure, if Putin stays in office long enough he might figure out how to make his postal service work. Until then, I suppose the KGB is compiling a big secret file on my activities...

Russian Snowball Cookie Recipe - Makes 3 dozen
(Российский Рецепт Печенья Снежка)
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
How To:
  1. Cream butter and vanilla until smooth.
  2. Combine powdered sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture.
  3. Mix in the chopped walnuts.
  4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
  5. Bake for 12 minutes @ 350 degrees F.
  6. When cool, roll in a second dusting of powdered sugar.
* Dough will appear very dry. The warmth of your hands, as you form the snowballs, softens the butter and moistens the cookie dough.

This is my 3rd most favorite cookie in the whole wide world. Whenever I make them, I think of my buddy, P. They melt in your mouth, light as air. If I could stop eating them long enough to put them in a box, I'd probably send him some.

С Рождеством Христовым, Пол. Я даже не знаю, любите ли Вы это печенье!

4 comments:

Barrel Kat said...

What can I say.. on a roll and made these too!!! Wonderful!

We made these growing up but called them something else, tea cookies or something. It was the Cold War era, so who knows.

Ate the first dozen before I could get them in powdered sugar.... OH! And I used pecans because I didn't have any walnuts.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hey Kathryn:

We are soul sistahs! I love these little melt in your mouth morsels. Out here, they call them Mexican Wedding Cakes. And, in the midwest, I guess they're called tea cakes. And, interestingly enough, my friend Pasha, who lives in Moscow had never heard of them!

Let's just all agree that they're quite yummy and leave it at that?? :)))

Unknown said...

my step mom has made these for me as a young girl, and teen.. but now I make them.... russian tea cookies we cal lthem... I like walnuts better than pecans but I have had both... HEY>>>>>I LOVE the name>>>>> PASHA... the dancer.. from so you think you can dance????tv show in america.. is that who you are refering to????

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

I have a Pasha of my own. :) Paul (Pasha, in Russian,) and I have freelanced together for many years. He lives in Moscow - I've never spoken to him on the phone. It's all by email. Great guy.

Glad you enjoy these cookies! They are sooooo YUMMY!

Happy Holidays!