By Shannon Deady
Columnist
After last week’s sweet and savory Easter pie, I decided to continue the trend of traditional dessert recipes with an even sweeter treat. These nut butter balls are a family classic passed down from my great-grandmother, and one of the easiest cookies to make with only six ingredients. Small and dainty, these butter balls look like they came straight out of an old-school Italian bakery.
Makes: 14 cookies
Ingredients:
-1 cup soft butter
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp almond
-2 cups sifted flour
-1 1/2 cups walnuts
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place walnuts in food processor or blender and chop until smooth.
- Mix butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Once creamy add salt, extract of choice, flour and chopped nuts. Mix until combined.
- Refrigerate dough for about 10 minutes or until easy to handle.
- Dust cutting board with flour and shape into small balls about an inch each.
- Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until light brown.
- While warm, roll in powdered sugar.
- After they have cooled, sprinkle with more sugar and enjoy.
