Welcome to SNAPPY GOURMET ! I’m looking forward to doing some experimenting in the kitchen and sharing my trials and tribulations with you. I hope to share some of my fun recipes, cooking tips, substitution possibilities, and suggestions on how to speed things up in the kitchen for “Snappy Gourmet” meals and treats. Please send me your questions, comments, and suggestions anytime. I’m a little new to this blog thing so please bare with me as I iron out some of the bugs and figure out what I’m doing.
I was going to wait until AFTER the holidays to start my blog, but how could I pass up the opportunity to make holiday cookies and do a little baking experimenting! I have six cookie recipes coming up for you. At the moment I’m a little obsessed with Mexican chocolate and flavors of dark chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and almonds. I can’t seem to get enough! Hopefully, this obsession will be over soon, but in the meantime I decided to take this craziness and turn it into a new twist on a well-known cookie for my first recipe.
Depending on where you grew up or your nationality, you’ve probably had a Mexican Wedding cookie, Butterball, Russian Tea Cake, Snowball, Sugarball, etc. Everyone seems to have a different name for them but they’re typically made with butter, sugar, and flour, sometimes contain nuts, then rolled in sugar. Sometimes they’re shaped into a ball and sometimes they’re more crescent shaped. Whatever you call them and whatever shape you enjoy them as, they’re melt-in-your-mouth goodness! Adding some dark chocolate, almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon to this classic cookie gave an old favorite an updated twist.
When you start mixing the dough, it will look very crumbly and you might think it will never come together and look like dough, but it will!
Once the dough comes together, form into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Since the balls don’t spread much you can put quite a few cookies on one sheet.
After you bake the cookies, roll them in the sugar mixture while they’re still warm. Cool completely, then roll again. Happy Snappy cooking!
I’m just a poor blogger and all I ask for is a little love to keep me going. 
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| Mexican Chocolate Snowball Cookies |
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- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1⅔ cup powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder, divided
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup toasted almonds, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate, finely chopped
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and ⅔ cup powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in vanilla.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, mix together flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ancho chile pepper, and salt until well combined. Beat into butter/sugar mixture. Stir in almonds and chocolate until well combined and dough forms.
- In a large shallow bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- Form dough into 1 tablespoon balls. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets (or silpats or parchment paper). Bake cookies at 325 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom being careful not to overbake. Cookies will harden as they cool. Cool cookies about 1-2 minutes then roll in sugar mixture while still warm. Cool completely on wire rack then roll cookies in sugar mixture again.
SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: Have a nut allergy? Just omit the nuts or substitute your favorite nut-free crunch cereal.
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More Mexican Chocolate recipes I thought you would enjoy:
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache – Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
- Spiced Mexican Hot Chocolate – Bunky Cooks
- Mexican Spiced Chocolate Ice Cream – Cherry Tea Cakes
The presentation of the cookies look great. And they sound delicious
Thank you so much!
Looking good —– the recipe and the blog
Thanks Carole!
Those look great! Welcome to the blogosphere.
Thanks Angela! Guess there’s no turning back now!
These look amazing and with all of those clear directions, pictures, and tips I think I might be able to try them and have them turn out well!
Thanks Midge! I know you are a much better cook than you let everyone believe!
Yumminess! I love these.
Thank you Lorie!
These look awesome! Congrats on your new blog!
Thank you!
Dear Lisa,
Congratulations on a job well done. The cookies sound awesome. I will look forward to tasting them at Midge’s house.
Thank you!
Lovin your blog and you are a wonderful photographer. Great recipe.
Thank you Shannon!
Photos look great! The chocolate sounds like a great twist on the “nutballs” I typically make. I have decided to skip making these cookies this year because my son has a dairy allergy. Kind of a tough question, any ideas for GOOD tasting substitutions for butter? Thanks!
Thanks Meagan!
Meagan, you can also try shortening (sticks) and butter flavored shortening. I could be wrong so check the labels, but I think they’re dairy free. They would be a really good substitute for butter in baking. You can also buy butter extract (near the vanilla, mint, and other extracts) that you can add a little to recipes for butter flavor.
Great timing Lisa! I needed a Christmas gift for Jade’s Spanish teacher. What could be more appropriate than a Mexican cookie. I made them tonight…and ate one of course…they are delish!
Wow, you are quick Jamie!
So glad I could help!
Mmmm, they look delicious! And your blog looks great!
Thanks Tracy!
Great job, Lisa! Bloggy goodness!!!
Thanks Catherine!