Everyone loves these sweet spot cookies; they’ve been on Christmas goodie trays forever. You know them. Round, nutty, buttery, tender, and oh-so-powdered-sugary white. They’re often called Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Kourabiedes, Snow Balls, Pastelitas de Boda, Nut Balls, Swedish Tea Balls, Pecan Butter Balls, Polvorónes, and they’re even a lot like the Viennese Almond Crescents my late brother-in-law and excellent cook, Art Moorhouse, baked only in December back in the day. When I knew I wanted to use pistachios and dried cherries for my annual Christmas cookie, my mind first went to a perennial favorite– shortbread. Maybe a rolled variety. A refrigerator cookie, which is a style I rarely bake. But the more I considered, I kind of liked the idea of a chunk of a cookie instead of a flat one– so the flavors jumped out in tandem instead of just nudged your taste buds in their direction a bit at a time. And the longer I thought, I also knew an orange twist needed to be right in there vying with the nuts and fruit. Why not a classic nut ball? Of course! It would work perfectly. The problem then was the name –all those variations! With several followers giving me ideas (thanks, guys!), I’m hoping “Pistachio-Cherry Tea Cakes” really says what they are. I dearly loved “Pistacheroos,” but it was taken by what else, a bar cookie. Whatever you call them, my newest version might be your new favorite, as it now is mine. I don’t eat a lot of sweets, but I’ve certainly had my hand in the cookie jar a few times these last few days.
There are lots of reasons why the original cookie is a top drawer, forever favorite cookie, especially at Christmas.
- 1. It’s delicious.
- 2. It’s made with easily available and not too many adaptable ingredients. The recipe is anywhere you look at cookie recipes.
- 3. It looks Christmasy–white, white like snow. Shows up on a cookie tray when so many cookies are brown or chocolate or frosted.
- 4. It keeps well at room temperature since it contains no eggs–even at altitude. YES!
- 5. It’s a simple cookie to make and to bake. Kid-baker friendly. Who doesn’t like to roll warm cookies in big bowls of powdered sugar?!
- 6. It’s difficult to ruin unless you burn it. Even then, you can grate off a burned bottom and still have a perfectly edible cookie. Carefully try a zester for this and see what I mean.
I looked at a variety of recipes and most of them read rather like this one I used –obviously– for many years:
Other versions and interesting info about these cookies below. It’s worth noting that some baker-writers, unlike moi, chill the dough or bake it at a lower temperature. Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite and fun sources if you don’t read her yet, both chills the dough–which she also scoops before rolling– and chooses 350F. (She also toasts the nuts, something I don’t think is necessary with pistachios but could be with pecans, etc.) Small beer but still. When you’re baking a simple confection, the devil is for sure in the details. Where else would she be? Read on:
Mexican Wedding Cakes: An Incomplete History (EPICURIOUS)
“Mexican Wedding Cookies” (PATTI JINICH)
Viennese Crescent Cookies (VIKING)
Swedish Tea Cakes (EDIBLE COMMUNITIES)
Russian Tea Cakes/SMITTEN KITCHEN
Whatever YOU call these cookies, and however you bake them, I think you’ll enjoy trying this version and, when you do, please share my recipe!
Listen to Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss sing “The Wexford Carol” as you read the recipe.
Pistachio-Cherry Tea Cakes
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (3 oz/86 grams) roasted and salted shelled pistachios, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (1.5 oz/42 grams) dried cherries, finely chopped
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 grams) salted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (6 oz/180 grams) powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon EACH: vanilla extract and almond extract
- 2 cups (8.5 oz/240 grams) unbleached, all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (Before zesting, rinse orange in hot water to remove possible wax some producers add to maintain freshness. Pat dry with a towel and zest.)
Instructions
- PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 400 F. Set rack at center. Get out two cookie sheets. Do not grease.
- SET ASIDE the chopped pistachios and cherries.
MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH AND SHAPE INTO BALLS:
- Beat the butter and just ½ cup of the powdered sugar until light and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat well. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- Add the flour and the salt and stir until completely mixed.
- Stir in the reserved pistachios and cherries and the orange zest until dough holds together.
- ROLL THE COOKIES into balls a little bit larger than an inch and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet an inch apart. (If dough balls don’t hold together, knead handfuls of the dough or flick the dough lightly with water, knead briefly and then try rolling the balls again.)
- BAKE: one sheet at a time, for 9-11 minutes OR until the cookie bottoms are light brown and the tops are set. Don’t overbake.
- REMOVE COOKIES TO A RACK for a few minutes and then roll in the remaining cup of the powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. If desired, when cool, roll one more time. Alternately, cool completely and drizzle with dark or white chocolate. SEE LINK BELOW RECIPE FOR INFO ON MELTING CHOCOLATE AND DRIZZLING ON COOKIES.
- STORE COOKIES in a well-sealed container, using waxed paper between the layers, for up to two weeks. Freeze them in freezer bags for up to two months but be ready to re-roll them in powdered sugar once they are thawed. If you want to freeze cookies that will have a chocolate drizzle, freeze them plain. Let them thaw completely and add the chocolate before serving.
Notes
Copyright Alyce Morgan, 2024. All rights reserved. Weights courtesy KING ARTHUR FLOUR
How to Drizzle Chocolate: The Fastest and Easiest Method (THE KITCHN)
MELTING CHOCOLATE: The microwave is my choice for melting chocolate. I used about 1.5 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate to drizzle on half a batch of cookies. First, I melted it in the microwave in a measuring cup covered with a saucer for 30 seconds, after which I stirred it with a fork. I added another 30 seconds and stirred once again until the chocolate was smooth. With a small rubber spatula, I transferred the melted chocolate to a small resealable plastic bag. After squeezing/pressing the chocolate down into one corner, I snipped off a very tiny bit of one corner, and drizzled the chocolate over my cookies. Be careful! The warm chocolate will run quickly.
TIPS:
CHOPPING THE NUTS: Many of the recipes I checked call for chopping the nuts into a powder; I disagree. Finely chopped nuts, instead of pulverized, leave you with texture, color, and a more distinctive flavor profile. The idea here for flavor is the combination of pistachios, cherries, orange zest, and the vanilla and more especially the almond extract. I’m a food processor fiend and chop my nuts there but you can use a chef’s knife, a hand chopper, or even pound/crush the nuts with rolling pin in a resealable bag. Whatever you can do with a machine can be done by hand.
STICKY DRIED CHERRIES: I like hand-chopping the cherries with a little of the dust from the pistachios (you can use a bit of flour, too) so they don’t stick to the knife blade. (Use a chef’s knife.) Some bakers instead spray their knife or wipe it down with olive oil.
MIXING THE COOKIES: Your choice. Mix them by hand with a heavy wooden spoon in a big bowl (I made them like this for years), in a food processor, with an electric hand mixer, or with a standing electric mixer. I used my Kitchen Aid 7-quart standing mixer.
ROLLING THE COOKIES/SIZE OF BALL: I like to break off a piece of dough and roll it in my hands; others use a scoop and then roll. If you’d like more cookies, roll them at just barely 1″ in diameter. You’ll then get about 40 cookies.
DRIZZLING THE CHOCOLATE: See above for an easy idea about melting the chocolate and drizzling it over the cookies. My tip is to leave the cookies on a cooling rack but to place a cookie sheet (or a sheet of waxed paper) under the rack for the drizzling process. Cleanup is then easy-peasy. Leaving the cookies on the racks when you add the chocolate also makes the drizzling process easier and the cookies prettier as the extra chocolate ends up below instead of puddled by the cookie.
COOKIE SHEETS: If you’re in the market for new cookie sheets, buy flat ones with just one raised edge for handling. Your cookies will bake more quickly and evenly since the hot air will flow over and around them, which it won’t if you use a rimmed baking sheet. Good cookie sheets will last for years and are well worth the investment.
COOKIES GETTING TOO BROWN ON THE BOTTOM TOO QUICKLY? Fast fix is to double pan your cookies. In other words, add a second empty cookie sheet below the cookie sheet with the cookies. Make sure you have the oven rack in the middle and that your oven temperature is correct. Buy an oven thermometer if you don’t have one. You can find one at most large grocery stores and at any cooking shop. For now, without a thermometer, you might try the sugar test.
CHANGE IT UP:
NO ORANGE ZEST? The cookies are totally yummy without the orange zest if you have none on hand but they are def even better and delicious WITH the zest. I’d definitely recommend it. I don’t think I’d like this cookie with lemon zest instead but you do you.
SMALLER COOKIE? The older versions of this recipe indicate cookie balls rolled to 1-inch in diameter. I have a hard time staying at that inch mark and so make mine a little larger. If you have small hands and a good eye and a nearby ruler, go ahead and make them only an inch; you’ll get more cookies, too.
OTHER NUTS? Of course these cookies have been made with all sorts of nuts over the years — everything from almonds to pecans so they’ll work with whatever you have on hand. I’m very fond of the pistachio-cherry-orange profile this year so give it a go if you can. Pistachios have a lot of great health benefits but one, according to EATING WELL, is they’re a fine sleep aid!
Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Salted Pistachios are the No. 1 best snack for sleep at this grocery for many reasons. Here's why these tasty shelled nibbles top the list. (EATING WELL.COM) and since cherries contain a natural dose of melatonin, you have two good sleepy reasons for making and eating these cookies--maybe at bedtime!
BUYING SHELLED PISTACHIOS: While you might have to look briefly, shelled and salted pistachios are available locally for me at Trader Joes’, Costco, and King Soopers. I can order them unsalted and shelled from Amazon, via WHOLE FOODS for a similar price should I want to lower the salt content. (See below.)
CUTTING THE SALT IN THIS COOKIE: Speaking of which, you can (as above) buy unsalted pistachios from Amazon and it’s fine to cut the added salt in the cookie down to 1/4 teaspoon.
GLUTEN FREE: I have not tried this but my good friend and gluten free baker par excellence makes this basic recipe using the 1:1 GF flour, such as King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill and is very happy with the outcome.
IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE MY:
Chocolate-Peppermint Shortbread Cookies
Butter Pecan Oatmeal Cookies with Ginger
LIFE GOES ON:
We are just home from a trip to Italy followed by a transatlantic cruise (stopping in several Spanish ports) back to Florida followed by post- Thanksgiving with my family in Stuart. There are few words for such a trip; we’re beyond blessed to be able to travel together and experience so many beautiful sights, sunsets, meals, and people. Our goal is to go, enjoy, and be together — all while we can.
If I have time this week (I have a big, several-course dinner I’m cooking for 14 book club members on Thursday), I’ll add a few photos from the trip — or do it later with a post from a meal inspired by the trip but for now…. see below to know how each morning started in our cabin! Knock, knock, knock. An awake and happy, well-turned out steward brought a tray of coffee and tea and sometimes breakfast right to the small table by our bed, as early as 6am. Is there anything like coffee in bed?! With a good book?
And, yes, of course I read @inagarten’s new memoir while I sailed. Lovely reading and just like you know Ina to be– smart, edifying, fun, and inspirational.
Thanks for staying near the oven with me; I know I’ve been gone a while. I’m hoping your holiday season, if you celebrate one, is going just as you need it to. Stay warm — or cool, if you’re down under.
Happy December baking,
Alyce