These Mexican wedding cookies are tender, delicate, and full of rich, buttery pecan flavor. Dusted in powdered sugar, they're a perfect holiday treat.
Mexican wedding cookies are one of my favorite holiday treats. They have a rich, nutty flavor and a texture so delicate that they practically melt in your mouth. This recipe makes a decent batch – about 40 cookies – but I still wouldn’t expect it to last long. The last time I made these Mexican wedding cookies, they all vanished in two days flat!
Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe Ingredients
Mexican wedding cookies go by many different names: snowballs, Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, polvorones, and more. I did some digging on their history while I was working on this recipe, and it turns out, we don’t really know where they originated.
Because of their high nut to flour ratio, some historians believe they were first made in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. Either way, they likely came to Mexico through Spanish migrants in the 16th century. Today, cookies like these are still made in countries across the world!
At their most basic, Mexican wedding cookies consist of flour, butter, finely chopped nuts, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla extract. I add a few extra ingredients to my recipe for an even cozier, Christmasy taste. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Toasted pecans: Nuts are a key ingredient in any Mexican wedding cookies recipe, and pecans are always my top pick. They add rich, nutty flavor to the simple dough.
- Butter: For moisture and additional richness.
- All-purpose flour: It brings the dough together.
- Powdered sugar: You’ll add some to the dough and dust the rest on top of the cookies. You can use store-bought, or make your own.
- Vanilla and cinnamon: They add warm depth of flavor to the rich, buttery cookies.
- Almond extract: It’s not a traditional ingredient in Mexican wedding cookies, but I love how it brings out the pecans’ nutty flavor.
- And sea salt: To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Mexican Wedding Cookies
Heads up: you’ll need soft, room temperature butter to make this recipe! If you store your butter in the fridge or the freezer, make sure to let it soften on your countertop for an hour or two before you get to work.
For me, remembering to allow the butter to soften is the toughest part of making this Mexican wedding cookies recipe. After that, it’s easy:
First, prep the pecans. Toast them in a dry skillet over low heat for 5 minutes, or until they’re nice and fragrant. Then, place them in a food processor…
…and pulse until they form a coarse meal.
Next, make the dough. You’ll cream together the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and the salt until light and fluffy. Then, mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and gradually add the flour and cinnamon. Finally, mix in the pecans.
Then, form the cookies. Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough, and use your hands to roll it into balls. Arrange the balls on two parchment-lined baking sheets.
Tip: If the dough is too sticky to work with, pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up before you roll the cookies.
Finally, bake! Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes, or until they’re just golden. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before rolling them in powdered sugar. That’s it!
Add the cookies to a holiday cookie plate, or enjoy them with a cup of hot chocolate. Happy baking!
More Favorite Holiday Treats
If you love these Mexican wedding cookies, try one of these holiday treats next:
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Or any of these 21 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes!
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup pecans
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar, divided
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium skillet over low heat, toast the pecans for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Transfer the nuts to a food processor and pulse to form a coarse meal.
- Measure ¾ cup of the powdered sugar into a medium bowl and set aside for rolling.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the flour and the cinnamon.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, the remaining ½ cup powdered sugar, and the salt until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually add the flour mixture and then the pecans and mix until combined.
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough. Then, use your hands to roll it into balls and place them on the baking sheets. If the dough is too sticky to handle, chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling.
- Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until just golden. Let cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes, then roll the warm cookies in the reserved powdered sugar.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Mine came out flat and brown on the edges, but I’m not sure why 🙁 I didn’t substitute any ingredients.
Is it possible to use einkorn all purpose flour?
Thank you!
I made these and loved them. I did use plant based butter because my granddaughter has a dairy allergy. They tasted so good. Will be making again.
These cookies turned out wonderful. Best texture of a wedding cookie recipe I have tried. The next time I would reduce the almond extract a bit and maybe increase the vanilla. But that’s a personal preference. I did chill my dough before baking. I also found that baking 13 minutes was enough time–even for larger cookies. They are delicious.
So easy and so good! The almond extract adds the extra yum. I also didn’t read unsalted butter and used regular, used kosher salt instead of sea salt, they were delicious. This recipe is officially in rotation for Christmas.
I just made these and they are absolutely incredible!! They are my favorite cookies and I finally found the best recipe.❤️ I am surprised someone just said the almond extract overpowered it…I thought it was perfect. To me – this was just another one of my favorite Love and Lemons recipes! I followed the recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing! Thank you and Merry Christmas!!
I meant to do the 5 stars!!
Terrible!! The almond extract way overpowered the cookie. Mexican wedding cookies are supposed to have a delicate pecan flavor. Texture was perfect, flavor not so much. If you are making this recipe I suggest cutting almond extract to 1/4 and adding extra vanilla. Or omit the almond extract altogether. I was so disappointed with this recipe!!
Wonderful Recipie
I did refrigerate second batch as they negando to flatten a bit but they turned out Great ! Thank You!
Soooooo easy and delicious!!!! They melt in your mouth with the best crumble ever!
Very disappointed in this recipe. My cookies flattened and burned. An entire batch wasted. Usually this sites recipe are amazing, but I won’t be making this one again.
I love these cookies. They remind me of greek kourabiedes (greek butter cookies!) Which are also so good!
I love this recipe year round! It especially makes Christmas gift giving so easy because almost everyone I know ❤️ LOVES these cookies!
I finely grind cinnamon sticks and use 1/2 tsp per recipe plus I add lots to the powdered sugar for rolling the baked cookies in. 🎄
oh yum! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe.
The ingredients calculator is incorrect (see ‘butter’ for an example) when multiplying to 120 cookies, so I had to multiply the original recipe to a 40 count times 3 to get the correct amounts.
I only got 25 cookies with the recipe. Why!?
Hi Liz, the yield could depend on the size of your cookie scoop and if the dough was mounded or scraped flat in the scoop.
They taste fine but are a bit mealy and then melt in your mouth. Also, they are sticky, how do you avoid the stickiness?
I’m a baker “by trade” (in the field for 10 years with no schooling) and have tried a plethora of different types of wedding cookies from various bakeries.
Yesterday was my first attempt at actually making them, for once, and this is the recipe I used. My variations were walnuts, vegan butter (country crock brand), and I ran out of AP flour so I used gluten free for the partial cup.
These are, hands down, *THE BEST* wedding cookies I have *ever* tasted. Extremely tender, very flavorful, not too much cinnamon (but not too little!), not too much almond flavor. They’re still perfectly fresh the next day–no stale flavor at all.
I made these as a gift for a friend’s wedding, and I know they’re going to love them! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
I was wondering why this recipe used less flour compared to most recipes. Usually use at least 2 cups to 1 cup butter. Well this resulted in cookies that were very flat and sticky even after chilling. Had to add more flour. I don’t recommend.
I don’t have a food processor can I crush the nuts in a blender
I didn’t even use a blender for mine– I bought pre-cut nuts and used a mortar & pestle to make them finer.
I think if your blender is high quality that should work fine, but if you’re okay with chunkier nuts you could easily mortar & pestle or just rough chop them 🙂
How long do these last? Would it be best to refrigerate them? Hoping to use this recipe for my wedding! 🙂
These are so delish, you’ll be lucky to have some left for the wedding!? congratulations and best wishes!
Yes you can make them and freeze them
I hope this comes in time for your wedding. I want to do the same for my daughter’s babyshower. I’ve read in other recipes that its best to make the dough and form in the crescent or ball shape and then freeze. To bake you need to defrost, bake and then roll them in the icing sugar. Its what Im going to do. Good luck. You can always test it out first… Congrats!
So did you ever find out how long they last. Need to bake several days for a wedding that is out of state. So I’m hoping they will be good
Mine have lasted 9-12 months in the refrigerator! Love them!
I made these to see if I want to include them on my wedding cookies table. They were so yummy!! I’m definitely going to include them on the table!
Hi Sarah, congrats on your wedding! So glad you loved the cookies and honored that they’ll be part of your special day!