Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies for Global Kadai

Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies/Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake/Italian Butter Nut/Southern Butterball/Snowdrop/Viennese Sugar Ball/Snowball/Sugar Cookies.
"GLOBAL KADAI" Event Announcement Here:An event hosted here @ CILANTRO.

These melt-in-your mouth cookies, go by many names, a Russian Tea Cake, a Mexican Wedding Cake, an Italian Butter Nut, a Southern Butterball, a Snowdrop, a Viennese Sugar Ball and a Snowball. They are very popular, not only during the Christmas season, but also at weddings, and other festive occasions.

According to several food history sources and cookbooks, Mexican wedding cakes and Russian tea cakes are a universal holiday cookie-type treat. This means the recipe is not necessarily connected to any one specific country. It is connected with the tradition of saving rich and expensive food (the richest butter, finest sugar, choicest nuts) for special occasions.
Food historians trace the history of these cookies and cakes to Medieval Arab cuisine, which was rich in sugar. Small sugar cakes with nuts and spices were known to these cooks and quickly adopted by the Europeans. This sweet culinary tradition was imported by the Moors to Spain, diffused and assimilated throughout Europe, then introduced to the New World by 16th century explorers.Sugar cookies, as we know them today, made their appearance in the 17th century. Recipes called Mexican wedding cakes descend from this tradition and they first appeared in American cookbooks during the 1950s.

Below is a recipe adapted from Karen Ginnis and Indianised for “Global Kadai”, which recreates the magic of these cookies in an Indianised way, bringing in the flavors familiar to Indian cuisine.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup butter, softened
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
5. 1 cup almonds
6. 1/2 cup chocolate chips
7. 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
8. 1 pinch salt
9. 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Procedure:

1. Soak the almonds and wash several times until the pink color goes and grind using a mixer.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, stir in chocolate chips, cardamom and salt, mix well.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours, or until firm.
6. Preheat oven to 325° F (180° C).
7. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Cool 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.
8. While cookies are still warm, sift 1/2 cup of the confectioner's/powdered sugar over the cookies or roll them in the coating.