Mexican Wedding Cookies (Pecan Kisses)

by Dorothy Reinhold on November 9, 2021


Print This Post Print This Post 9 Mexican Wedding Cookies lined up in a grid on a cooling rack

Mexican Wedding Cookies are perfectly rich, nutty, powdered sugar-covered balls that melt in your mouth. They’re wonderful on a cookie platter, for the holidays, or any time of the year.

Mexican Wedding Cookies have long been a favorite not only at weddings, but as cherished holiday cookies to serve at Christmas or give away at cookie exchange parties. There’s something so wintry about drifts of powdered sugar dusting buttery, nutty cookie balls. Or are they snowballs?


White Mexican Wedding Cookie covered in powdered sugar on a parchment-lined baking sheet

Mexican Wedding Cookies have many names

Thumb and finger holding a half-bitten Mexican Wedding Cookie showing the insideThese cookies can go by many names, depending on who is baking them and where they’re from! Whatever they’re called, they are a very tender, crumbly, buttery (never cakey or spongy) shortbread cookie with chopped nuts — delicate and shockingly delicious! 

  • Pecan Kisses
  • Besitos de Nuez
  • Polvorones
  • Bizcochitos
  • Snowballs
  • Snowdrops
  • Butterballs
  • Russian Tea Cakes
  • Swedish Tea Cakes
  • Viennese Sugar Balls
  • Pecan Balls
  • Italian Butterballs
  • Southern Pecan Butterball

Whatever you call them, they’re a longtime favorite, and this heritage family recipe from a wonderful new cookbook that shows them off to perfection. You’ll end up making these easy cookies all year long.

How to make Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients for Mexican Wedding Cookies arrayed on a white marble countertopFirst, as always, gather your ingredients. This recipe is very simple, and calls for butter, sugar, flour, pecans, vanilla extract for the cookies, and cinnamon and powdered sugar for the dusting. As I did in the recipe for Cream Cheese Sprinkle Cookies, I’m using 2 brands you might not be familiar with, but I love them and they’re both from New Zealand. Heilala Vanilla is the finest quality in the world (to my taste anyway!), and Lewis Road Butter is top-notch, as well — grass-fed cows, high quality, utterly (udderly?) delish! As always, though, use whatever brands you are comfortable with. I just want to introduce you to these 2 brands in case you see them in the store. Grab ’em!

Creamed butter clumped on the beater of a stand mixer, with a silver bowl underneathStart by creaming the butter. Whip it…whip it good. (Any Devo fans out there?) Add vanilla and sugar.

A pile of chopped pecans on top of beige cookie dough in the silver mixing bowl Add the pecans in. In the recipe, author Ericka Sanchez calls for them being chopped finely. I toasted the nuts first for extra nutty flavor, and stopped short of chopping them finely, choosing instead to leave them a bit bigger. Chop to your liking! 

Thick pecan dough for Mexican Wedding Cookies clings to the white beater of a stand mixerOnce you mix in the flour and pecans, the dough will be thick!

20 dough balls for Mexican Wedding Cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheetUsing your hands, roll the dough into little balls, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Baked Mexican Wedding Cookies on a baking sheet, with 1 cookie turned upside down to show its bottomBake for 20 minutes. The bottoms will be brown when they’re done, like this.

3 Mexican Wedding Cookies in a white bowl of powdered sugar with a spoon in the bowlAfter they’re out of the oven, put the hot cookies in a bowl of powdered sugar, 2 or 3 at a time. I start out using a spoon to spoon the sugar over them.

Fingers hold a Mexican Wedding Cookie in a bowl of powdered sugar with other cookies and a spoon also in the bowlThen I use my hands to roll them completely. Don’t be afraid of using too much sugar; you want a good coating of powdered sugar on them. The excess will fall off.

Rows of Mexican Wedding Cookies sit on a cooling rack on ShockinglyDelicious.comPlace the dusted cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mexican Wedding Cookies packed into a square plastic storage container on ShockinglyDelicious.comOnce cool, you can pack them into airtight containers. I’m deluding myself that I will put these in the freezer and pull them out in a month. (The truth is, and ask me how I know this…they taste amazing straight from the freezer, too.)

Are you ready to bake Mexican Wedding Cookies? Let’s go! 

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 45-48 cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies are perfectly rich, nutty, powdered sugar-covered balls that melt in your mouth. They're wonderful on a cookie platter, for the holidays, or any time of the year.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (= 2 sticks, or 8 ounces), at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • .
  • POWDERED SUGAR TOPPING
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar (may need more if you aren't also using the other topping on some of the cookies)
  • .
  • CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. Get toppings ready. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Put powdered sugar into a separate bowl. Set aside.
  2. Put butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed. When butter is creamy, gradually add vanilla and sugar. Decrease speed and add pecans and flour. Continue mixing until dough comes together. It will be thick.
  3. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough. Roll dough into a ball, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls about 2 inches apart.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are golden brown (you can lift one to see, if you aren't sure). Remove cookies from oven and set tray on a heat-proof surface.
  5. While cookies are very warm, roll half of them in the cinnamon sugar, and the other half in the powdered sugar, coating evenly. (Dorothy's note: Most often I roll them in powdered sugar immediately after I remove them from the oven, and I coat them thickly. The sugar will adhere to the hot cookie.)
  6. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cooled cookies in a tightly sealed container. Hide them from yourself!
  7. Makes 45-48 cookies.

Notes

Recipe source: "Buen Provecho! Traditional Mexican Flavors from My Cocina to Yours," by Ericka Sanchez (Familius Publishing, 2021).

https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/mexican-wedding-cookies/

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Mexican Wedding Cookies in a decorative metal box with a pink heart embossed on it and recipe title superimposed on the photo

About the book:

Author Ericka Sanchez holds her new cookbook Buen Provecho!Buen Provecho! is like saying “bon appetit.” The literal translation is “good benefit” or “I hope this meal benefits you well,” says author Ericka Sanchez, a Los Angeles recipe developer, food blogger and author, who grew up in Mexico and came to the U.S. in third grade. She learned to cook at the foot of her grandmother and mother, and her cookbook expresses her deep appreciation for home-cooked meals, the way she was taught to make them. Many of her recipes are traditional; others she created herself or modernized with ingredients available in California and the rest of the U.S. I know I’ll turn to this cookbook many times for new recipes and inspiration. My copy is littered with Post-it notes representing the many recipes I want to try, including her Purgatory Eggs (Huevos En Purgatorio), White Corn Ceviche (Ceviche de Elote), Fideo Soup (Sopa de Fideo), Creamy Poblano Chile Strips (Rajas Poblanas con Crema), Potato, Broccoli and Carrot Patties with Cotija Cheese, and of course I want these cookies for dessert with all of it! She tells a charming story about her own wedding day, when her guests were admiring these Mexican Wedding Cookies more even than the bride! (That cannot possibly be true…just look at her gorgeousness!)

Want more Shockingly Delicious cookies?

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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }

Jennifer December 7, 2021 at 9:31 am

These are such a traditional cookie that I can’t hlep myself but make a few batches every year!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold December 7, 2021 at 2:18 pm

Jennifer,
I totally agree. It isn’t the holidays without them!

Reply

Christie November 24, 2021 at 7:12 pm

I’ve had these but never made them. They are to delicious. I will have to make this recipe soon.

Reply

Radha November 17, 2021 at 9:53 pm

These are amazing cookies that I would like to have in my cookie platter! YUM!

Reply

Jennifer November 15, 2021 at 5:24 am

I am making these this year for the holidays. They look fantastic.

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:15 pm

Jennifer,
Yahoo! You will not be disappointed!

Reply

Colleen November 15, 2021 at 5:00 am

There’s a reason why this is such a classic cookie! YUM!!!

Reply

Rebecca November 14, 2021 at 8:51 am

Mmmm, I love this time of year with so many fantastic cookie recipes. This is a great recipe and I can’t wait to try it

Reply

Allyson Zea November 12, 2021 at 9:14 am

These are one of my favorite cookies! I never realized how easy it is to make them!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:18 pm

Allyson,
Truly! Mix, roll into a ball, bake and dredge in powdered sugar!

Reply

Inger November 12, 2021 at 8:37 am

These are so yummy! I never knew you could make them with different toppings! How fun!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:19 pm

Inger,
Yep, try that cinnamon sugar topping for a change from powdered sugar!

Reply

Catalina November 12, 2021 at 2:58 am

These cookies are full of flavor! I am so curious to try them!

Reply

Hezzi-D November 11, 2021 at 5:51 pm

These are one cookie we always have on our holiday table.

Reply

Lisa Kerhin November 11, 2021 at 8:20 am

A must make every year in this house

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:20 pm

Lisa,
I wish they didn’t taste so good straight from the freezer. Sigh.

Reply

Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert November 11, 2021 at 5:07 am

They look so cute and yummy!

Reply

Terri Steffes November 10, 2021 at 5:55 pm

These are my mom’s all time favorite cookies! She hasn’t made any in years, maybe I’ll make them for her!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:22 pm

Terri,
Totally do that!

Reply

Karen November 10, 2021 at 5:53 pm

I wish we were having our cookie exchange! These look delicious.

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:22 pm

Karen,
Me too! I would make these, if Ericka wasn’t making them and bringing them.

Reply

Amanda November 10, 2021 at 4:04 pm

Oh my these look delicious! I am very excited to make them for my family!

Reply

Kimberly November 10, 2021 at 3:12 pm

Great flavor and I love the delicately crumbly texture!

Reply

Beth November 10, 2021 at 3:08 pm

Just looking at these is making me hungry! I love all the nuts in these.

Reply

Wendy Klik November 10, 2021 at 11:25 am

A family favorite and a must have at Christmas time. Feliz Navidad.

Reply

Jolene November 10, 2021 at 10:32 am

I’ve never had these before, not sure how they’ve flown under my radar for so long! Must change that!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold November 15, 2021 at 9:24 pm

Jolene,
If you try one new-to-you cookie this year, it must be these. They are SO GOOD!

Reply

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