Russian Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cakes

Recipe by Anne Thorton, Food Network

• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• Salt
• 1 1/3 cups roasted, salted, chopped pecans
• Confectioners' sugar, for rolling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the butter to your standing mixer, put it on medium speed, then add your sugar right into the bowl. Turn it up so it gets nice and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the edges. Continue to beat it until it's almost white. Now you're ready for your eggs. Keep the mixer on low and add them 1 at a time. Wait to add the other egg until the first one is fully incorporated into the butter and sugar. Now add the almond and vanilla extracts.
Add the baking powder to the flour and whisk really well, fully incorporating the baking powder into the flour and making sure any little clumps of flour are broken up. Add just a pinch of salt. Now add the flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture. Add in the pecans on slow speed.
Scoop the batter with a small ice cream scooper, melon baller, or even a soup spoon, just make sure they are all the same size. And don't worry about spacing them out too much on the baking sheet, they aren't going to spread out, they're going to stay like little balls.
Put the trays in the fridge for an hour or so. You want the butter to harden up, making the cookies crispy and delicious when baked.
Bake for 15 minutes until they are golden brown. While still warm, roll them in confectioners' sugar. It will adhere slightly to the cookies, looking like snowballs.