Russian Tea Cookies or Mexican Wedding Cookies

Whatever it is, they are delicious. And I am amazed how easy it is to make these bad boys. So easy that it was terrifying, because I made over 200 over these f*ckers. Powdered sugar... everywhere. Sheet pans... Everywhere... Balls.. all over the place. But with that said, it was a crowd pleaser. Well, everyone was raving about it. Unless they were all lying to me, which could be a possibility as well.

I am happy that my friend, Frances Yakota, was kind enough to share her recipe with me. I did made some alterations due to the ingredients that I already own at home.

RECIPE

• 2.5 cups of unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1.5 cups of powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 3 Cups of chopped nuts
  • The first batch I made, I used 2 cups of pecans and 1 cup of walnuts (preferred)
  • The second batch, I used macadamia nuts only.
• 5.5 cups of flour
• Extra powdered sugar for rolling the balls

First things first. Preheat your oven to 400 and make sure your rack is centered or 3/4 up.

In your Kitchen Aid, mix the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together. Next thing, add the nuts then SLOWLY add the flour. I am a terrible recipe follower. So of course, I added all the flour in at once then turned on the mixer. Flour was everywhere! Mother F*ck!

Ok let's move on because I am pretty sensitive about that right now.

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Form your balls. I like mine a little smaller so I can pop them into my mouth with one bite. They don't rise too much so don't be too worried about spacing them too much on your tray. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. The cookies should still be white, and sometimes, just a hint of color. Let your cookies rest a little before rolling them in powdered sugar to avoid gloopy balls. After the cooled again, roll them in sugar one last time to seal the balls.

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I packaged these cookies in small tins as well as mason jars. They make a really thoughtful gift as well as it being appealing to look at. Everyone is going to think you spent a lot of time on these. Which by the way you kind of did.

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These tea cookies are great with black coffee or espresso. I left a bunch on a tray for the scavengers at our agency. You would be surprised.

Enjoy & Happy Holidays!

Krusteaz Pancake

I've been meaning to make pancakes for a while, but November became quite expensive. From my brother's birthday, to a lot of other unplanned events that is making my credit card statements a little painful to look at.

With that being said, I became just a tad discouraged to make something from scratch. I went to Vons to make a quick run for groceries when I came across Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix. I'm really curious about this, because for $2-$3, I can make this again for a few more breakfast/brunches. All I needed was to add water. At that point, I was sold. The batter was extremely easy to put together, literally. 1 cup of Krusteaz with 2/3's of cold water. I mixed the ingredients with a fork to not "over whisk" the batter. As mentioned on the box, it's okay that there are lumps, but not to over mix.

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The batter made 3 pancakes, but you could easily divide it to 4 pancakes (I was only able to eat 2 out of 3).

I brûléed a banana to use as a topping. Just grab one firm, but ripe, banana. Peel, cut in half and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Stick it under the broiler until the top starts caramelizing. When this happens, keep your eyes on it because it will burn quick. Let your bananas sit out as you assemble your plate.

Layer pancakes with a slice of butter in between, top with your caramelized banana, toasted pecans, crispy bacon pieces, drizzle with pure maple syrup (or Aunt Jemimas because everyone loves Aunt Jemima) and top off with just a sprinkle of kosher salt. To make it taste like the holidays, sprinkle a little nutmeg and cinnamon.

Now, remember your pancakes it just a blank canvas. I happened to have pecans and bananas at home to throw on. If you have frozen fruit, you can make a quick compote to throw over these pancakes. The verdict with these pancakes are pretty straight forward. I would rather make my own. I love pancakes to be extremely fluffy and buttery which wasn't the case for the Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix. But, was it easy? very. And sometimes you just need something quick and easy to make breakfast happen. The toppings however, made this feel very gourmet.

So have fun with this and don't stress too much on breakfast. This will still be a crowd pleaser, and everyone will think you made this from scratch. Because, bacon. And brûléed banana. Pecans? You totally win.

Let the holidays begin!