#FillTheCookieJar ~ Snowball Cookies

Welcome to the Fill the Cookie Jar blogger group! This month we were given the theme of "Christmas" for December, getting us all in the baking spirit. There are endless options as a Christmas cookie means a lot of different things to different people. Family traditions, certain ingredients, smells, scents, shapes, etc.

I decided to go the "Snowball Cookie" route - although mine didn't hold their shape  when baked. I think my dough was a little bit too wet, so increased the amount of flour in the recipe below. The filling is also "to taste" / at your discretion. I thought the amounts suggested in the original recipe were way too much based on the cookies I made. The flavor and texture was lovely in these cookies. So soft and tender, filled with sweet jam and a little bit of crunch from a sprinkle of pecan. The dough itself isn't very sweet, so the powdered sugar adds just the right touch of sweetness to these tasty cookies.

Snowball Cookies from My San Francisco Kitchen

Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup powdered sugar, plus extra for coating
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
2 TBS chopped pecans
2 TBS strawberry jam

Instructions

1. Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar in a standalone mixer on medium speed, then add the vanilla.
2. Whisk flour and salt in a separate bowl, and add slowly to mixer.
3. Once blended, add the milk.
4. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 400 ºF.
6. Once chilled, break off 2-inch pieces of dough with your hands.
7. Massage into a ball by using your hands and rolling between your palms.
8. Slice each ball in half.
9. Using your thumbs, make an indentation in the center of each half.
10. Add a dollop of jam and sprinkle of nuts to each half, then carefully press back together and pinch the seam with your index finger and thumb all around the ball.
11. Gently roll the ball with your hands to smooth out the ball.
12. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
13. Transfer to a cooling rack, then coat each ball with powdered sugar by rolling them around in a shallow bowl.
14. Cool for 30 minutes, then roll in the powdered sugar for a second coat (if desired).