Tropical Flair to Mexican Wedding Cookies when Married with Lime and Coconut
The political action group I belong to (please continue to read, that is as political as this post is going to get) hosted a fundraiser this past weekend. A garden party with a Mexican theme. Of course, I volunteered to make something sweet. Cookies, specifically, Mexican Wedding Cookies, instantly popped into my head. Usually, I bake a batch of these nutty, buttery, nuggets during the holidays but it is the middle of summer so I wanted to change it up just a bit. I found the perfect riff on the classic wedding cookie, a coconut lime version, on the blog Once Upon A Chef by Jenn Segal. Garden Party, Fiesta theme, coconut, lime-yep, spot on.
Delicious AND easy to make. The dough is made in a food processor which makes these cookies STUPID easy. You throw the dry ingredients into your food processor bowl, give it a couple of whirls, add the butter, vanilla and lime zest, pulse to it comes together and boom, you are done. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and forget about it in the fridge for about an hour. Use a teaspoon ice cream scoop to make balls of dough, bake, and roll in a ton of powdered sugar. HOW EASY IS THAT? Ipso Facto Dunzo.
Coconut-Lime Mexican Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar plus about 3/4 cup more for coating
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 stick 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 packed teaspoon lime zest from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, salt, confectioners' sugar, pecans and coconut. Process until the pecans and coconut are finely ground, and the mixture looks like sand. Add the butter, lime zest, and vanilla extract; process until the mixture comes together into a cohesive dough. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm enough to roll, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Measure the dough into heaping teaspoon-size pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place the balls about 1-1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges of the cookies barely begin to brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets, then roll in the confectioners' sugar while still warm. Let the cookies cool on a rack, then roll again in confectioners' sugar once they are cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
