I mentioned that I’m a Christmas ‘purist’, I also really love Christmas traditions. My family had so many things that were special and traditional around Christmas time, I really owe my love of Christmas to my parents. They crafted an incredible experience for us growing up centered around family, experiences that only happened at Christmas time and of course, food. These cookies are one of these traditions. My family calls them Butterballs, others call them Russian Tea Cakes.
The story in my family with these cookies dates back decades. My mom had moved to Phoenix, AZ so she could be with my dad while he went through pilot training. She arrived a few months before he did and when he finally arrived, he came bearing a earthenware cookie jar with homemade butterball cookies. This exact recipe! My family has had butterballs around the holidays as long as I can remember. They are so different than other holiday cookies – not super sweet, very nutty and they crumble just the right way.
Growing up, we would also watch all of the Christmas TV specials, especially A Charlie Brown Christmas. Other common ones we would watch, to name a few: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon, original version) and Claymation Christmas. Did you watch anything growing up with your family? What Christmas traditions do you remember?
I paired my family’s traditional butterballs with an album that for me is very traditional, I probably ate butterballs while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas when I was young. These types of traditions make it feel very much like the Christmas season for me.
Traditional Butterballs
Makes 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup of butter (2 sticks), softened
- 3 Tablespoons of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
- 1.5 Tbsp of lukewarm water
- 2.5 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 cups of pecans, roughly chopped
- extra powdered sugar (for rolling the cookies in!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cream butter with vanilla and gradually add in sugar.
- Add water and beat thoroughly. Add the flour and chopped pecans and mix until combined.
- Roll into bite sized balls, about 1-1.5 Tbsp of dough per ball, place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and immediately roll in the powdered sugar, one by one, placing them on a cooling rack after rolling.
- Let cool and enjoy!