Gluten Free Cherry Pecan Snowballs Recipe

It’s the time of year for traditions, beloved holiday decorations that only see the light of day in December are brought out and displayed, favorite recipes are lovingly prepared for family and friends and eager children across the world leave out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

My mother-in-law was a tiny Polish woman with a huge heart. Every year come Christmas we received metal tins and cardboard boxes filled with her famous Polish Wedding Cookies. These were savored by all, licking every speck of powdered sugar off our fingers as we devoured these family favorites.

I decided to take her traditional Christmas cookie and add my own twist. After all, this is how we create new traditions of our own. I added chopped cherries to her recipe and thus the Cherry Pecan Snowball Cookie was born. These cookies literally melt in your mouth. And they are a very good way of buttering up Santa on Christmas Eve just in case we weren’t perfectly good all year long.

Speaking of traditions, this month’s Go Ahead Honey Its Gluten Free Event is Family Traditions. If you would like to submit your gluten-free Family Traditional Favorite, here’s all the info, deadline for submissions is December 27th, 2010.

In the meantime, from my family to yours

We wish you a Happy and Healthy Holiday and may Santa bring you everything your heart desires!

xo,
carol and family

Oh, and here’s the recipe for the cookies if you want to express your gratitude to Santa this Christmas Eve.

Gluten Free Cherry Pecan Snowballs Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup chopped pecans
1 cup superfine white rice flour
½ cup potato starch
¼ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup superfine sweet rice flour
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar plus approximately ¾ for rolling
½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup maraschino cherries, dried well and roughly chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.

Place chopped pecans in a baking dish or pie plate and toast in the oven until warm and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Let cool. Leave oven on.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, starches and xanthan gum.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the ½ cup powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and flour mixture. Mix on low to combine and gradually increase the speed to medium, mix until the dough comes together. Stir in the cooled pecans and chopped maraschino cherries with a wooden spoon.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until the cookies are fairly firm to the touch and just starting to color. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes. Put the remaining ¾ cup powdered sugar in a small bowl and roll the warm cookies in the sugar to coat. Place on a wire rack to finish cooling. After the cookies have cooled completely, roll again in the powdered sugar.

Servings

This gluten free recipe makes 48 cookies.

Need a quick meal?

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Ready for dessert?

Simply…Gluten-Free Desserts is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.

“I can now have recipes I know I can count on for every Dessert and Breakfast occasion! I’m thrilled!” – A. M.

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