Ingredients
1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup nuts, finely chopped
1 extra sifted confectioner's
1 sugar for covering cookies
Directions
Mix the butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla, thoroughly
together. Sift and stir in the flour, and salt. Then mix in nuts.
Chill dough. Roll into 1 inch balls. place on ungreased baking sheet
(cookies do not spread). Bake until set, but not brown. While still
warm, roll in confectioner's sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.
Temperature: 400F (mod hot oven). Time: Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Amount:
About 4 dozen, 1 1/2 inch cookies.
NOTE: When rolling dough into balls, use a light touch, and do not
handle very long. The dough will get hard, and become almost
rock-like after baking if you over-handle.
This has been a family favorite for almost 30 years. Once you start
eating them, you can't stop. I've seen and tasted many other recipes
for "Snowball" cookies, but none have measured up to this one. I've
had many "rocks" in my time!
From The Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. First Edition (Ninth
Printing), published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. @ 1950.
Recipe typed in by Bobbie Beers.
Servings: 4 dozen
Russian Tea Cakes (Snowballs) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Dessert; Drink; Russian
The History of Recipes
Historians have proved the existence of recipes far back into the distant past, in truth as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and maybe further still. However, sadly, these early records were just simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the most ancient recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are a few clay tablets in the Sumerian language which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel blissful. Progressing into The time of the romans 25BC a roman called Apicius created a few documents which described recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, something we still use today. He also informs us how the early Romans were skilled in the use of a good variety of herbs, including some familiar names for example bay, rue and asafoetida. As our culinary historical trip moves to more modern times there were two interesting cookery books which appeared in the 14th Century ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these are nothing to do with the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but rather recipes for the types of meals cooked for the upper classes. In the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many new foods and herbs from the East, including basil and coriander. These new herbs and spices prompted a surge in manuscripts on cookery, most of which are now in private collections. Over the next few centuries, the upper classes tried to serve the most exotic meals, and as a result the best cooks and their recipe collections increased in prestige. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 1800s that cooking and recipe books became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted much of their lives to collecting, verifying, and writing down recipes common in their social group. By the arrival of the twentieth century, cookery books are increasing in popularity mostly as a result of increased literacy, more leisure time and a general increase in wealth. The introduction of television gave us celebrity chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to access massive numbers of recipes such as those found on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Russian Tea Cakes (Snowballs) recipe.
