Linguine Pescatore #FishFridayFoodies

Linguine Pecatore or fisherman’s linguine features shrimp, squid, scallops, clams and mussels in a fresh tomato sauce tossed with pasta. This delicious main course is as fragrant as it is delicious. Squeeze on a little lemon juice for a bright, flavorful mouthful!

Several years ago I had the good fortune to accompany my husband on a business trip to Italy. We landed in Bologna and took a train up to Venice for a couple of days of holiday before renting a car and driving south down the east coast to Ravenna for the business meetings.

One evening while in Venice, we happened upon a little trattoria with just a few tables down a back alley. We ordered the pasta pescatore, a dish made for two and a specialty of the house. It was so good that sometimes I even eat it in my dreams. This is my recreation of my memory of that dish. I’m not sure anything can live up to seafood eaten on a wonderful Venetian holiday, right near the sea, but this comes close.

Linguine Pescatore

For this dish, I used a pack of frozen mixed seafood that included raw shrimp, squid and scallops as well as cooked green mussels, in addition to fresh shrimp and live clams. Substitute your favorite seafood. If you can’t find flavorful ripe tomatoes, by all means use canned Italian tomatoes. In a dish this simple, good tomatoes make a huge difference.

Ingredients
3 vine-ripen tomatoes (about 3 cups, chopped)
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
10 cleaned clams
1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine
1 1/2 cups or 180ml seafood stock
1 lb or 450g frozen raw mixed seafood, thawed
12oz or 340g fresh shrimp, (about 10 large 13/15 count/lb) peeled and cleaned
Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped (reserve a little for serving)
Black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt
1 lb or 450g linguine or your pasta of choice

To serve:
Chopped parsley
Juice of half a lemon

Method
Core and chop the tomatoes and set them aside, being sure to catch and save any of the lovely juice that runs out.

Peel and mince your onion and garlic. In a large saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they are softened. Be careful not to let them brown.

Add the wine and seafood stock and bring to a boil, then add the clams and cook, covered, till they open, about 4-6 minutes.

Discard any clams that did not open. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the rest of the clams into a bowl and set them aside. I had a three that I thought I was going to have to toss out but finally, at six minutes, they sprung open! It was a tense minute or two while I regretted only buying 10 and no spares.

Add the tomatoes and juice to the pan, along with the parsley, a few good grinds of black pepper and crushed red pepper.

Cook until the tomatoes soften but are still nice and brightly red, about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta, with a couple of teaspoons of salt.

Add the rest of the seafood to the saucepan and simmer until they are cooked and/or warmed through, in the case of the frozen mix.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until just before al dente. For instance, if the package says cook till al dente for 10 minutes, set your timer for nine. Drain well and put the pasta back in the pot. Pour the sauce on, adding the clams back in as you do. Toss it gently. Put the lid on and leave the linguine to finish cooking in the sauce for just a few minutes.

Taste for salt and add more if needed. (Mine did not.) Serve with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and parsley to garnish. You can, of course, serve it directly from the pasta pot. I only transferred mine back into the saucepan for photos.

Enjoy!

This month in my Fish Friday Foodies group, we are all sharing Mediterranean recipes. Many thanks to our Fish Friday host Sue of Palatable Pastime and group doyenne, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Baccala Soup from Palatable Pastime
• Seafood Paella from Making Miracles
• Greek Seafood Rice from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Greek Bronzini Pan-fried Paleo Dish from Of Goats and Greens
• Zarzuela de Marisco from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Linguine Pescatore from Food Lust People Love
• Moroccan Chermoula Baked Fish Fillet for One from Sneha's Recipe
• Coquilles St Jacques from Caroline's Cooking
• Mediterranean Shrimp from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin this Linguine Pescatore!

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Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Bundt #BundtBakers

This fudgy flourless chocolate Bundt is so tender and moist, it’s almost like a very rich, firm baked pudding. Fudgy in flavor, light in texture. Made with only five ingredients, it couldn’t be easier!

After all the baking and cooking that goes on during the holidays, our Bundt Bakers host, Patricia from Patty’s Cake chose to uncomplicate our lives by asking for Bundt recipes that need only five ingredients. Sounds simple, right? Piece of cake. This was a much harder challenge than I thought it would be!

I searched my archives and recipe files first to no avail when suddenly I remembered a Sunday Supper group event I had participated in almost six years ago. The theme was five ingredient (or less) recipes and I shared a beef bourguignon made with succulent short ribs, smoked bacon and dried mushrooms. OMG, it was so rich and delicious. (For that five ingredient or less challenge, salt and pepper didn’t count.)

Surely someone had made a cake I could bake in a Bundt pan! Turns out there was just one. Jane from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner shared a flourless chocolate cake. Score! Mine is adapted from hers. If you love little bakers in the kitchen, you'll appreciate Jane's helpers on that post. Adorable!

Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Bundt

If you’ve ever needed an easy dessert for gluten free friends and family who cannot do nuts, I can highly recommend this recipe. In Jane’s photos she added orange zest by accident and had to scoop it out as it was in violation of the five-ingredient rule. I couldn’t add it either for the same reason, but I think orange in this dark chocolate cake would be wonderful. As is, it is fabulous served alone or with vanilla or mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Ingredients
1 cup or 227g butter (plus more to liberally grease the Bundt pan)
1/4 cup or 22g cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting for the pan)
8 oz or 227g dark (semi-sweet) chocolate
5 eggs
1 cup or 200g sugar

Optional to serve: a sprinkling of icing sugar and/or ice cream

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 10-cup Bundt pan by liberally buttering it and then dusting it well with cocoa. Set aside.

Heat the dark chocolate and butter slowly in a double boiler or with short zaps in the microwave in a microwaveable bowl. Either way, stir frequently, until the chocolate is just melted.

Sift the cocoa into the sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat well.

Add the melted chocolate and butter to the egg mixture. Again beat well, until thoroughly combined.

Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it is just set.

It will fall a little as it cools, but don’t let that worry you. It just means a more dense, fudgy cake. All good!

Leave it to cool for about 10-15 minutes and then loosen the edges with a toothpick. Cover the top of the Bundt pan with the wire rack and invert the cake. If you've been trying to live your life right, it comes out intact. (Just kidding. :) It's actually dependent on how well you buttered and cocoa-ed the pan. But being a good human being can't hurt, right?)

Optional for serving, a light dusting of icing sugar. Or ice cream.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Patricia of Patty’s Cake for hosting this month! Check out all the lovely five-ingredient Bundts we are sharing today.

• Chocolate Mayonnaise Bundt Cake by Patty’s Cake
• Easy Vanilla Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Five-Ingredient Blueberry Bundt Cake by Palatable Pastime
• 5 Ingredient Almond Butter Mini Bundts by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Impossible 5 Ingredients Bundt by Sneha’s Recipe
• Melted Ice Cream Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Roasted Squash Brown Butter Bundt Cake by Patyco Candybar
• Strawberry Banana Bundt by Sweet Sensations

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Pin this Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Bundt! 

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Artisan Sprouted Spelt Boule #BreadBakers

Hearty and flavorful, this artisan sprouted spelt boule bakes up with a crunchy crust and an airy yet chewy crumb. It is very forgiving if you like making dough ahead (which adds so much character and taste!) and baking another day.

One of my favorite things about belonging to food blogger groups is learning about new ingredients or techniques. This month Bread Bakers’ host is Sue of Palatable Pastime and she chose sprouted flour as our theme.

I had never heard of sprouted flour but Sue provided a couple of links to clarify. Apparently sprouted flour is made by allowing grains to germinate aka sprout. The results are then dried and ground into flour. The thought is that sprouted flours are more nutritious, because, according to the Penn State Extension website: “Carbohydrates are converted into simple sugars, proteins are broken down into amino acids, and fats are broken into the component fatty acids. These conversions make the food easier for the plant and humans to digest.”

That said, more study is needed to determine if it’s healthier or actually more digestible than regular flour. What I can tell you is that the sprouted spelt makes a lovely nutty tasting loaf and I am looking forward to using it again in other baked goods. Not only that but the folks at The Kitchn agree with me! You can learn more about sprouted flours there as well.

Artisan Sprouted Spelt Boule

My recipe is adapted from one of the One Degree Organics website, which was also the brand of sprouted spelt flour I used. My first attempt was completely flat and clearly had too much liquid. Rather than dialing back on the water for the second go, I decided to add more sprouted flour. Take two resulted in a wet sticky dough that could hold its shape a bit better when kneaded for a bit after the first rise. The original recipe could work better for a focaccia rather than a boule.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 355ml warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3 cups or 360g sprouted spelt flour
1 cup or 125g bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Essential equipment:
5.5 qt or 5.3L Dutch oven with ovenproof lid
Dough scraper

Method
Stir the sugar into the water to dissolve it, then sprinkle the yeast in as well. It’ll just float on the top but that’s fine. Set aside for five or so minutes. The yeast should start getting foamy, which means it has been activated and is alive.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine the flours and salt. When the yeast has proved, pour the mixture into the flour bowl and mix well.

It’s going to be quite a soft dough. Just make sure everything is completely blended. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl, making sure all the flour has been incorporated.

Cover the bowl with cling film or a damp teacloth. Let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours. The longer the better, in my opinion. You can also pop the covered bowl in the refrigerator overnight, after the room temperature rise.

After the first rising time has elapsed, gently fold the dough over on itself in the bowl with a spatula and tip it out onto a well-floured work surface. Knead for several minutes, until the dough isn’t quite as sticky and you can form it, with the help of a dough scraper, into a ball.

Prepare a greased square of baking parchment on plate and transfer the ball onto it. The parchment isn’t strictly necessary but it will make transferring the risen dough to the Dutch oven easier later.

Cover with a loose towel or oiled cling film and let rise for 1-2 hours. If it’s cold at your house, like it is at mine right now, follow these instructions for proofing in the microwave. Because the rising environment is humid, you don’t have to cover the dough. Works a treat!

When your dough has almost doubled in size, preheat oven to 500°F or 260°C WITH THE COVERED DUTCH OVEN INSIDE.

It's such a soft dough that it spreads out as much as it does up!

Once the Dutch oven is fully heated and the dough is done rising, hold the edges of the parchment paper and carefully place the loaf inside. Cut a few slashes in the dough to allow it to rise further as it bakes and to give it a decorative finish. (I really need a sharper knife. My bread lame has gone missing in the move.)

Depending on your oven, let the bread bake with the lid of the Dutch oven ON for about 20-25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. If you are a thermometer-using baker, fully baked, the boule should have an internal temperature of about 190°F or 88°C.

Remove the boule from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Check all of the other sprouted flour recipes my Bread Baker friends are sharing today! Many thanks to Sue of Palatable Pastime for hosting!

• Artisan Sprouted Spelt Boule from Food Lust People Love
• Seeded Sprouted Wheat Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Sprouted Wheat Flour No Knead Bread from Cook with Renu
• Sprouted Wheat Green Chile Pretzel Braid from Amandie Bakes
• Sprouted Wheat Pain de Mie Sandwich Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sprouted Wheat Waffles from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour Mini Rolls from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this artisan sprouted spelt boule!

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Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with sweet cream of coconut and canned pineapple chunks, then topped with boozy glaze, these rum glazed piña colada muffins are perfect for a nippy days when you need a tropical holiday from inclement weather.

Our climate in Houston is weird. Cold one day, warm the next. You are just as likely to spend Christmas in shorts as bundled up in an overcoat. And then the reverse on Boxing Day. And don’t even get me started about the rain.

Sometimes we need to add a little sunshine and a vacation vibe to our wet winter days. May I suggest you bake some muffins?

For the last several years, I have been baking muffins regularly, at first every week, then once a month, with a marvelous group of bakers. They live in various places so it’s always fun to see the creative recipes they share, often including special local ingredients. One thing we all have in common is a love of the ease of muffin baking.

No creaming of sugar, no whisking of eggs, the muffin method requires dirtying only two bowls and produces wonderful baked beauties in under 30 minutes. Best of all, they are so portable, unlike big cakes.

Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins

About six years ago, I shared piña colada muffins made with coconut oil. They were tender and delicious with a subtle coconut flavor. This time I decided to go bigger on the coconut element, using the sweetened cream of coconut generally called for in piña colada cocktail recipes and finishing the muffins off with a rum glaze. Because, what was I thinking? Piña coladas need rum!

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
3/4 cup or 140g (drained weight) pineapple, canned in juice
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml cream of coconut
1/4 cup or 63g canola or other light oil
1/4 cup or 60ml pineapple juice (from canned pineapple)
2 eggs

For the rum glaze:
1/2 cup or 63g powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons dark rum

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining with paper muffin cups.

Drain your small can of pineapple and reserve the juice.  Chop the pineapple up with a sharp knife. Set aside a small pile of pineapple for adding to the muffin tops before baking.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.  Add the larger pile of pineapple bits to the flour and stir to coat.

In another bowl, whisk together cream of coconut, canola, pineapple juice and eggs. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened. Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Top each cup of batter with a piece or two of the reserved pineapple.

Bake 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until muffins are golden.

Remove the muffins from oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.

To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the rum by teaspoonful and stir well with each addition, until the glaze is a good drizzling consistency. You may not need it all.

Cool the muffins completely, then drizzle on the rum glaze. I like to use a piping bag or a Ziplock baggies with a corner cut off because that’s less messy but you do you.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year to you all! Check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today! 

• Blueberry Banana Oat Breakfast Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon Crumb Muffins from Making Miracles
• Mandarin Orange Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Rosemary Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Rum Glazed Colada Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins! 

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Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake #FishFridayFoodies

This artichoke crab dip pasta bake starts with the main ingredients of everyone’s favorite baked artichoke dip, then adds crab, mushrooms and pasta for a delicious casserole the whole family will love.

One of our favorite things to have for a Sunday lunch is the chancre crabs found offshore the Channel Islands. They are huge, like Dungeness crabs, with wonderful flavor. We buy one per person so there are often leftovers enough to make another meal.

This pasta bake is one such. We like it so much that I’ve since made versions with shrimp and fish, so feel free to substitute your own favorite cooked seafood.

Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake

If you do want to use crabmeat and don’t have leftovers from steamed crabs, by all means use the fresh picked stuff you can buy at the store. Ive used it in many recipes including Aunt Neen's Stuffed Crab.

Ingredients
1 lb or 450g shell (or your favorite shape) pasta
4 oz or 113g fresh button mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup or 60ml butter
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups or 200g picked cooked crabmeat
1 1/2 cups or about 190g finely grated Parmesan, divided
1 cup or 240g mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip or salad cream – they are too sweet.)
1 can (14oz or 400g) artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g
1 small hot red chili, minced, optional but highly recommended

Method
Cook the pasta according to package instructions, leaving it decidedly al dente. This leaves room for it to continue cooking as it bakes and to absorb the flavors of the artichoke crap dip mixture.

While the pasta is cooking, slice the mushrooms and pan fry them over a high heat in the olive oil until they turn golden, about 5-7 minutes.

Warm the butter in a small pot and add in the minced garlic. Set aside to cool. When the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Chop the well-drained artichokes roughly.

Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, reserving 1/2 cup or 63g of the Parmesan for topping. If it seems a bit dry, stir in some of the reserved pasta water.

Spoon the mixture into a greased baking pan. Top with the reserved cheese.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the pasta is heated through and golden brown.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are celebrating Christmas Eve in a special way, as Italian Americans do, with the feast of the seven fishes. There are no hard rules, but here is how Bon Appetit outlines it.
1st course: Appetizer or a snack
2nd course: Seafood salad
3rd course: Meaty fish, grilled or broiled
4th course: Fish in pasta
5th course: Seafood Stew
6th course: palate cleanser like gelato
7th course: light dessert such as Italian cookies

Mine, of course. is for the fourth course. Our host today is Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories, a fellow blogger I’ve had the privilege to meet. Check out all of the lovely seafood recipes we are sharing below.

• Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake from Food Lust People Love
• Baked Mussels from Caroline's Cooking
• Crab Bites from Making Miracles
• Creamy Clam Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Creamy Mackerel Salad for Two from Sneha's Recipes
• Italian Seafood Salad (Insalata di Mare) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• La Vigilia di Natale from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, who made new dishes for all of the courses for this Italian Christmas Eve dinner! Fun fact: She once spent a year in Rome and learned the food traditions of Italy. You need to check out her menu!

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin this Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake! 

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Gram's Famous Fruit Cake #BundtBakers

The only fruit cake I’d eat as a child, this recipe was my grandmother’s special treat at Christmas time. It’s chock full of pecans, walnuts, crystalized fruit, dates, cherries, raisins and pineapple.

I was not a fan of fruit cake when I was a child, at least not the store-bought sort. I made an exception for Gram’s famous fruit cake. (Famous in our family circle anyway.) It was not dry at all and it had lots of pecans, my favorite nut of all time. My grandmother made many of different sizes, wrapped them up in foil with ribbons to share and more for keeping safe under her bed.

I finally knew I was considered an adult one Christmas when I was given my very own little loaf.

If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that both of my grandmothers were wonderful cooks and sometimes bakers and candy makers. I’ve inherited so many good recipes from them. Gram’s fig preserves and her Cajun rice dressing, Mo's chicken and sausage gumbo and her shrimp stew and crawfish étouffée, just to name a few. This fruit cake is one of my favorites.

Gram’s Famous Fruit Cake

Amongst my grandmother’s things I found several copies of the original recipe, copied out in her distinctive old-fashioned hand. I have no idea where she came by it or if it was a mixture of her own devise. I've downscaled her ingredient amounts to make one 12-cup Bundt cake.

Ingredients
8 oz or 227g pecans
8 oz or 227g walnuts
15 small bottled cherries (weight 48g)
1 cup or 125g flour
1 1/4 lbs or 367g crystallized fruit mix
12 oz or 340g seedless dates, roughly chopped
3 oz or 85g raisins
2 oz or 57g sliced pineapple, cut in chunks
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons each allspice, cloves and cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups or 132g sugar
1/2 cup or 113g butter (plus extra to butter pan)
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml red (dark) Karo
1/8 cup or 30ml fruit juice from canned pineapple and bottled cherries

Method
Separate out your prettiest pecans and walnuts to line the bottom of your classic Bundt pan and set them aside. I use a Nordic Ware anniversary Bundt so I set aside 8 of each. Cut the cherries in half and set aside an equal amount of cherry halves.

Check your nuts thoroughly for any errant bits of shell that might have been missed before they were packaged up. You do not want to break a tooth while eating the fruit cake! Roughly chop the rest of the pecans and walnuts, then mix all of the fruit and nuts with 1/4 cup or 31g flour.

Whisk or sift the baking powder, spices and salt into the rest of the flour. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 250°F or 121°C. Liberally butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, then arrange the reserved pecans, walnuts and cherries as decoration for when the fruit cake is turned out of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. Separate your egg whites and yolks, adding the whites to a clean, grease free bowl.

Add the egg yolks, Karo, flour mix and fruit juice to the creamed sugar and butter. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites until foamy.

Fold them gently into the fruit cake and then do the same with the fruit and nuts.

Spoon the mixture into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake the mixture for 3 1/2  hours in your preheated oven.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then invert the fruit cake on a serving plate. If any of the bits stick to your pan, just pry them off and poke them back in the cake.

My grandmother never added alcohol to her fruit cake, but feel free to brush yours with some good dark rum or brandy if you so desire.

Leftovers should be tightly wrapped in cling film and foil and stored in a cool place.

Enjoy!

This month my Bundt Baker friends are all sharing fruit cake recipes. Check them out!

• Applejack Bundt Cake from Palatable Pastime
• Cake aux Fruit Bundt from Patyco Candybar
• Cranberry and Apricot Fruit Bundt Cake from Making Miracles
• Dried Fruit and Pecan Bundt Cake from I Love Bundts
• Dried Fruit Bundt Cake from Living the Gourmet
• Gram's Famous Fruit Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Macadamia and Tropical Fruit Bundt Cake from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Sorrel/Hibiscus Fruit Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Spiced Rum Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Pin Gram's Famous Fruit Cake! 

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Pecan Snowball Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

These little bite-sized pecan snowball cookies are buttery, tender and just the right amount of sweet. They practically melt in your mouth.

I’m calling these pecan snowball cookies because they are chock full of pecans and do look like little snowballs, but all across the interwebs, similar recipes are known as Mexican wedding cookies, biscochitos, polvorones, Russian tea cakes, Italian wedding cookies, Kourabiedes or Greek wedding cookies or butterballs.

Whatever you decide to call them, I hope you do give them a try. This recipe is a fun one to make with children. They love forming the little balls and then rolling the cookies in the icing sugar (twice!) after they’re baked.

Pecan Snowball Cookies

As you can tell from the recipe, the cookie dough isn’t very sweet because sugar is added outside with the double rolling, making these perfect, just as they are. If you are feeling adventurous, you might also want to try my Mexican chocolate (with cinnamon) wedding cookies too.

Ingredients – makes 6 dozen cookies
For the cookie dough:
2 cups, finely chopped, or 210g pecans
2/3 cup or 83g icing sugar
1 cup or 226g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour

For coating cookies:
1 cup or 125g powdered sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C and prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Place the pecans and powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse the pecans and icing sugar, until the nuts are fairly finely ground with just a few bigger bits.

In the bowl of your mixer, add the pecan mixture, the butter, vanilla and salt. Beat until everything is well combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then add half of the flour mixture to the mixer bowl.

Mix on low speed until everything is well incorporated. Repeat with the second half of the flour, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula before and after the addition.

Scoop up spoonfuls of the dough and roll the dough between the palms of your hands into balls about 1 in or 2.5cm big. Place the balls on the prepared cookie sheet spaced about 2 inches or 5cm apart.

Keep any balls that don’t fit in the first batch on parchment paper in the refrigerator if your kitchen is warm.

Bake the cookies for about 18 to 20 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool for five minutes.

While they bake, sift a cup of powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. When the cookies have cooled for about five minutes, roll them one or two at a time in the icing sugar to coat completely.

Leave to cool completely then roll them in the sugar again.

Enjoy!

After a hiatus of several months, I am delighted that my Cookie Exchange friends are baking together again. Many thanks to our leader, Laura of The Spiced Life, for organizing us this month. Check out all the other great seasonal cookies we are sharing today!

• Pecan Snowball Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Spritz Christmas Tree Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling from The Spiced Life
• Gevulde Speculaas - Dutch Spiced Cookies from Spiceroots

Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board!

Pin these Pecan Snowball Cookies! 

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