Chocolate Chip Holiday Snowball Cookies

1. 1

   Finely chop pecans. Put butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with mixer on low speed to blend, then increase speed to medium and beat until soft and light. Add pecans and beat until distributed, scraping bowl as needed. Add salt, vanilla, and flour and beat on low speed to blend. Add chocolate chips and beat on low speed until distributed, scraping sides of bowl as needed.

2. 2

   Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

3. 3

   Scoop 32 portions of dough, shape each into a ball, and set on prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart. (These cookies don't spread during baking.) Chill pans in the refrigerator while oven preheats.

4. 4

   Chilling dough ensures the cookies maintain their snowball shape during baking.

5. 5

   Preheat oven to 300u00b0F.

6. 6

   Bake cookies on racks in upper third and lower third of oven for 15 minutes. Switch pan positions, then bake until cookies feel firm to the touch and are golden on the undersides, about 15 more minutes.

7. 7

   Check to see that cookies are done. Remove from oven or add time as needed.

8. 8

   Let cookies cool on sheet pans 5 minutes.

9. 9

   Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Roll a few warm cookies at a time in powdered sugar, then transfer to cooling racks. The sugar will appear to melt into the cookies. Let cookies cool completely, about 30 minutes.

10. 10

    Roll cool cookies again in powdered sugar. This time, the sugar will remain on the cookies' surface.

11. 11

    Serve cookies, or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.