Snowball Cookies

Ingredients & Measurements
1 cup (110g) toasted walnuts or pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) (230g) unsalted room temperature butter
¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp (7g) vanilla extract
½ tsp (4g) salt
2 cups (315g) all purpose flour
*1 cup powdered sugar for rolling cookies around in

Instructions:
Step 1: Toast the nuts:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spread the walnuts or pecans out evenly on a baking sheet.  Bake for 5-7 minutes tossing a few times to ensure the nuts on the edges do not burn. You will know they are done when you can smell the toasty nutty scent. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and allow the nuts to cool. Once cooled, chop into very small pieces. 

Step 2: Make Cookie Dough
Start by combining the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the all purpose flour and salt, whisk together. Then in a large bowl cream the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and mix. With the mixer on low, add the flour into the butter until the flour is just incorporated. Fold in the nuts with a spoon or spatula. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. 

Step 3: Bake
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop or large spoon, spoon out the dough into roughly the same size mounds onto the cookie sheets. Once you have scooped out the dough, you can roll each mound into round balls. Place back on the parchment lined cookie sheet leaving about an inch space between each. These cookies will spread slightly when baking. Bake for 13 -15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. You will notice the edge of the cookies start to brown, remove the pans from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Place the cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and one by one roll the cookies around in the powdered sugar. Then place cookies back on the cooling rack to cool completely. Store cooled and powdered cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter.