Mexican Chocolate Snowballs

 

Ding ding ding, it is officially cookie season!  Hal-le-frickin-loo-yah!  I mean, well, every season is cookie season in my book.  But to kick the holiday version off, let's bake some Mexican Chocolate Snowballs!

These delicious little ditties are so super cute, so freakin' adorable!  Tiny little bite-sized joys of cocoa and almond and a pinch of spice...what could be better than that?!

Roll out some chocolate syrup to make hot chocolate, curl up under a cozy blankie...man that makes for a nice evening!

Looks like my cookie section is filling out nicely so if you're looking for other guaranteed winners for your holiday baking, or, any time baking, drop by here.

Oh and don't forget to treat your pooch to some cookies this year too, come on, absolutely!  Hit up Amazon for some fun dog and/or bone shaped cookie cutters* and bake up these Barky Bucks, serious winners.

Ok, so holiday cookies have long been a tradition in my family.  Long.  Every year my mom would bake several varieties and we were there for it.

Most notable growing up were my mom's Butter Cookies which Mike requires every year.  No problem, they're so flippin' tasty, my goodness.  Light and delicate and buttery with a punch of fruity pop....yum, I'm off in cookie daydream world hang on....  But hey, they make Mike super happy so done and done.

There was a year I went monstrously overboard with the cookie baking, which, goodness, who's truly gonna complain.  Um no one.  Well, what can I say, there's a yearly panic in my head that I won't have enough cookies to go around everywhere they need to go.

I think that was the year I first made these cutie pie Mexican Chocolate Snowballs in fact.

Weirdly I have not started planning my seasonal cookie list yet.  Normally by now I've got a general list started which I hem and haw over, change items in and out several times, then do some hard narrowing.  It's tough, I want to do All the baking.

Then again, I'm one of those the-December-holidays-don't-start-until-December people, much to Mike's dismay and chagrin.  Even then, it's tough to get me holiday riled.  As a kid, sure, holiday riled but as an adult, it's different.

But never mind that, we're making cookies here.

Now, these are flexible in their flavorings.  You can follow the recipe or you can adjust seasonings as you see fit. 

Originally the almond extract was quite overpowering, I felt, so for here I cut it in half.  But, you're welcome to punch it up.

Add the cayenne or don't.  Add the cayenne in the powdered sugar rolling or not.  Do less cinnamon, add in nutmeg or other fall wintery spices you like.  Totes flexible in the way you want to flavor them.

Do, though, not mess with much else.  I should mention, if you'd like to make these gluten-free with a cup for cup substitute,* you likely can though that is not something I have tested.

You'll worry the dough is not coming together or seems dry but I would not lead you astray, everything comes together into one nice Mexican Chocolate Snowball delight.

This recipe does call for almond flour* but panic do not.  You may also use finely ground almonds or if you don't have a package in your freezer already as I do, you can finely grind up some almonds in your food processor,* that works too.

First you'll lightly toast, roast, whatever, your sliced or slivered almonds then give them a light chop.  Or in the case of sliced, tossing them in unchopped is fine too.  Nifty trick:  roast toast them in the oven as it's preheating, save yourself a pan wash and additional effort.

Pull your dry ingredients together in a bowl and fluff those around with a fork or whisk.*  Again, my favorite type of whisk is the uh, I guess they call it a sauce type maybe, the round wire spring coil type,* as it does twice the work in half the time.

 Toss your butter in a mixer and cream that up next.

After that, in goes the powdered sugar and extracts.  Now, I hear you can make your own powdered sugar though I have yet to try which I should considering regular powdered sugar has cornstarch in it to keep the sugar from clumping.

Anyway, beat those ingredients together nicely then dump in the dry.  So easy this recipe, huh?

It'll take a good couple of minutes for the dough to come together in the mixer but it will, be patient.  Just before it does, toss in your roasty toasty almond pieces and voila, cookie batter!

Dough coming together....

...aaaannd mixed!

These come out perfectly on a silicone baking mat* but you can use parchment* if you'd like.  Grab your half tablespoon measuring spoon* (I know, I'm not kidding about small), scoop out lil' cute balls of dough, roll them into a nice sphere and bake.

Rolling balls of dough....

......aaaannd baked!

Let these adorable cookies cool completely then in a bowl, toss the rest of the powdered sugar.  

You can go powdered sugar solo, add some cocoa powder, even a pinch of additional cinnamon and/or cayenne if you'd like, then roll the cookies all around to fully coat.

Tada, Mexican Chocolate Snowballs!  What a treat! 

Mexican Chocolate Snowballs

Yield

about 36 cookies

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

20 Min

Total time

50 Min

Delicious little sugar coated Mexican Snowballs bursting with almond and chocolate flavor with a hint of cinnamon and spice.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup toasted sliced or slivered almonds, chopped
• 3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (32 g) almond flour or (28 g) very fine ground almonds
• 3 tablespoons (16 g) cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (1.5 g) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) fine sea salt
• pinch cayenne, optional
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick, 8 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup (57 g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (1/4 teaspoon for more almond flavor)
• 3 tablespoons (21 g) powdered sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon (3 g) cocoa powder, optional
• tiny pinch of cinnamon and/or cayenne, optional

Instructions

1. Begin preheating the oven to 350° F (176° C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Sprinkle the almond slices or slivers on the baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 5-8 minutes. Remove the almonds to a bowl to cool.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, almond flour or fine ground almonds along with the cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne if using and whisk or fluff together with a fork.
4. Add the butter to a stand mixer bowl or mixing bowl and cream for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Add in the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until fluffy again for about 1-2 minutes.
5. Pour in the dry ingredients on low or stir until the the dough almost comes together then add in the almond slices or slivers, stirring until just combined.
6. Using a 1/2 tablespoon measure, scoop out balls of dough. Roll the dough into a sphere and set on the prepared baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Fill the sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes being sure to rotate the sheet halfway through baking.
7. The cookies are ready when they're slightly cracked on top, have puffed a bit and have a matte finish.
8. Cool the cookies completely on a rack.
9. To finish, in a bowl, combine the remaining powdered sugar and the optional cocoa powder, cinnamon/cayenne then roll the cookies through it to coat.

Notes:

Adapted from Love and Olive Oil.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

65.32

Fat (grams)

4.59

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.75

Carbs (grams)

5.26

Fiber (grams)

0.62

Net carbs

4.65

Sugar (grams)

2.30

Protein (grams)

1.19

Sodium (milligrams)

15.42

Cholesterol (grams)

6.78

Please see the "info" section for nutrition details and information about gram weights.

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*The dog related cookie cutters, flour alternatives, almond flour, food processors, whisks, silicone baking mats, parchment paper, and measuring spoons are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.