Gluten-Free Mexican Wedding Cookies

A delicious “melt in your mouth” Mexican wedding cookie

I’m in trouble…big trouble. Because the holiday season, as far as I’m concerned, has kicked off. That means lots of baking for me. I love to experiment and see what I can convert to gluten-free. Some times I am successful and some times not. But when I am, I need to get these treats out of the house! My neighbors really like me.

I’ve said this before, if I see a picture of a certain food, I get a little obsessed; in a good way. I must have seen some of these delectable treats somewhere and decided I needed a good gluten-free version. I had to have gluten-free Mexican wedding cookies!

I tried making them before but they fell apart so I was feeling a bit deflated. I had some time today to play thus, I started looking through recipes. I tried a few different recipes and the one below is my favorite (a combination of a few different ones).

Happy holidays! I hope you enjoy them. Remember, you can buy The Warm Kitchen cookbook from my website. I pride myself in writing good recipes which explain how to do things. I hope it helps.

Gluten Free Mexican Wedding Cookies
Makes about 40 cookies

2 cups Amy’s Gluten Free Flour Blend
1 heaping teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt

1/2 heaping cup powdered sugar + about 1 cup for dusting cookies later
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, or butter substitute, like Earth Balance soy-free sticks or shortening

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Prepare 2 cookie sheets by placing parchment paper or silicone baking mats on top.
2. In a small bowl, mix the flour, xanthan gum, and salt. Set aside.
3. Sift 1/2 heaping cup of powdered sugar into the bowl which you will use to cream the sugar and butter or shortening, either a large bowl or the bowl of a stand up mixer. You can use a mesh strainer to sift the sugar. Add the butter or shortening to the bowl.
4. With a stand up or handheld mixer, blend the sugar and butter or shortening until creamy. Add vanilla and mix until well blended.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add nuts and with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mix until combined. Cover dough and place in fridge for 1-2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll into bite-sized balls.  Place on the cookie sheets about 1” apart (they don’t spread so they can be close).
7. Bake 10-12 minutes in the center of the oven, rotating the pan 180 degrees once after 5 minutes. Bake until fragrant and the bottoms are light brown. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside for 4 minutes. Do not take them off of the tray yet.
8. Place ½ cup of powdered sugar in a bowl or pie dish. After 4 minutes, roll in the powdered sugar. Place on a wire rack and cool another 5-10 minutes. Roll each cookie a second time in the powdered sugar. TIP: I baked the cookies one tray at a time. While 1 batch of cookies were baking, I was rolling another batch in the sugar. It took longer but it was easier to remember which had been rolled once or twice.
9. Cool completely and then keep in a covered container.