Teacher gifts...

We worked on cookies and candies for the kids teachers yesterday. We made a cranberry pistachio biscotti, a Mexican wedding cookie and sugar cookies along with some little candies using a Wilton candy making kit. My daughter helped with the process. Here are a few pictures and a recipe for you.

Here is the biscotti. Both this cookie and the Mexican Wedding cookie recipe are from Mary Engelbreit's Cookies Cookbook: The Queen's Best Recipes. It is a great little book! :)

This was our first try at candy making and they turned out great! :)

Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup pecans or walnuts (about 4 ounces) chopped fine
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus additional sifted confectioners' sugar for coating at the end
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let the nuts cool, then finely chop. (I use a food processor for this)
3. In a medium bowl, toss the flour with the nuts and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture.
5. Roll tablespoonfuls of the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 16 minutes, or until lightly colored. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then roll while warm in confectioners' sugar. Place the cookies on wire racks to cool completely, then generously roll the cookies again in confectioners' sugar.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies