These walnut balls were good but I will make some slight changes next time. 1) The walnuts should be very very finely chopped or ground. I will grind. The medium chop I did was not delicate enough for these balls and chunks should not be present. 2) The recipe could use a tablespoon or two more butter. They were too crumbly and became dry after a couple days. Also don't be fooled by the small amount of sugar called for. When you roll them in sugar they take on much more sweetness. Stick with the 2 tablespoons.
I have been making these for Christmas since I found them on this site in 2002 and my family and every one loves these. I put the chopped walnuts in the blender and pulse it a few times to get a finer texture. I then use a Tsp to measure the dough to make them a nice smaller size then 1 inch balls the recipe calls for and I get 5 1/2 dozen cookies. The best part is that I can get all of them on one cookie sheet(They don't spread so you can place them close to one another) I bake them for 12 minutes. Beautiful!
If you like shortbread and nuts this will do the trick. I think the recipe needed more vanilla (additional tsp) and maybe an egg yolk. It's elegant and well-presented at parties. And sturdy enough to make a good gift. I wouldn't really call it a cookie in the American aspect. Seems to be of British origin. Goes well with coffee and tea. Do NOT substitute butter for margarine. The flavor of the butter and vanilla are essential to the recipe. Overall good.
Although this is the second time I am reviewing this I just had to do it again after all the compliments from my extended family at the holidays. Today I went and visited to pick up my serving dishes from the various parties and so many people said they loved these. Again I substituted about 1/4 cup white flour with cocoa powder to make them chocolate walnut balls. Yum. These are so easy and a good addition to your holiday cookie plate.
DELICIOUS!!! I substituted pecans for the walnuts and topped with a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon. So easy to make too!!!
My husband ate them all and was looking for more! I didn't have superfine sugar so I rolled them in confectioner's sugar. I used my pampered chef medium scoop to shape the balls. We loved the look and taste. I will double or even triple the recipe next time as they did not make nearly enough.
My boyfriend and I loved these! Only rated 4 stars because I had to modify the recipe slightly. When creaming the butter and sugar I recommend using a food processor and adding the walnuts to it and pulverizing them into the butter sugar. Then add remaining ingredients using food processor to finish combining dough. Roll in SF sugar once before baking and once within 3 minutes of taking out of the oven. I found the amount of butter to be perfect. Bonus: if you don't have SF sugar but have a food processor just put regular granulated sugar in the processor for 2 minutes.:)
These were excellent. My daughter who usually eats like a bird kept asking for more. I did use a little less flour than the recipe called for just so I could be sure and keep them from crumbling. Like someone else mentioned you can fit them all on one cookie sheet since they don't spread. Easy to make and delicious- I will be making them again at Christmas time for sure!
These are really delicious!
These weren't hard to make but they did crumble and fall apart a lot. It was delicious and my father loved them but I would have loved to have had a better presentation.
