This is an old, old recipe that has been in the family for years. The origin is unknown. Recipe uses very little sugar in it and is rolled in superfine sugar to sweeten.
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.
Read MoreThese 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.
Read MoreThese 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. :)
Definitely a tasty pastry...I made sure to finely chop the walnuts prior to adding them to the flour, I also added an extra tsp. of vanilla. Next time I will make the balls much smaller, the recipe allowed for me to make about a dozen and a half of balls. When the rounds are too large they bake flat on one size. I am definitely going to make smaller rounds next time. I added half of an egg white to the dough and sprinkled confectioners sugar after baking. Will definitely make these again with a tad more perfection.
My husband loves these cookies and they came out great. They will be added to my Christmas cookie tray! Thanks for the post.
I had 'this' recipe before, but lost it. so, I was very happy to find it here. I roll the cookies in confectioners sugar once a few minutes after removing from the oven, then a second time after they have cooled.
My aunt has been making these every Christmas since I was young. I love these and am making them now with my own girls. Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE this recipe. It is so easy and quick! I didn't do the walnuts though. I substituted almonds for walnuts and almond extract for the vanilla. SO delicious! I also only cooked them for 12 minutes, they were less dry than the whole 15 minutes. I finally managed to match the old almond ball recipe that I had been looking for!!!
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.
They are lightly sweetened, and melt in your mouth. I did follow another reviewer's suggestion to grind the walnuts and increase the butter. Added too much butter, but evened it out by adding more flour. Worked perfectly. My end result was 33 balls. I am definitely adding this to my annual Christmas baking list!
This recipe is delicious and so easy to make,, that I made a second batch the same day,,I rolled some in powdered sugar and some in cinnamon sugar,,both delish,,this is our Christmas specialty,,from now on,,thank you.
These are really delicious!
I’ll give it a four for the flavor, but they were super crumbly. I used powdered sugar to coat the outside after baking and they were difficult to keep from breaking so I ended up dusting them instead of rolling them. Also, I blended the walnuts into a fine consistency. Like I said, really good flavor just need some minor adjustments for the texture and hold in the end.
These where not sturdy. They crumbled and I had to be very careful as I put them in the powdered sugar. Next time I might add an egg yoke as one comment recommended and make them smaller they did seem to flatten on the bottom.
This were great. They are very crumblely, but defenitely good. I did add an extra 2 Tbs of butter because my dough was not holding at all and I did not roll them in sugar, per the end of the recipe. My kids loved them. I was going to send them to Afghan for a care package and by the time I turned around most of them were gone. It might have been because of the extra butter, but my cookies were a little flat at the bottom after cooking.
My husband bought a huge bag of walnuts that wouldn't fit in our pantry, so I went looking for a recipe to use some up. These cookies were perfect and easy. I made the following adjustments...I ground the walnuts till they were a mix between fine and crumbly. For the butter, I substituted 1/4 cup with coconut oil. Finally, I dusted the baked cookies with powdered sugar. This is definitely a recipe worth keeping!
these are delicous. they werent sweet enough for me at first so i added about 3 extra tablespoons of sugar. they are so easy and super quick to make. i would defentaly make these again.
Excellent cookie, but if you are making and don't have super fine sugar you can use powdered sugar to roll cookies. Most recipes use powdered. This is a dry cookie kind of like shortbread so it's packed with tons of flavor and always a favorite for anyone eating for the first time.
These were very fast to make and I didn't have much of a crumbling problem. They taste better after they mature a day or two.
these were absolutely delicious! in the last batch of the dough, I mixed in some left over white chocolate chips and they were quite delicious. Dont think about making it, make it ...they're simple and yummy :-)
I think these are very much like Russian tea cakes. These were too crumbly. I have success with the Tea cakes, so I will stick with that recipe.
I made this easy recipe and my husband loved it so much he ate all of them, did the dishes and set everything out to make more.
Followed the directions precisely, up until rolling them in the super fine sugar. Instead, I dusted them with powered sugar 3 minutes after removing them from the oven. These cookies are wonderful! Light, flavorful, and highly addictive! The only thing I will do differently next time is make the balls slightly smaller so they are easier to eat in one bite.
This recipe reminds me of the cookies my grandmother used to make. I will definitely use this over and over.
Delicious buttery little morsels, I have added this recipe to my holiday gift giving recipe list!
Mine flattened out in the oven and became cookies rather than balls. Not sure what happened here but they still taste good.
Very good cookies though the recipe did not many. Almost like Russian Tea Cookies.
My mother used to make these cookies when I was a kid and I always loved them. It took me years to find a recipie that tasted just like hers and this one is it. Takes me back to my childhood. They are so good and easy to make.
Yum! Perfect Christmas cookies. I've wanted to make these for years and finally decided it was time. So easy and my husband loves them! His mom used to make them so I can carry on the tradition. Thanks for sharing!
delicious, and it disappeared in 20 minutes! very delicate..great with tea or coffee
Added more walnuts ( about twice the amount the recipient called for, grinned up super fine) added about an extra tablespoon of butter and about tablespoon extra sugar mixed with cinnamon. I shaped them to an inch size balls and pressed them with the fork to flatten them in the shape of the cookies. After baking them for 15 min I let them cool of for about 3-4 minutes and sprinkled them with sugar and cinnamon.
These turned out great and they were quick and easy! I sent them to family for Christmas and kept some that my husband gobbled up. I happened to use a coffee grinder for the walnuts which ground them quite finely. This worked out great as they weren't as crumbly. I agree with the other comments that grinding them more finely works out better.
