Lime-Glazed Coconut Snowballs

Whenever I ask friends and relatives what their favorite Christmas cookie is, I always hear Snowballs (or Russian Tea Cakes if you want to be hoitytoity) mentioned in the top three. When I saw this recipe for Lime-Glazed Snowballs, I figured I'd give them a try. After all it's March and holiday cookie season is just ten months away and I need to be ready with a few new cookies in the lineup. Could this be a contender? Time would tell.

This recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, or the "Red Bible" as I like to call it.

Cookie Dough

2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Superfine Sugar (grind up regular sugar in a food processor to make superfine sugar or just by a box)
1/4 t Salt
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, softened and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 T Cream Cheese, Softened
2 t Vanilla Extract

Whisk flour, salt, and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Beat butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, on medium-low speed. Continue to beat until the mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet, about 2 minutes longer. Beat in softened cream cheese and vanilla until the dough begins to hold together, forming large clumps.

Knead the dough in the bowl by hand a few times until it forms a large ball. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter top, divide into two equal pieces and form two discs, each approximately four inches wide. Chill for 20 to 30 minutes or longer.

Lime Glaze

While dough is chilling, whisk 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese together in a bowl until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth. You may add more lime juice if needed to thin the glaze. Glaze should be thin enough to spread easily, but not too runny.

In a separate bowl, place 1 to 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (unsweetened coconut is more difficult to find, but health food stores carry it), chopped fine.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using your hands, roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are light brown, about 12 minutes, rotating pans from upper to lower shelf if baking two pans.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

When cookies are completely cool, dip tops in the glaze, scrape away excess, and dip into the coconut. Set cookies back on wire rack to cool. Glaze will set in about 20 minutes.

Cookie Press Review

Let me start by saying that these are nothing like traditional snowballs that are rolled in powdered sugar. These are quite different but delicious nonetheless. The dough is a delicate butter cookie with a fine crumb. The lime glaze offers a subtle citrus flavor without being overpowering. I'd like a bit more lime flavor now that I think about it. The coconut adds a nice texture and flavor as well.
Overall, these are very good cookies. They look like you slaved away in the kitchen for hours, but really you didn't. And best of all, they are bite size so you can eat them by the dozen. I had to stop myself. Really I did.

Cookie press rating: 4 cookies (out of five)