Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

I actually made these cookies last week, right after Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait to start my holiday baking. Yet, I wanted to give you all some time to enjoy your turkey and give thanks before I moved into holiday baking mode here in this space. It just isn't Christmas to me, unless I have made a dozen different types of cookies during the month of December. I actually started collecting recipes with candy canes back in July.
In their nut form, I have always called these cookies Mexican Wedding Cookies. Last week, Not So Humble Pie posted Peppermint Tea Cookies. What a great idea, and I wondered if I could just adapt my recipe that I already love? Somewhere in the middle of my research I found that another name for these cookies is snowball. Candy Cane Snowballs sounded quite festive. This is another one of those holiday recipes that would be great for a cookie exchange or bakesale. I made them quite large as I didn't have any plans for them, but you could easily make them half the size (baking time will be shorter) and get quite a few more cookies out of each batch. I'm not sure they will replace Mexican Wedding cookies, but they would be a great addition to them on a holiday cookie plate. Also great for those who love delicate tea cookies, but can't have nuts in their diet.
This recipe calls for chopping candy canes in a food processor and then sifting out the powder from the candy cane chunks. Make sure you reserve the powder to sprinkle on top of the cookies. In the past I have purposely made a batch of candy cane powder to stir into hot chocolate during the holiday season. It also makes a great gift layered in a canning jar with hot chocolate. This recipe will leave you with at least 1/2 cup extra candy cane powder. I know you can find other great uses for it during the holidays.

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies
inspired by Not So Humble Pie

10 candy canes
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar plus additional 1/2 cup for dusting
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Place candy canes in the bowl of a food processor, use pulse button to crush to a coarse texture. Place candy cane crumbles  in a fine mesh strainer. Gently tap on the edge of the strainer to remove candy cane powder. Reserve both candy cane powder and the crumbled candy canes. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Sift flour, 1 teaspoon candy cane powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture one cup at a time. Add 1/4 cup candy cane crumble and mix well. Roll 1 tbsp at a time into balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 14 minutes until just barely brown. Let sit for a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet. While cookies are baking; make candy cane powdered sugar by adding 1/2 cup powdered sugar to the remaining candy cane powder. You will have far more powder than you need for the cookies. This is great to store and add to whip cream or other sprinkle on other holiday treats. While cookies are still warm, dust with candy cane powdered sugar. Yield approximately 24 cookies.