Crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside, these gluten free Louisiana pecan balls let you have your favorite Christmas cookie - and eat it, too. A simple recipe and common household ingredients make these gluten free cookies the perfect self-indulgent holiday treat. Yep and yay...
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Gluten Free Louisiana Pecan Balls Are Little Bites of Wintertime Holiday Food Fun, Y'all...
Although I don't remember baking Louisiana pecan balls when I was a kid, I sure do remember eating them quite a Christmas time or two. I remember being at a Christmas Eve party when I was very young, and becoming instantly mesmerized when I saw a bowl of these powdered sugar-covered treats for the first time.
I must've been about 4 or 5 years old at this party at my aunt and uncle's house. The Louisiana pecan balls beauties were sitting in a bowl on the buffet table. And when I reached inside to grab one, my aunt caught my hand and held it. She took a peek to see if I had chosen the right cookie, and not the adult rum balls cookies that were also somewhere on the food table.
Once she approved of my choice, I remember biting into my cookie and finding a toasty pecan treat inside. Since pecans are my very favorite nut, I was hooked on these cookies immediately. I kept going back to the bowl, and back to the bowl. Eating another pecan ball, and then another one, until there were no more cookies in the bowl!!
And then just like that, I never saw a bowl of pecan balls again for years and years. So, making my own version of gluten free Louisiana pecan balls was the first thing that came to my mind when I decided to finally start baking for this year's holiday season.
Gluten Free Louisiana Pecan Balls Are Easy, Breezy Holiday Baking Fun, Even For Me, Y'all...
I love, love, love baked goods. But truth be told, I'm usually way more into making savory plates than sweet treats. I suppose it's because most candy is naturally gluten free. So, I can get my sugar fix for less than a buck without ever actually having to turn on the oven.
This store-bought treat habit usually keeps me sugar-sane. However, I'm a Christmas lover. And store-bought treats don't warm your home and make it smell all merry and bright. Nope. So, this year I decided I was going to bake these gluten free Louisiana pecan balls to celebrate the season right.
Also called snowball cookies or Mexican wedding cookies, these cookies give me the nostalgic, 'I'm forever a kid in my heart,' kinda feel. Crunchy on the outside, and comfort-food crumbly on the inside, these gluten free Christmas cookies are easy, breezy holiday baking perfection, y'all.
How to Make Gluten Free Louisiana Pecan Balls
When I was creating this gluten free Louisiana pecan balls recipe, I wanted to keep it as easy to replicate as possible. So, first I toasted the pecans with cinnamon to inject the dough with as much flavor and depth as possible.
Next, I made a gluten free pecan balls dough using gluten free flour. Then, since this is an egg-less cookie dough recipe, there's honestly not much keeping it together. So, the dough is really crumbly. And, if you're not careful, the cookies will fall apart before you even take them out of the oven.
So, I decided that I wouldn't use my hands to make a 360-degree ball shape. I knew if I did that some would be bigger than others, which could cause some cookies to be overcooked and other cookies to be undercooked. I didn't want that to happen. Then, I decided to use a plastic tablespoon scoop to make the cookies as uniform as possible. This still gave them the pretty signature dome shape. But now the pecan balls sit perfectly on flat surfaces. This makes them prettier for serving at parties. This shape also perfect for giving as holiday food gifts, as you have less worry about them breaking in transit, even in the mail.
So, after the quick scoop-forming trip, the pecan cookies were ready to be baked. And once out of the oven, you let them cool for a bit right on the sheet. Then, you use a sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar all over them, until they look like little snowballs.
And that's it, y'all. For something so easy to make, these gluten free Louisiana pecan balls are sugary bites of yum-delicious that are just as good for dessert as they are for breakfast. Share with those whose presence makes you feel forever young and carefree. And see y'all on the yum side...
Gluten Free Louisiana Pecan Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup softened butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups gluten free all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon gluten free baking powder, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, stir the cinnamon into the chopped pecans.
- Arrange the cinnamon-covered pecans in a single layer atop an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the nuts are toasty and fragrant.
- Remove the nuts, and let cool.
- Cream butter and brown sugar together in a bowl or mixer bowl until well-combined.
- Stir the vanilla extract and salt into the mixture.
- Add the gluten free baking powder and gluten free all-purpose flour.
- Mix over medium speed for about 1 minute, or until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Stir in the cooled chopped pecans.
- Cover the bowl, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. (The dough will be crumbly.)
- Using a plastic tablespoon scoop, form the dough into half-balls.
- Arrange all of the pecan balls onto an ungreased baking sheet. (I got 37 balls.)
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and let cool directly on the baking sheet.
- Use a sifter to completely cover each of the pecan balls with powdered sugar.
- Remove each pecan ball carefully with a stainless steel spatula.
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