Raelene’s Walnut Ginger Butter Balls

Walnut Ginger Butter Balls are the winning cookie in my monthly reader recipe challenge, and they have all the hallmarks of a great holiday cookie. (This challenge is for subscribers only ~ subscribe here!)

This recipe was submitted by reader Raelene in Perth, Australia, who received it years ago from a coworker ~ one of those quietly treasured recipes that just keeps getting passed along. These cookies are:

• easy no-chill snowball-style cookies
• warm, nutty, and quietly sophisticated, with an unmistakable Old World Christmas vibe
• every bit as good as they sound

Raelene says: “The cookies resemble the Arab biscuits, maamoul, being stuffed shortbread. But these biscuits/cookies are cooked in a round shape rather than being flattened or shaped by moulds. I think they’re an improvement on the traditional shortbread for Christmas.”

walnut ginger butter balls process

1. Make the quick shortbread dough, I do it in my stand mixer. Fold in walnuts and ginger.
   • Stuffed version: Don’t add the ginger yet.
2. Scoop walnut sized balls of dough, press gently together into balls.
   • Stuffed version: make an indent in the dough and place 1/ tsp of minced ginger inside. Fold the dough around the ginger and roll round.
3. Place the balls of dough on your parchment lined baking sheet (the parchment helps buffer the heat to avoid burnt bottoms) 2 inches apart.
4. Bake.
5. Remove from the oven and roll the cookies in powdered sugar/ginger while still hot.
6. Cool completely and re-coat with your powdered sugar/ginger mixture.

FYI In one of my tests I tweaked the assembly and instead of stuffing the cookies with the finely chopped ginger I folded it right in along with the walnuts. This makes the process a bit easier and the result was also delicious.

butter ball baking tips

Of all baking recipes I think cookies are the most tricky. It’s because of their tiny size: any little variance can affect the results.

• Measure carefully, I provide both weight and volume measurements.
• Your butter should be soft, but not melted. I recommend using regular butter, not a high fat European butter which can make the cookies greasy.
• Be sure to chop your nuts and ginger finely so your cookie dough balls adhere together.
• Mix your dough thoroughly so your butter is well incorporated. When made properly the dough is crumbly but moist.
• Form your balls by gently pressing the dough together with your fingers. It will be a bit crumbly but will adhere together when you press.
• Line your cookie sheets with parchment, this keeps the bottom of the cookies from getting too brown.
• Coat in sugar twice: once while hot from the oven (they’ll be a little sticky) and again when the cookies have cooled. Perfection!

the bottom line

These cookies are delicious and something that everybody hasn’t already had before. The nuts are crisp and crunchy. That little pocket of ginger in the center is bright and chewy. The crumbly shortbread texture is lovely. There’s a lot going on for such a simple cookie, and it’s all good.

They keep well covered on the counter for up to a week. You can freeze them but will need to re-roll in powdered sugar after thawing. Thank you for a fabulous cookie Raelene!!

Walnut Ginger Butter Balls

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Walnut Ginger Butter Balls are a melt-in-your-mouth butter cookie studded with walnuts and stuffed with bright bits of crystallized ginger ~ a grown-up twist on classic snowball cookies.

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Prep Time:20 minutes minutes

Cook Time:15 minutes minutes

Total Time:35 minutes minutes

Servings: 30

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 cup salted butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 4 ounces finely chopped preserved ginger*

powdered sugar coating

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cream the 1 cup salted butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• Add the 2 cups flour, and 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts to the bowl and mix on low until a moist crumbly dough comes together and there is no dry flour left.
• Scoop out tablespoon sized bits of dough a form a divot in the center. Place 1/2 teaspoon of the ginger into the center of the dough. Bring the dough up around the ginger and gently roll the dough into a round ball. Raelene says the balls should be about the size of walnuts.**
• Arrange balls 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. The cookies will still be quite pale.
• While the cookies bake sift the 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp ground ginger together in a small bowl. When the cookies come out of the oven roll the hot cookies in the sugar mixture and place on a cooling rack to cool.
• When completely cooled, roll the cookies again in the sugar ginger mixture.
• Store cookies at room temperature for up to a week, and they can be frozen for up to 3 months. You may need to recoat the cookies with powdered sugar after thawing.
• Enjoy!

Notes

*Preserved ginger refers to two main forms: crystallized candied ginger and stem ginger in syrup. I used the candied ginger but either will work.

**A quicker method is to add the minced ginger along with the walnuts to the dough. The ginger flavor is not quite as pronounced, but it is still delicious.

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Course: Dessert

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: baking, Christmas cookies, cookies, drop cookies, winter

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookie · Calories: 124 kcal · Carbohydrates: 12 g · Protein: 1 g · Fat: 8 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g · Trans Fat: 0.2 g · Cholesterol: 16 mg · Sodium: 50 mg · Potassium: 25 mg · Fiber: 0.4 g · Sugar: 5 g · Vitamin A: 190 IU · Vitamin C: 0.04 mg · Calcium: 6 mg · Iron: 0.5 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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