CHOCOLATE WALNUT SNOWBALL COOKIES

Chocolate Walnut Snowball Cookies image

Provided by Food Network Kitchen

Categories dessert

Time 1h20m

Yield about 3 dozen cookies

Number Of Ingredients 8

1 1/4 cups walnut halves and pieces (about 5 ounces)
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Steps:

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Finely chop 1/2 cup of the walnuts and set aside. Process the remaining 3/4 cup walnuts with 1/2 cup of the sugar in a food processor until very finely ground, about 1 minute. Add the butter and vanilla and process until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and process until most of the dough forms a ball and is completely combined. Scrape the dough into a bowl with a rubber spatula and fold in the chocolate chips and reserved chopped walnuts.
Roll mounded teaspoons of the dough into 1-inch balls and space evenly apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until cracked on top and mostly firm but still slightly springy when pressed, about 18 minutes (they will firm up out of the oven). Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes; you want them to be slightly warm for the first tossing in sugar.
Meanwhile, put the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Toss the warm cookies very gently in the sugar until evenly coated. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes, then toss again in the sugar so they are very white. The cookies will keep in a little bit of extra sugar in an airtight container for up to 1 week.