Hawaiian Snowballs

Snowballs, meltaways, and wedding cookies are very similar in style and deliciousness. My grandma used to make a pecan snowball kind of cookie which I loved, but then I discovered the Hawaiian snowball and that changed everything. Last weekend was our Austin food bloggers’ cookie swap, and there were more varieties of cookies than should be legal in one house. We each brought six dozen cookies and then chose from the whole collection which ones we wanted to take home. Deciding what kind of cookie to take to the event was difficult. I had to try a couple of new recipes and one old favorite and ended up making three kinds of cookies for the swap. I’ll show the other two soon, but these Hawaiian snowballs were my first choice. The idea came from the December 2003 issue of Living magazine, and I’ve made them several times since that issue appeared. For the sugar cookie dough itself, I used my favorite recipe of all time which happens to make the best sugar cookies ever.

That best ever sugar cookie dough, Ethel’s sugar cookies from the 1960 Betty Crocker cookbook, was mixed and then left to chill in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, I let the dough come to room temperature and turned it out onto a floured surface. The dough should be flattened somewhat into an oblong shape. Chopped macadamia nuts and chopped, dried pineapple were layered on top of the dough, and then the dough was folded and kneaded until the nuts and fruit were incorporated. Then, you just pull off pieces of dough, roll them into one inch balls, and place them on lined baking sheets. I baked them for about 13 minutes at 400 degrees F, but they should be checked after 10 minutes and then watched. After they cooled, they were dusted with confectioner’s sugar, and I put the sugar in a sieve and shake it over the cookies so no lumps land on the cookies.

The result is a tender, little cookie with a snowy top. The roasted, salted macadamias are a nice contrast to the chewy, sweet pineapple, and I already explained that this sugar cookie dough is the best there is. It really is. And, what can I say, I like Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kalikimaka,” and these cookies go perfectly with that song.