{"id":443,"date":"2014-12-13T23:52:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T05:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.com\/?p=443"},"modified":"2014-12-14T00:27:56","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T06:27:56","slug":"noel-balls-bitten-word-cover-to-cover-2014-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/?p=443","title":{"rendered":"Noel Balls (Bitten Word Cover-to-Cover 2014 Project)"},"content":{"rendered":"

After seeing Betsy’s post about her adventures making Lamb Tartare in last year’s Bitten Word Cover to Cover Project, I vowed to sign up in 2014. I regretted not signing up in 2013 but a sick pregnant girl potentially making Lamb Tartare could have been disastrous! This year’s cookie assignment seemed a little more tame and the littles were able to help me bake. Nothing puts a mom in the holiday spirit more than baking with her kids, except maybe the glass of eggnog enjoyed after the cookies are done and the kids have gone to bed…<\/p>\n

The Noel Balls from Food and Wine were delicious.\u00a0 Don’t let the Medjool dates scare you.\u00a0 These little beauties are delicious, albeit a tad pricey. After tasting them (neither W nor I had tried them before) we checked out the sugar content.\u00a0 14.5 grams in one date!\u00a0 No sugar added.\u00a0 I’ve previously made Pecan Snowballs which were very similar but with no dates. Between the pecans and Medjool dates, these aren’t your everyday sugar cookies. Worth it once a year for Christmas? Probably.\u00a0 Maybe Noel Balls should be the new cookies left out for Santa and Mrs. Claus! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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This recipe is pretty simple with easy-to-find ingredients and a quick baking time. They also baked up great at high altitude (over 6,000 feet) which isn’t true for every cookie recipe.\u00a0 The final product is appealing and impressive.\u00a0 A perfect solution if you need a quick cookie for a holiday party or to put in a tin to gift to friends!<\/p>\n

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Noel Balls<\/strong>
\nFood and Wine<\/p>\n

1 1\/4 cups pecan halves
\n2 1\/3 cups all-purpose flour
\n1\/2 cup finely chopped plump Medjool dates
\n1\/2 teaspoon kosher salt
\n2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
\n3\/4 cups confectioners\u2019 sugar
\n1\/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract<\/p>\n

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    \n
  1. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until finely ground. In a medium bowl, whisk the ground pecans with the flour, dates and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the butter with \u00be cup of the confectioners\u2019 sugar and the vanilla and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.<\/li>\n
  2. Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the remaining 3 cups of confectioners\u2019 sugar in a large pie pan. Working in 3 batches, using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, scoop the dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange the balls on the prepared sheets at least 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then roll them in the confectioners\u2019 sugar until completely coated. Let cool completely, then roll again in the confectioners\u2019 sugar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After seeing Betsy’s post about her adventures making Lamb Tartare in last year’s Bitten Word Cover to Cover Project, I vowed to sign up in 2014. I regretted not signing up in 2013 but a sick pregnant girl potentially making Lamb Tartare could have been disastrous! This year’s cookie assignment seemed a little more tame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewilhelmscook.tempotech.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}