Russian Tea Cakes

I've never actually made these cookies before, so this is a first. But I'll tell you what, I've eaten plenty of them in my day, and they're damn good. Because they're made with confectioners sugar instead of granulated sugar they just melt away the second you pop them in your mouth! They're melt-in-your-mouth good! Yum!

I know it says cake in the name, but these cookies are hardly cake, they're not nearly as difficult to make as a cake is, tell you what. These are so simple you'll wonder why you've never made them before!

Russian Tea Cake Recipe:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup hazelnuts (or nut of your choice), toasted and finely ground
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For covering/dusting
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- Beat butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla.

- In a bowl whisk together the flour and cinnamon.

- Combine the flour and butter mixtures then add in the hazelnuts until incorporated.

- Remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

- Whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and set aside.

- Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart.

- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden brown on top. Be careful, because these can burn on the bottoms quite quickly so watch them close. Don't, for example, go start some laundry while they're baking. Sit tight, right there in the kitchen.

- Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then gently toss the warm cookies in the cinnamon/sugar mixture to coat completely, transfer coated cookies to cooling rack.

- Sift any remaining sugar over cookies prior to serving.