Christmas Nougat Cookies

Today I tried another recipe from my Christmas baking board on Pinterest. These are called Christmas Nougat Cookies, and the recipe comes from a commercial bakery in Seattle.

This recipe is made with shortening, not butter. I rarely use shortening in baking, but to achieve the correct texture with these, you must. These cookies are sweet and crisp and nutty, but then melt away in your mouth. They remind me of Mexican Wedding Cookies in their texture.

The recipe for these comes from a blog called Mediteranean Cooking in Alaska. To quote from that recipe: "The soft dough doesn't need to be refrigerated, and rolls out easily. The cookies do not spread when they are baked, so can be placed closely together on the baking sheet. As a result, they are quick and easy to make."

You can use any kind of nuts that you prefer in these. I used Pecans, but other yummy choices include cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or macadamias.

This is the photo from the original recipe. Don't they look yummy?! Well, I had to try an aqua & pink look, so I got out my powdered leaf green color, my french dragees, my Christmas tree cookie cutter, and my vintage feed sack and went to work. But you don't have to do that to try these yummy cookies! Just roll them out and use a round cookie cutter and they will be just as good! The recipe says to bake for 8 minutes, but I baked mine for 10, and that is the only adjustment I made. They are not supposed to brown.

If you like Mexican Wedding Cookies aka Russian Teacakes etc etc, then you'll love these. They're easy, and you can create fun shapes for the holidays! Happy Baking!!