My gluten-free Mexican Wedding Cookies are a classic Christmas cookie that you can enjoy during the holidays even if you have a variety of food allergies. We like them so much we make them all year long.
Easy Paleo Christmas Cookie Recipe
I decided to create this easy paleo cookie recipe after one of my fans reached out on Twitter and asked me to create a Mexican Wedding Cookies recipe. Well here you go! These Mexican Wedding Cookies are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and refined sugar-free. With only 8 healthy ingredients they’re also quick and easy to make. Paleo Mexican Wedding Cookies? Yes please!
What are Mexican Wedding Cookies?
According to Wikipedia, Mexican Wedding Cookies have quite a few other names and are also commonly referred to as Russian Tea Cakes and Snowball Cookies:
Russian tea cake is a kind of pastry, commonly eaten around Christmas in the United States. It is a form of jumble, a pastry common in England during the Middle Ages. Also known as Mexican wedding cakes and butterballs, they are perhaps most commonly called snowball cookies for their powdery white spherical appearance and for appearing around the winter holidays.
Easy Homemade Christmas Gifts
These paleo Mexican Wedding cookies are a wonderful homemade Christmas gift. If you like making holiday gifts, rather than buying them, you’ll want to check out my post on How to Make Homemade Christmas Gifts which is full of healthy paleo cookie and candy recipes for Christmas as well as recipes for organic all-natural beauty care items such as homemade lip balm, and so much more!
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons palm shortening
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
- ½ cup powdered coconut sugar
Instructions
- In a food processor combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda
- Pulse in shortening, honey, and vanilla
- Mix in pecans by hand
- Using a 1 tablespoon ice cream scoop, scoop dough out in scant tablespoons
- Use your hands to form cookies into balls, pressing very firmly
- Bake at 350°F for 7-10 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes
- Dip cookies into powdered coconut sugar
- Serve
Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe Tips
When you make these paleo Christmas cookies, press the dough into balls very firmly so they don’t fall apart after they are baked, this is an important step so do not skip it! Also be sure to form scant tablespoon sized balls so that the cookies are bite sized and so that you get the correct yield.
To stick to the classic version of this recipe, roll the cookies in powdered sugar instead of coconut sugar. To make the powdered coconut sugar called for in this recipe simply whiz your regular coconut sugar up in a vitamix or coffee grinder. I make a cup or so at a time and store my powdered coconut sugar in a glass mason jar. I find that homemade powdered coconut sugar keeps for at least a few weeks when stored this way.
Low-Carb Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe
If you can tolerate xylitol, although most people with gut and digestive issues cannot, you can make powdered xylitol sugar using the method outlined above for the powdered coconut sugar and dip your gluten-free Mexican Wedding Cookies in powdered xylitol sugar. If you’re on a low-carb diet you’ll definitely want to check out my Low-Carb Recipes page!
More Paleo Christmas Cookie Recipes
Below are some of my favorite gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and refined sugar-free holiday cookie recipes!
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first published this recipe in 2013.
MamaCassi says
No you didn’t!!!! I remember these from my childhood in Greece, except they were pressed into crescents that were two delicious melt-in-your-mouth bites of amazingness!!!
I am totally biased to Mediterranean sweets from my time there and found the chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cake, and peanut butter cookies were a sad replacement for my baklava, flan, jordan almonds, turkish delight, halvah, nougat, and spiced treats. my kids get chocolate chip cookies, but i make myself clove heavy almond cookies.
just reading this dragged me back to the irresistible sweetness of these amazing cookies!
Elana says
Thanks MamaCassi!
Christi says
YUM!!! Thank you Elana!!! Molasses cookies please… :)
Elana says
Here you go Christi!
https://elanaspantry.com/molasses-spice-cookies/
Enjoy!
Elana
Marlene Placido says
I have been looking for years for a recipe for a raspberry thumbprint almond cookie… a traditional Christmas cookie from maybe one of the Scandinavian countries.. these reminded me of them.
Elana says
Marlene, here’s that recipe:
https://elanaspantry.com/raspberry-thumbprint-cookies/
Enjoy!
Elana
Kristin says
Thank you! I need these in my life!
Elana says
Thanks Kristin!
Cathleen says
Thank you so much for making these. This is a Christmas classic at our house.
Elana says
Cathleen, you’re welcome!
Staci says
I would love to see a GF/DF recipe for molasses crinkles
Christi says
Me too!!!
Ashley@The Wooden Spoon says
I would as well!
Allison says
Oh, wow! These have always been my favorite kind of cookies!
But where can I find powdered coconut sugar? The link goes to regular coconut sugar. Do you use the method I found while searching (blending arrowroot powder + coconut sugar)?
Allison says
Nevermind, I skimmed too quickly! I found your instructions!
D @ The Kosher Cave Girl says
Hmmmmm. Now I need to go on a hunt for vegan shortening. Do you think coconut oil/butter would work just as well?
This recipe looks insanely good, by the way!
Lyn says
Spectrum brand makes a vegan shortening. It comes in a bowl/tub and is on sale at Whole Foods with a $3 coupon for it in their flyer and you can also use a manufacturer coupon if you have one. They will accept one store coupon and one manu coupon per product. I have also seen it at SuperTarget and all the health food stores. Earth Fare has it in buttery flavor as well.
Caitlyn says
used 2 Tbs. Organic unsalted butter… THESE ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
Caitlyn says
Update, used melted coconut oil, they turned out great, not really much different than made with butter. This recipe rocks!
Alena says
Can I substitute vegan shortening for ghee, or maybe coconut butter?
Lyn says
I was wondering if Earth Balance soy free buttery sticks would work with this recipe to keep it dairy free/soy free.
sarah says
these are normally made with regular butter, so something like coconut oil or non dairy “butter” products may work. I’m gonna try with normal butter since we do dairy.
jen says
hi elana – these look great, but can you tell me if they are crispy/crunchy or if they are more cakey? thanks so much – jen
Caitlyn says
These are crunchy and chewy. The bottom is a bit more crunchy, they aren’t flaky and definitely not dry.