Russian Tea Cakes

It snowed 3½" over the weekend. It was the fluffy white stuff that makes everything look so pristine and beautiful. Temps are very frigid -- Brrr! Other than shoveling a little bit of snow in front of my garage (leftovers from the landlord plowing the driveway) and my steps, I stayed inside and tried to keep warm. I did a bunch of stitching on Northern Lights and am almost done! I also did some baking -- Russian Tea Cakes and Gingersnaps.

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

1 c. softened butter or margarine
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. finely chopped walnuts*

In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, vanilla and salt on low speed of mixer about 1 minute. Blend well. Gradually add flour at low speed until just combined; stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1" balls -or- shape into half moons; place about 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes until firm to touch but not brown. Do not overbake. While warm, roll in powdered sugar. Cool; re-roll in powdered sugar before serving.

*Notes: I used 1/2 c. ground walnuts and the recipe turned out fine. 10 minutes baking time worked well for my electric oven. I used a plastic ziploc bag to roll the baked cookies in. The pic only shows the first coating of powdered sugar; I will coat them again before making up the cookie plates at Christmas.