Holiday cookie recipe: The ultimate wedding cookie

Bonnie Zanardi of Whittier was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these wedding cookies:

“Years ago, I saw the recipe printed on a bag of C&H; sugar. It was so simple I almost ignored it. Sure glad I didn’t. It is the most requested cookie I bake. The only alteration I’ve made is the type of nuts used.... Macadamia nuts take this recipe over the top.�

These festive cookies are one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we’ve collected in our updated “Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies� e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, including world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we’ve collected in our “Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.� The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s.

Each book is $4.99. They are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at [email protected].

The ultimate wedding cookie

Total time: 1 hour

Servings: Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Note: Submitted by Bonnie Zanardi of Whittier.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups finely chopped macadamia nuts

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter with one-half cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and nuts. Beat the flour mixture slowly into the butter over low speed if using a stand mixer, or gently stir the flour into the butter mixture by hand until evenly combined to form a dough.

4. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls (about 1 rounded teaspoon of dough per cookie); if the dough is too soft to roll, chill it in the refrigerator until it is easy to handle. Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

5. While the cookies are still hot, gently roll them once in the remaining powdered sugar, then place the cookies on a rack to cool. Once the cookies have cooled, roll them again in the remaining powdered sugar.

6. Store the cookies in tightly sealed plastic bags; they also freeze well.

Each of 5 dozen cookies: 90 calories; 1 gram protein; 8 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 7 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 8 mg cholesterol; 4 grams sugar; 6 mg sodium.