12 Days of Cookies – Butter Ball Cookies

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

12 Days of Cookies – Butter Ball Cookies

These cookies are very similar to the Chocolate Chip Snowballs I made on Day 6 of my 12 Days of Cookies, except they have no chocolate chips in them. I found this dough to be way too crumbly to form into balls. I had to add a little over a teaspoon of water to the dough to be able to work with it. These are one of my stepmom’s favorite holiday cookies, so I decided to add it to the 12 Days of Cookies. Again, I made a 1/2 batch and I got 12 cookies.

I took these to work and brought them to my last day of Spanish class (yes, I’m trying to learn Spanish. If anyone knows Spanish and wants to help me practice, let me know!) Our professor told us to bring treats if we wanted. My class only has 5 people in it, so this half batch provided the perfect number of cookies.

Butter Ball Cookies – from Cooks.com – makes 2 dozen1 1/2 c. nuts – I used walnuts
1 c. flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. soft butter
1/4 tsp. salt
Powdered sugar

Chop nuts very fine. Put into mixing bowl.

Add all remaining ingredients (I creamed the butter and sugar, then added the rest of the ingredients and stirred by hand). Chill dough 1/2 hour.

Form dough 1 inch into balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes or until set (not brown).

Cool and roll in powdered sugar. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

My 12 Days of Cookies:Day 1: Lumberjacks
Day 2: Peppermint Sandies
Day 3: The great Sugar Cookie Debate
Day 4: Fudge
Day 5: Cranberry Orange Cookies
Day 6: Chocolate Chip Snowballs
Day 7: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Day 8: Snickerdoodles
Day 9: Candy Cane & Mint Kiss Cookies
Day 10: Chocolate Peppermint Meringue Cookies

Cookies, Dessert, Family Favorites

1 comment »

13 Responses to “Alton Brown’s “The Chewy””

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Bridget — March 5, 2009 at 6:02 pm

Aren’t they the best? They’re so addicting. I’ve actually starting using the same ingredients, but mixing them like a more traditional chocolate chip cookie (i.e., softened butter instead of melted), because I like the dough better with softened butter. The baked cookies were just as good. Best of both worlds!
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Laure — March 5, 2009 at 9:45 pm

These look gorgeous. Don’t you just love AB??? 🙂
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Julie — March 6, 2009 at 4:06 am

The cookies look great. I love AB too..he’s such a dork (in a good way).
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CoCo — March 6, 2009 at 5:50 am

I love the ATK/CI Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to try these to see what I think. I remember seeing that the recipes looked similar so I am sure I will love them.
Another AB lover here. My husband gives me a hard time about my DVR list with him but loves it when I give him a fun tidbit or cook him something from AB.
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Jen — March 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm

I completely agree CoCo. Hubby does the same thing. I sometimes even watch episodes I’ve seen before! Hubby doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves AB too. Sometimes he’ll be the one saying “AB says to do this…”
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foodess — March 9, 2009 at 3:38 am

They look SO good!! I am a sucker for a chewy chocolate chip cookie. Although, I must side with your hubby – I prefer mine with just a bit of chocolate.
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Naomi — March 9, 2009 at 6:46 am

How much is a stick of butter? I’m not in the US and have never come across this measurement before.
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Jen — March 9, 2009 at 11:08 am

Sorry about that Naomi – 1 stick of butter = 8 Tbsp. Does that help?
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Dani — March 9, 2009 at 11:46 am

this is very similar to the ccc recipe i use, but anything that makes it chewier is good in my books! i will have to keep this one in mind 🙂
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Naomi — March 13, 2009 at 10:05 am

Yes Jen, thank you!
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Allie — June 2, 2010 at 8:43 pm

Yum! I will definitely be trying these. I always chill my cookie dough too usually because I’m too busy with 3 little ones but I also read that article in the NY times awhile ago and I felt like I deserved a nice big pat on the back for always doing the 24hour chill 🙂 Great post and beautiful cookies!
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Susan — June 23, 2015 at 4:41 pm

I love Alton Brown because of his scientific approach to cooking and baking. I’ve been baking “The Chewy” for years. One thing I do differently: Before chilling the dough, I scoop it into balls. This makes the process much easier. Sometimes I freeze the balls for baking later. After I place the balls on parchment, I carefully place a few extra chocolate morsels on top, pointy side up. This extra step produces picture-perfect cookies every time.
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Desiree — July 2, 2016 at 1:56 am

The Chewy is my go to recipe for cookies. I make a few alterations, occasionally, such as substituting 1/4 of the brown sugar with dark brown sugar. I bake small portions in mini muffin tins; one batch makes 48 cookie bites that are super chewy and the perfect size bite. I’ve made them every year for Christmas gifts for a few years now.