Peppermint Snowball Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 2 cups finely chopped pecans
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 medium candy canes, crushed

Directions

1. Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 350 degrees F. Using a stand mixer with its paddle in place, beat the butter, 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar, and the peppermint extract until creamy. Add the flour, pecans, and salt, mixing just until the dough holds together even though it looks a little crumbly.
2. Scoop up about 1 tablespoon of dough at a time and form it into a ball. Arrange the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about an inch around each one, since they barely spread. Bake 15 minutes, stopping when the edges feel set and the undersides have just turned lightly toasted. Err on the side of pulling them early rather than letting them go too far.
3. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes to cool. At this stage, they break easily, so moving them right away can turn them to crumbs. Pour the remaining confectioners' sugar into a shallow bowl. Put the crushed candy canes in another shallow bowl. While the cookies are still very warm, coat them in the sugar, then tap each one softly to shake away extra sugar. Treat them carefully; they are still delicate.
4. Next, turn the cookies through the crushed candy canes. They should look powdery and speckled with little candy cane pieces.