Lemon Mexican Wedding Cakes

Mexican Wedding Cakes, or pastelitos de boda (Bride's Cookies), tend to be a popular holiday cookie for many people. These rich little butterballs are typically accented with pure vanilla extract and covered with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Lemon accented Mexican Wedding Cakes were developed by my mother long ago and they remain a firm family favorite. They are light, delicately flaky and possess a rich lemon flavor. Try this unique twist when making these cookies for your friends and family - it's a great little surprise and supremely tasty.

Lemon Mexican Wedding Cakes

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

 ½ cup confectioner's sugar
2 cups flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1¼ tsp. pure lemon extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar and cream until smooth. Add the lemon extract, salt and flour and mix just until the flour disappears.

Using a teaspoonful of dough (or a small cookie scoop), form small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. Roll the cakes in confectioner's sugar immediately after removing from the oven (watch your fingers!). Put the cakes on a cooling rack and leave to cool completely. Carefully pack into a cookie tin making sure to put a layer of plastic wrap over each layer. For an extended shelf life, store in a cold environment (a garage is a perfect place). However, do serve these at room temperature, since the flavor will be muted if you serve them straight out of cold storage.

Makes about 4 dozen

NOTE:  If you can't get pure lemon extract, you can use 1 tsp. of freshly grated lemon zest instead.