Chai Vanilla Snowballs from Beth Banning. Holiday Dessert bake-off Christmas Special recipe. 

Ingredients 

1/4 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, crushed and broken into chucks

1/2 walnuts, almonds or pecans

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/3 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour

2 cups powdered sugar

Method 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Process sugar and vanilla bean in food processor just enough to chop the vanilla. 

Add the nuts and process until finely chopped. Add butter and flour and process until dough is pliable. Shape pieces into walnut-sized balls. 

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. These do not spread so they can be placed 1/2” apart. 

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cookies are tan on the bottom. 

Roll the hot cookies in powdered sugar. Let cool before eating!