Russian tea cakes

Russian tea cakes are amazing. For the uninitiated, these are the hard little cakes containing nuts and coated in powdered sugar. There are variations on them, and they go under various names. I've heard they're very much like certain Greek and Italian pastries as well.

Check out the recipe and make them yourself. Note that the sugar you use in the dough is powdered/confectioner, resulting in a very fine dough. Also, there are no eggs, resulting in the harder cake.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
Additional powdered sugar (approximately 1 cup) for coating cakes

Preparation
Sift flour and salt together in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, cream butter in large bowl until light. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients in 3 stages. Mix in nuts by hand. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Space 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until just firm to touch and lightly browned, about 13 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. Roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again. Store in airtight container.