These delicious pecan cookies go by many names - Pecan Sandies or Mexican Wedding Cookies/Cake, but they are all the same buttery, melt in your mouth family favorite!
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the water and vanilla.
Stir in the flour and pecans until well blended.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least four hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 °F.
Shape the dough into walnut sized balls or crescents. (Crescent shaped are more the traditional Mexican wedding form of these cookies.)
Place the dough balls or crescents 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden.
Cool on a baking rack, then roll in the confectioners sugar. I don't roll them when they are warm as they still will soak up the powdered sugar while cool and this way they don't get sticky.
Notes
Use almonds in this recipe and shape the cookies into crescents to make Mexican Wedding Cookies