Sometimes Spanish Wedding Cookies are referred to as Mexican Wedding Cookies; however, they were originally served at the end of weddings in Spain.  Because they are sugary and rich, they were served at the end of the wedding feast.  While they are all rolled in powdered sugar after they have cooled, they traditionally come in three basic shapes.  They can be simple balls, flattened balls, or small crescents.  Spanish Wedding Cookies are now popular holiday cookies, and most especially at Christmas.

It appears that Spanish Wedding Cookies originated with the Moors in Medieval Spain.  History tells us that the Moors, or the Muslims as they would be called today, influenced cooking in Spain as well as culture.  If you have ever heard of Turkish Delight you will see the similarity to Spanish Wedding Cookies.  Where Turkish Delight is a jellied confection with fruit and nuts coated with powdered sugar, wedding cookies are pastry with nuts and also coated with powdered sugar.  The ethnic resemblance is evident.  Often they are wrapped in net and tied for use as wedding favors.  Since the powdered sugar is thought to signify the purity of marriage, the netting is thought of as “protection” for the purity of marriage.