Snowball Cookies are a holiday staple! Perfectly buttery and melt in your mouth delicious, these simple cookies can be made with or without nuts and have the most irresistible powdered sugar coating.
Snowball Cookies
These snowball cookies are sometimes referred to as Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes. Whatever they’re referred to, they are certainly icons of the holiday season. Reminiscent of a pile of snowballs, these cookies are bite sized balls completely coated in powdered sugar. And the ingredients are super simple! All you need is some butter, salt, vanilla, flour, and of course powdered sugar. For some added texture you can add nuts as well. These poppable treats are perfect for mini themed gift bags, or for adding something unique to the traditional tray of sugar cookies. A classic for a reason, you won’t be able to put these down!
Crazy about cookie recipes? Try my ooey gooey S’mores Cookies or perfect Peanut Butter Blossoms when the baking mood hits!
My cookies completely crumbled apart. What happened?
While the cookie dough should be fairly crumbly they should still be soft and melt in your mouth once baked. If your cookies end up feeling like eating sand when they come out of the oven, there’s a couple different ways things could’ve gone wrong. If you’ve over measured the flour or over baked them they will come out too dry. If your dough is super crumbly and won’t come together, soften two more tablespoons of butter, then incorporate that into the dough. You can also add about 1-2 tablespoons of milk to pull it together if needed. The other tip is to make sure to bake only until slightly golden on the bottom edges so they don’t dry out.
How To Make Snowball Cookies
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Chop. If using nuts, chop the pecan halves (or walnuts, almonds etc.) in the food processor or by hand until very small and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Combine. Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt to the bowl with the pecans and stir to combine.
- Beat. In a separate large bowl or bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add the butter, vanilla extract and a ½ cup of the powdered sugar, and beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until creamy.
- Add. Now add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until just combined.
- Form. Form the dough into 1 inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet, be sure not to flatten them.
- Bake. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges. Do not overbake!
- Cool. Allow the cookies to cool enough to be able to handle them.
- Coat. Pour the remaining powdered sugar onto a plate. Roll the cooking in the sugar once to get an initial coating. Then roll 1-2 more times until they are completely covered and you are satisfied with the layers of sugar.
- Serve. Set them aside to finish cooling completely and enjoy!
Storing Snowball Cookies
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for a good 5 days after baking.
To freeze, bake as directed (do not roll in powdered sugar), then cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw the cookies overnight in the fridge, then roll in powdered sugar before serving.
Ingredients Notes for Snowball Cookies
- Flour – All purpose flour is our base. Be sure not to overmeasure the flour or the cookies will be too crumbly.
- Cornstarch – This helps the cookies rise just a touch.
- Salt – A pinch to help bring out the flavors in the dough and sugar.
- Cinnamon – Feel free to throw in some cloves, nutmeg, gingerbread, or even chai to add extra spice!
- Butter – Make sure that your butter is soft to room temperature, but not melted/greasy. Using butter that is too soft will result in the cookies spreading too much. I used unsalted butter here but you can use what you have on hand.
- Vanilla Extract – You can add any type of flavor extract that you love to these! I stick with vanilla and a dash of cinnamon for flavoring. But, almond, peppermint, orange, banana, even lavender are great!
- Powdered Sugar – Don’t use granulated sugar in this recipe! Powdered/Confectioners sugar is a MUST to make these a true snowball cookie. Using granulated white or brown sugar will result in a different texture, and they won’t turn out the same. You’ll need some powdered sugar for the dough itself and more to roll the cookies in after baking.
- Nuts – The nuts are totally optional in this recipe if you don’t like them! You can use any nuts you want like pecans or walnuts. Chop them finely by hand or in your food processor, but don’t chop them into complete dust! If you do not want to add nuts, you can also add in about ½ – ¾ cup of mini chocolate chips.
Enjoy!
~ Nichole
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter Softened
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
- FOR ROLLING: 2 Cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Chop the pecan halves in the food processor or by hand until very small then add to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the flour, cornstarch and salt to the bowl with the pecans and stir to combine.
- In a separate large bowl or bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment add the butter, vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until creamy.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until combined.
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet (do not flatten them).
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-11 minutes until lightly golden around the edges.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
- Pour the remaining cup of powdered sugar onto a plate. Roll the cookies in the sugar once, then 1-2 more times until you have a good coating then set aside to cool completely.
- Cookies are good stored at room temperature for 5 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m so happy to see this recipe here. I’ve been tasting these lovely cookies for years. Always baked by a distant aunt who is a self taught baker. It was a closely guarded recipe in those days; before IG etc. Only knew then as Russian tea cakes too at that. Will definitely follow your recipe and bake them next week. Thank you Nichole.