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This Snowball Cookies Recipe makes cookies with a perfect soft, crumbly texture and just the right amount of pecans. Enjoy easy snowball cookies that can be made in under 10 minutes!
Snowball Cookies are tender pecan cookies coated in powdered sugar. They are not overly sweet, and their flavor improves as they sit! These buttery cookies are so quick and easy to make, you’ll have plenty of spare time to tackle more complex cookies like Moravian Spice Cookies!
I love how these cookies balance out the flavors and textures of a Christmas cookie platter. Pair them with chewy gingerbread boys, apricot kolaches, and sweet almond pignoli cookies for a striking and delicious array of cookies.
Table of Contents
Why this is the Best Snowball Cookies Recipe:
- Nutty, buttery flavor: The combination of pecans and toasty butter with just a hint of vanilla make for a nuanced and rich flavor in every bite.
- Less than 10 minutes of prep: The dough comes together easily in one bowl and can even be made in a food processor.
- Detailed directions from a pro: I take you through the straightforward steps to make these cookies even simpler, including using a food processor or buying pre-ground pecans.
Professional Tips
- For that airy texture, finely chop your pecans. If you want a melt-in-your mouth cookie, it helps to have an almost uniform cookie dough. If you can, use a food processor to finely grind your pecans until there are no large pieces or buy them ground.
- Coat your cookies twice in powdered sugar for a gorgeous finish. The first coating in powdered sugar lays a perfect foundation. The second coating secures not only a festive outer layer but locks in the moisture of the cookies so they stay delicious longer.
- Wait for your flavors to meld. Yes, you can definitely eat these cookies immediately. But, for an even more delicious cookie, wait until the next day.
What are snowball cookies?
Snowball cookies are tender shortbread-like cookies that have chopped pecans or walnuts mixed in the dough. They are also called Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes. The cooked, cooled cookies are tossed in powdered sugar for a white exterior.
What are snow cookies made of?
- Pecans: You can finely chop pecans with a knife or pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Alternatively, you can purchase pecan flour or pre-ground pecan meal and skip an entire step!
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar, like in my Soft Sugar Cookies, is here for sweetness. If you add too much sugar in proportion to the butter and flour, the cookies will spread instead of staying tall.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds a beautiful flavor and boosts the flavor of ingredients around it.
- Powdered Sugar: The powdered sugar coating adds a bit of additional sweetness. It also helps keep the cookies moist for longer storage.
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted butter
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations & Substitutions
- Vegan: You can use a vegan butter substitute or shortening to make these pecan snowballs vegan. You will lose a bit of the flavor, but the texture will still be delightful.
- Gluten Free: You could use gluten free all-purpose flour in this recipe. I prefer Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour because I find it is the closest texturally to regular all-purpose flour.
- Nuts: Any ground or finely chopped nuts would be wonderful in this recipe. I made a walnut cardamom snowball version that was magnificent. Snowball cookies with almonds would also be delightful. Or try a combination of nuts and dried fruit, like I do in my pistachio cranberry sable cookies and hermit cookies!
- Other mix-ins: Get creative with other additions like mini chocolate chips, coconut, candied citrus peel, crushed peppermint, or a pink strawberry powder for Valentine’s. You could also make a chocolate snowball variation like Dorothy at Crazy for Crust!
How to Make Snowball Cookies
Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
Make the dough:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: Chop pecans until no pieces larger than a pea remain, or pulse in a food processor until finely ground (the texture of coarse cornmeal).
You can also purchase pecan flour or pecan meal to skip Step 2 entirely.
Step 3: In a medium bowl, combine flour, chopped pecans, and salt; whisk to combine.
Step 4: Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla until well-combined. Add all the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just begins to come together but still looks shaggy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on low until the dough is cohesive, about 10 more seconds.
Portion & bake:
Step 5: Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place 1 inch apart on your baking sheet. I use a tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and then roll into balls.
Optional: For the tallest cookies, chill dough balls before baking.
Step 6: Bake until the bottoms are golden and the tops are beginning to brown and show small cracks, 17-19 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them or they will be dry and crumbly.
Step 7: Cool the cookies 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool until just slightly warm.
Step 8: Place powdered sugar in a large plastic bag or bowl. Work with two cookies at a time. Toss gently to coat and place back on the wire rack.
How do you make the confectioners’ sugar stick? The sugar sticks because the cookies are still ever so slightly warm. This type of sugar is fine enough that it melts into them. You’ll roll them again in the next step, after complete cooling, for a snowy finish!
Step 9: Allow the cookies to sit at least an hour, up to overnight. Repeat the tossing in powdered sugar (or even edible glitter!). Enjoy!
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
You can make the entire cookie dough in the food processor if you want. They will be a little less light and airy because you aren’t trapping that air between the butter and sugar molecules during the creaming process, but they will be fast! Just be sure to follow the same steps as above.
Why do my snowball cookies go flat?
Snowball cookies flatten if the dough was not chilled before baking or if the oven temperature was too low. A low oven temperature can cause the butter to melt and flatten the cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Layer the cookies between pieces of parchment or waxed paper. For a flawless finish, toss again in powdered sugar before serving.
You can freeze these baked cookies for up to 3 months. Once cooled and tossed in powdered sugar, layer between parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container. After thawing, toss in powdered sugar to refresh the coating.
Overbaking is the most common reason cookies are dry. Be sure to bake them just until a light golden brown on the bottom and the tops are beginning to show small cracks. Another reason is they were left out uncovered too long. Tossing them in the powdered sugar keeps them moist especially when stored in an airtight container.
They fall apart when they are not allowed to cool. It also happens if they were left out too long and have dried out. Be sure to allow the cookies to cool completely before tossing in powdered sugar. Then store the cookies in an airtight container.
If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups pecans finely chopped
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter slightly softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
Make the dough:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Chop pecans until no pieces larger than a pea remain, or pulse in a food processor until finely ground (the texture of coarse cornmeal).
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, chopped pecans, and salt; whisk to combine.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla until well-combined. Add all the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just begins to come together but still looks shaggy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on low until the dough is cohesive, about 10 more seconds.
Portion & bake:
- Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place 1 inch apart on your baking sheet. I use a tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and then roll into balls. Optional: For the tallest cookies, chill dough balls before baking.
- Bake until the bottoms are golden and the tops are beginning to brown and show small cracks, 17-19 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them or they will be dry and crumbly.
- Cool the cookies 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool until just slightly warm.
- Place powdered sugar in a large plastic bag or bowl. Work with two cookies at a time. Toss gently to coat and place back on the wire rack.
- Allow the cookies to sit at least an hour, up to overnight. Repeat the tossing in powdered sugar (or even edible glitter!). Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go!
Check out our other delicious, chef-developed Cookie Recipes or try these cherry pistachio snowballs next!
I made these this morning
Omg heaven, everyone loved them ????I followed every step but timing added like 5 minutes- I shouldn’t have. They were not as soft described in the recipe so next time I use the 18 minutes recommended
Hi Cass! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! These cookies are tempting to keep baking (i made a slight variation at the restaurant this year) but they are much better when kept softer. Pecan puffs are often so dry!
I just try your recipe exactly recipe you wrote here.. but the dough turn flat on the oven, no longer as circle as the picture.
Hi Manty, I am sorry you experienced that. It sounds to me that your butter was too soft which would cause them to spread. Mine did flatten a touch on the bottom but remained rounded on top like you see in the pictures. Try refrigerating the dough prior to baking – it should help them retain the shape. Happy baking!
This particular cookie holds so many memories for me. A favorite in my family forever, as long as i can remember. My mom would turn out batches during Our Christmas Holidays. It’s been hard to carry out some of our favorite traditions since loosing my mom several yrs ago. I looked up the recipe this evening, and I feel this recipe touches every mark that I have imprinted in my heart and soul. Now, if I can just make them as wonderful as my mom.
What a wonderful memory, Maureen. I, too, have fond memories of relatives’ desserts who have passed. I am sure that if you bake with love and in her memory, they will be every bit as delicious.
Girl, you have got to get on the Nuts! in Baked Goods Band Wagon. I used to hate nuts in brownies and things, but I have come to my senses 🙂
Haha! I have too, Kathy! I still am resistant to nuts in my chocolate chip cookies…something never change!
I actually posted a Cardamom Walnut Snowballs today! 🙂
My mom’s recipe calls for half butter and half shortening. So good. I think better than just butter
I’ll have to try that next time, Karen! Shortening can be excellent for texture in cookies!
I remember my Grandmother making these cookies every year at Christmas. Not a big fan of nuts in cookies, brownies, etc…except for these cookies. I decided I wanted to make a batch of these cookies this year but have somehow managed to loose her recipe. That made be very sad since there are so many wonderful memories of watching and helping her make these cookies. From what I remember this recipe of yours is pretty darn close to what Gramma used to make. She would cool her cookies for a couple of minutes then roll in the powdered sugar before cooling. Once completely cooled, she would roll in powdered sugar one more time. I just love how these cookies are so delicate and tender that they almost melt in your mouth. Can’t wait to make up a batch of these for my family this year. Thanks for posting!!!
These are some of the only cookies that I like nuts in too! I never eat nuts in brownie..bleh! I am so pleased to hear that this recipe is so close to your grandmothers! I will have to be sure to double roll mine this year! Thanks so much for stopping by to comment, Toni! Happy baking and Merry Christmas!
powdered sugar > snow
cookies > everythinggg else!
LOL! I agree wholeheartedly! Happy New Year!
yummy classic cookies!
Thanks Dina!