Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery Snowball Cookies with walnuts or pecans are tender ‘n flaky, wrapped in a sweet layer of powdered sugar to charmingly resemble snowballs. These snowball cookies with pecans are a festive recipe for the holiday season!
The Loveliest Snowball Cookies Recipe!
What is it about powdered sugar that makes everything more festive? And the snow outside seem more manageable? I just love making snowball cookies this time of year because they’re tender ‘n flaky, with delicious butter flavor and a generous coating of sugar.
You’ll be getting through this winter so easily with this impeccable snowball cookies with walnuts recipe! They’ll melt in your mouth and make any Christmas cookie platter deliciously complete! And they pair perfectly with this Christmas Salad with Pomegranate and this Toasted Almond Drink.
But first, what are snowball cookies and how can we simultaneously eat and gift them?
What are Snowball Cookies?
Snowball Cookies are a soft ‘n tender holiday cookie with delicious crumbly texture made with walnuts or pecans and oodles of powdered sugar!
As a darling treat that resembles an actual snowball, these snowball cookies are one of my favorites to gift because they’re fun to make and beautiful to give, like these easy Rolo Pretzels.
Ingredients for this Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies Recipe
These soft, homemade, and buttery snowball cookies are made with walnuts and a handful of simple ingredients you might already have in your fridge and pantry.
- Flour – make sure to spoon and level your flour after fluffing it up in its container first. You never want to pack flour—in the measuring cup or its storage container—to avoid crumbly, fall-apart cookies.
- Walnuts or Pecans – walnuts are the classic ingredient in snowballs, but you can use pecans, almonds, and more.
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter – Remember to bring butter to room temperature so it plays well with the other ingredients.
- Sugar – we’re using just 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar for a lightly sweet, buttery dough. Add more sweetness by thickly coating your snowball cookies in powdered sugar.
- Vanilla Extract – You can also add in ¼ teaspoon almond extract because it tastes and smells so good.
- Powdered Sugar – You’ll use a generous amount to coat these snowball cookies, or less if you like your cookies less sweet.
How to Make Snowball Cookies
You’ll need these step-by-step photos to help you make the best recipe for snowball cookies! Scroll down further in this post to find the exact measurements and steps in the recipe card.
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Then, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or greased foil.
Add the dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and stir until well mixed: flour, walnuts, and salt.
Then, add the butter to a stand mixer and beat on high until smooth. Decreasing the speed of the mixer to medium, beat in sugar and vanilla, until creamy.
Reducing the speed to low, gradually add in the dry mixture until the dough becomes a crumbly meal. Don’t worry about the meal being crumbly—we’ll be packing it into a cookie scoop for a firm cookie.
Grab a small cookie scoop, and scoop and drop balls of cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Be sure to press any loose bits into the scoop to ensure a solid snowball cookie.
Bake snowball cookies for about 12 minutes, then allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 6 minutes.
When cool enough to handle, but still warm, roll the buttery snowball cookies in powdered sugar. Cool completely, then roll again and again, until you’re satisfied with the coating of powdered sugar. This ensures that the snowball cookies are bright white and fully coated in powdered sugar.
Then enjoy the tastiest snowball cookies!
Storing & Freezing
How to Store Snowball Cookies
Allow cookies to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in a cool, dark environment for up to 1 week.
Can you Freeze Snowball Cookies?
Yes, you can freeze these cookies. Simply cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-friendly container for 1-3 months.
How long do snowball cookies stay fresh?
Snowball cookies stay fresh for 4-6 days, in low humidity.
Tips
- Use finely chopped walnuts or pecans – larger chunks will cause the cookies to fall apart. When I say “finely chopped,” I don’t mean the chopped walnuts or pecans you find in a store-bout bag—you’ll have to chop that even smaller.
- Coat the buttery snowball cookies several times: Bald patches can appear once the cookies are cool. Roll these Christmas cookies again and again, until they’re generously coated.
- Bring your butter to room temperature – this helps the butter be more malleable and “get along” with the other ingredients in the mixer.
- Don’t over-measure the flour. This usually happens when folks skip spooning and levelling to measure and forget to fluff up their containers of flour. Both measures ensure that you don’t use too much flour, and thus, get crumbly cookies.
- Use a cookie scoop – this will help you pack the cookie dough into a tight ball shape, which will make it hold together while baking.
- Store the cookies in a very dry place to make them last longer. I’ve lived in high, high humidity places and they always led to cookies and all other types of food spoiling quickly. Make sure your cookies are stored in a dry environment (or the fridge) to get them to last longer.
Inspiring you to bake ALL the Christmas Cookies!
For more Christmas cookie recipe ideas, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. If you’ve tried this recipe, take a pic and tag us on Instagram using #beamingbaker. We can’t wait to see it!
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
more christmas treat recipes
Description
Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery Snowball Cookies with walnuts or pecans are tender ‘n flaky, wrapped in a sweet layer of powdered sugar to charmingly resemble snowballs. These snowball cookies with pecans are a festive recipe for the holiday season!
Tools Needed
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
“Snow” Coating
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Stir together flour, walnut or pecans, and salt in a medium bowl, until well mixed.
- Add butter to a stand mixer. Beat on high until smooth.
- Reduce speed to medium, adding granulated sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Set mixer on low and slowly add in the dry mixture until well combined. Once combined, the dough will be a crumbly meal—not to worry, this is expected.
- Using a small cookie scoop, drop firmly packed balls of dough onto the cookie sheet spaced evenly apart. Use your fingers to press together any loose bits and smooth out any rough edges, forming rounded spheres with flat bottoms.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes, until golden just on the bottom. Mine took 12 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool directly on the baking sheet for about 6 minutes, until firm enough to move to a cooling rack.
- Cool for about 2-3 more minutes, then it’s time to roll! Gently roll in a shallow, rimmed bowl filled with powdered sugar. A little bit of the sugar will melt and become sticky—that’s okay.
- Place snowball cookies on a rack to cool completely. Once cool, roll again in powdered sugar until generously coated – here’s where you’ll be truly making these cookies look like snowballs.
Notes
How to make cookies look like snowballs: one or two rolls in the powdered sugar won’t do the trick–as they cool, you’ll see melted areas of sugar that’ll look like bald patches. Be sure to coat the cookies again and again and again to give them a generous layer of sugar. And have fun!
Storing Instructions: Allow cookies to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in a cool, dark environment for up to 6 days. Tip: the more humid the environment, the shorter the amount of time the cookies will last.
Freezing Instructions: Cool cookies completely, then store in a freezer-friendly container for 1-3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American, Mexican, Italian
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