Snowball Cookies Recipe

4.96 from 25 votes

Snowball cookies are a classic holiday dessert made with simple ingredients, are buttery, nutty, and just melt in your mouth. Perfect for Christmas, or any other holiday, they'll be a family favorite on the dessert tray!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: christmas cookies, holiday baking recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 192kcal

Author: The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

3/4 cup pecan halves or pieces
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

For rolling

additional powdered sugar (about a cup or so)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Chop pecans until they're nice and small (I like to use my food processor for this, but you can use a knife if you prefer).
In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, and chopped pecans. Stir and set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl, add butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat the mixture until creamy, a few minutes.
Add the flour mixture from step 3, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well on low speed after each addition, until all flour mixture is added with no flour streaks remaining.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop 1 inch balls of dough and roll them in your hands to be evenly round. Add balls of dough to prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch in between each ball.
Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Remove baking sheet from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes.
While the cookies are cooling slightly, add additional powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Roll the cookies, one by one, in the powdered sugar, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Once completely cooled, roll in powdered sugar again, then serve or store.

Notes

Recipe makes approximately 18-24 cookies.

Storage

Cooled snowball cookies should be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, lined with a paper towel for up to 2 weeks.

Freezing

Once the cookies have been rolled in 1 coat of powdered sugar and cooled completely, they should be placed on a lined baking sheet and frozen for 1-2 hours, or until frozen solid.

Then the cookies can be transferred to a freezer-safe container, labeled with the date, and frozen for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator, then set out to warm to room temperature, roll in powdered sugar and serve.

Nutrition