Snowball Cookie Recipe
Snowball cookies are buttery, nutty, rolled in snowy powdered sugar, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Also known as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes, they’re a holiday classic that’s simple to make with just a few ingredients.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar plus more for rolling
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- For Rolling
- 1–2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven (5 minutes): Set your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar (5 minutes): In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and ½ cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
- Mix dry ingredients (3 minutes): In another bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Gradually add this to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Add nuts (2 minutes): Fold in finely chopped pecans with a spatula until evenly distributed.
- Shape the dough (10 minutes): Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
- Bake (12–15 minutes): Bake until the bottoms are lightly golden but tops are still pale. Be careful not to overbake.
- First sugar roll (5 minutes): Let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then roll them while warm in powdered sugar.
- Second sugar roll (5 minutes): Once completely cooled, roll again for that beautiful snowy finish.
Notes
- Use room temperature butter: Too cold, and the dough won’t mix evenly; too melted, and the cookies spread.
- Don’t overbake: Cookies should be pale on top with lightly golden bottoms.
- Double sugar roll: The first helps sugar stick, the second gives that snowy look.
- Finely chop nuts: Large chunks cause cookies to break.
- Cool completely before storing: Warm cookies make the sugar coating sticky.