Melt-in-mouth festive snowball cookies with walnuts and pecans coated with powdered sugar, giving that snowy effect! Here is the classic Christmas snowball cookies recipe with detailed step-wise pictures.
I am back with another festive cookie recipe: the snowball cookies with walnuts and pecans. Our Christmas has been incomplete for the past couple of years without these snowball cookies. These cookies are light and crumbly and melt in your mouth, and I can assure you that you can’t stop with just one.
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I first relished these cookies at my office holiday party. When further researching, I found several recipes online but took this recipe as my inspiration and modified it as per our liking and the cooking time.
What are snowball cookies?
So what are snowball cookies? These are small, round, bite-sized cookies prepared with flour, nuts, butter, and sugar. After baking the cookies, we coat them with powdered sugar, giving the snowy effect and the name snowball cookies. We roll the dough in powdered sugar for crinkle cookies and then bake, but it’s the other way around for snowball cookies. These cookies are also known by other names, like Mexican wedding cookies and Russian tea cakes.
What makes these snowball cookies unique?
- These cookies are naturally egg-free, making them the perfect eggless cookie option for the holiday season.
- These melt-in-mouth cookies are more like shortbread cookies that are not overly sweet.
- It’s a festive cookie making it perfect for cookie exchanges or gifting.
- You can customize them as per your preference.
- Last but not least, easy to make with readily available ingredients.
Ingredients required
There is a short list of ingredients for these snowball cookies, and here they are.
Flour: We need all-purpose flour for this recipe.
Nuts: I used a mix of walnuts and pecans.
Butter: We need room-temperature butter for this recipe. You can use salted or unsalted. If using salted butter, skip the pinch of salt that we add.
Sugar: We need both granulated sugar and powdered sugar. We add the granulated sugar to the dough and powdered sugar to coat the cookies.
Salt: We need a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness. If using salted butter, skip it.
Ground cinnamon: To add more to the cookies.
Please check the recipe card for exact measurements.
VVK Tips
These snowball cookies are beginner-friendly and very easy to make. Make sure to follow these simple tips for getting perfect cookies.
- Use good quality nuts. Dated and rancid nuts may ruin the flavor of the cookies. So make sure you use good quality nuts. Toasting also enhances the flavor, but I typically use raw nuts.
- Make sure to sieve the all-purpose flour.
- Using room-temperature ingredients, especially butter, is critical. The butter should be soft and hold its shape, but it should form an indentation when you press. Check my gulab jamun cookies for how exactly the room-temperature butter looks. I usually keep my butter on the kitchen countertop for 1 to 2 hours to get to room temperature.
- Coat the cookies with powdered sugar when they are slightly warm.
Substitutions and variations
- You can use either walnuts or pecans or a mix of nuts like almonds, pecans, walnuts, and pistachios.
- I have ground cinnamon to flavor the cookies, but you can use vanilla extract or other flavorings of your choice.
- You can also add finely chopped chocolate chips along with nuts.
- Use vegan butter for a vegan version. I have yet to try these cookies with oil.
Dietary specifications and storing suggestions.
These snowball cookies are vegetarian and eggless but loaded with nuts. I will share a nut-free version too. As I mentioned, you can use vegan butter for a vegan version.
Let the cookies cool, and you can store them in an air-tight container for 4 to 5 days, and you can refrigerate them for a longer time for more than a week.
How to make snowball cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the walnuts and pecans to a mixer jar or food processor and pulse them coarsely like below, like coarse cornmeal.
- Combine the flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and the nut mixture and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add the butter and the granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or whisk, cream the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the flour-nut mixture, reduce the speed to low, and beat it until crumbly like below. It only takes 30 to 45 seconds.
- Then, gently bring the crumbly mix and combine it to form a dough like the one below using your hands.
- Scoop 1 to 1.5 tbsp of dough using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop and place them in the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies at 350 deg F for 15 minutes or until the bottom becomes light brown like the one below.
- After five minutes, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them sit for a couple more minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar in a bowl and plate, roll the baked cookies with powdered sugar, and store them in the air-tight container.
Recipe Notes
- Two tbsps of sugar is sufficient for this measure. This sugar measure works fine as we coat the cookies further with powdered sugar. But if you prefer sweeter cookies, add a tbsp extra or coat the cookies twice with powdered sugar.
- I don’t prefer chunky nuts in these cookies. So I pulse them nicely instead of chopping them. Also, I don’t toast my nuts. But you can toast them too.
- Take advantage of the VVK tips and substitutions/variation section for more details and alternate ingredients.
Explore other eggless cookies
📖 Recipe
Snowball Cookies | Walnut and Pecan Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Food processor or mixer jar
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup = 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1 tsp = 5ml;
- ½ cup pecans
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour sieved
- a pinch of salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup butter at room temperature
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar refer to notes
- 1 cup powdered sugar for coating the cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the walnuts and pecans to a mixer jar or food processor and pulse them coarsely like below, like coarse cornmeal.
- Combine the flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and the nut mixture and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add the butter and the granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or whisk, cream the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the flour-nut mixture, reduce the speed to low, and beat it until crumbly like below. It only takes 30 to 45 seconds.
- Then, gently bring the crumbly mix and combine it to form a dough like the one below using your hands.
- Scoop 1 to 1.5 tbsp of dough using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop and place them in the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies at 350 deg F for 15 minutes or until the bottom becomes light brown like the one below.
- After five minutes, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them sit for a couple more minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar in a bowl and plate, roll the baked cookies with powdered sugar, and store them in the air-tight container.
Notes
- Two tbsps of sugar is sufficient for this measure. This sugar measure works fine as we coat the cookies further with powdered sugar. But if you prefer sweeter cookies, add a tbsp extra or coat the cookies twice with powdered sugar.
- I don’t prefer chunky nuts in these cookies. So I pulse them nicely instead of chopping them. Also, I don’t toast my nuts. But you can toast them too.
- Take advantage of the VVK tips and substitutions/variation section for more details and alternate ingredients.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
If you try these snowball cookies, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please comment, and I will get to it asap. Follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates.
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