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!
Ingredients
Tools Needed
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chopped and softened
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
“Snow” Coating
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- 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
