Snowball Cookies
These rich, buttery snowball cookies are a heavenly addition to your holiday cookie trays! Sometimes called “Mexican Wedding Cookies” or “Russian Tea Cakes”, this recipe has a shortbread base and is loaded with pecans (or walnuts!), creating a nutty, crunchy cookie, and loads of powdered sugar, for the perfect melt-in-your-mouth bite! These have long been a favorite of mine, and I hope you’ll enjoy them, too!
With versions all around the world, this combination of a shortbread-style cookie covered in powdered sugar is a must-try! Though many call these snowball cookies, they are also known as (among other things) Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, and Danish Wedding Cookies. Some are round while others are crescent shaped.
Though there is a lot of uncertainty about their true origin, it does seem that this style came from Eastern Europe. The delicious nutty, rich, cookie was a hit and has been a favorite all over the globe. I am so excited to share this recipe for you. Not only are these delicious, they are really fun for winter holidays and cookie plates. Especially because you will look covered in sugar-snow after a really good one!
Step-By-Step instructions for snowball cookies
There is a more detailed recipe below, as well as tips for baking, but this is an overview of the process!
- Mix flour and one cup of the chopped pecans, and salt; set aside
- Process remaining nuts for 10 seconds until they have the texture of coarse cornmeal. Stir them into the flour mixture.
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and scrape sides. Slowly add in the flour and pecan mixture, and beat until dough is cohesive.
- Roll a heaping spoonful in your palms, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can place them fairly close together as they don’t spread much!
- Bake until tops are golden and bottoms are lightly browned, usually between 17-19 minutes, rotating halfway through.
- Remove and cool the cookies completely before the dredging process (below!).
How to dredge your cookies in powdered sugar
- Once the snowball cookies have been fully cooled, add powdered sugar to a large storage bag.
- Add three to four cookies to the bag and shake. You want the cookies to be fully coated, but be sure to tap off any excess. Repeat for the whole batch.
- Leave these at least overnight and give the cookies a second coat the next day. Powdered sugar keeps the cookies nice and soft, so we want to be sure they are totally coated!
- Let the cookies sit for another 30 minutes and they’re ready to eat!
Baking tips for snowball cookies
- I love the mixture of textures between the chopped and ground nuts. I find that pecans are best for this but some people choose walnuts. Pistachios, almonds, cashews, and pine nuts also make really fun alternatives!
- If your dough is too warm when scooped, it will likely spread out when baking. If the dough feels soft, chill it for 30 minutes or so before you shape the cookies.
- You may also lose shape for these cookies if you don’t allow them to set between dredging.
- If your cookies are overbaked, they will be dry (which is devastating!). Make sure to use the proper oven racks (noted in the recipe), and remove the cookies as soon as you see the top begin to golden.
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Alternative ingredients for snowball cookies
- Butter can easily be replaced by vegan alternatives in this recipe, but note that they may be a bit softer.
- Are you a nut-free house? No problem! You can completely omit them, or just add a bit of extra vanilla!
- Adding chopped fruit or finely chopped chocolate can make a really fun option if you want to try something new.
- For an even nuttier flavor, add some almond extract!
- My favorite Lemon Burst Cookies are a fun summer alternative to these holiday cookie classics.
Storage and gifting
- Storage: These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They make lovely holiday gifts; you can place them in a decorative tin or cellophane bag.
- Freezing Instructions (Dough): Place the rolled balls on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until completely frozen, about 2 hours. Transfer to a freezer-safe resealable bag for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freezing Instructions (Baked Cookies): Once baked, cooled, and dredged in powdered sugar, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to place wax or parchment paper between layers. They can be thawed in the refrigerator or freezer; I always give them another powdered sugar shake to freshen them up.
I am ready for a baking day! Join me with more of my favorite cookies!
- Classic Thumbprint Cookies
- Soft & Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
- Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
If you make these snowball cookies and love them, I would so appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a rating below. Thank you so much! ❤️️ Happy baking!
Snowball Cookies
A recipe for Snowball Cookies, shortbread-style cookies loaded with nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. They’re also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (228 g) finely chopped pecans, divided
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (170 g) powdered sugar, for rolling cookies after baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Mix the flour, 1 cup of the chopped pecans, and the salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Place the remaining chopped nuts in a food processor and process until they are the texture of coarse cornmeal, 10 to 15 seconds; stir into the flour mixture and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the dough just begins to come together but still looks scrappy, about 15 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and continue beating at low speed until the dough is cohesive, about 10 more seconds.
- Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough between the palms of your hands and place on the prepared baking sheets. The cookies will only spread a little bit, so you can place them fairly close together. Bake until the tops are pale golden and the bottoms are just beginning to brown, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar in a large zip-top bag. Working with 3 or 4 cookies at a time, place them in the bag of sugar and gently toss to coat them thoroughly. Gently shake off any excess. Allow the cookies to sit for at least an hour, or up to overnight, and then repeat the process. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Butter: You can substitute a vegan alternative, but the cookies may have a softer texture.
- Pecans: You can substitute other nuts (walnuts, almonds, and cashews are great alternatives!) or omit them (if you omit, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract).
- Dough: If the dough feels warm when you roll it, refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then proceed).
- Storage: These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They make lovely holiday gifts; you can place them in a decorative tin or cellophane bag.
- Freezing Instructions (Dough): Place the rolled balls on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until completely frozen, about 2 hours. Transfer to a freezer-safe resealable bag for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake as directed.
- Freezing Instructions (Baked Cookies): Once baked, cooled, and dredged in powdered sugar, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to place wax or parchment paper between layers. They can be thawed in the refrigerator or freezer; I always give them another powdered sugar shake to freshen them up.
Calories: 104kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 37mg, Potassium: 25mg, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 120IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 0.4mg
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Photography by Lauren Grant.
I love snowball cookies. I shared a very similar recipe on my blog. They are always a hit.
THIS IS MY CHILDHOOD.
My husband was raving about some cookies that one of his co-worker’s brought. I kept saying they sounded like snowball cookies and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. At last! I can make them, since he loves them so much. These are such a classic, that I haven’t had in years.
We always called them Russian Tea Cookies (funny about all the different names!) growing up and they’re one my mom made every year. They’re not a favorite of mine, but they definitely remind me of Christmases past!
LOVE making snowballs but mine are never round. Yours look perfect. I rolled mine in peppermint this year.
Sound heavenly. Love nuts!! :)
Yum!
One of my top 10 Christmas cookies!
My mother used to roll them into little logs-about the length and circumference of her little finger and curve them in a crescent shape. We called them “rat tails.” The shape made them very fragile when they were hot and being rolled in the powdered sugar. We got to eat the broken ones right away. The “good ones” were saved for company.
There was an adapted recipe for these in the December Penzey’s catalog called, “Christmas Morning Cookies”- the woman who submitted it added copious amounts of almond extract and a dried cherry right on top. I used pecans in mine and can’t remember if she used almonds- anyway, they were beautiful with that cherry on top, and as delicious as ever!
My family has made these for decades at Christmas – a must have! We call them “pecan sandies” but it seems like almost every culture has a variation on this cookie, which just goes to show how universally appealing they are. We always make the log shape and roll them in powdered sugar while still warm which creates a melted effect and then a very light 2nd dusting of powdered sugar after completely cool to pretty them up. The log shape is much easier to eat than the ball shape. On second thought, maybe that’s not a good thing!
Do you have to use nuts?
Hi Ashley, I think they make for a fabulous cookie, but you certainly don’t have to. You may need to add a little extra flour, though, to compensate for the ground nuts.
Yummy!
We call them polvorones, I usually make them with almons, and can fill it with a little of guava or a hershey kiss, but my favorite is with hazelnut and a little hershey kiss inside, is just divine.
I make these every year! Mine are a little different, though, and have shortening in them instead of butter. My hubby loves them!
We’ve always used walnuts in a lot of our holiday baking because my parents have a walnut tree that starts producing around fall/winter time. These look delicious! You really can’t go wrong with anything coated in powdered sugar :)
We have a type of cookie in Malaysia similar to this which we call ‘Biskut Arab’ or Arab biscuits. Also called ‘Kuih Makmur’, I think. The ingredients are a little different but they still have nuts and a coat of icing sugar. My Dad’s favourites :)
Yum! I love these cookies…I like mine with a lot of nuts (pecans). I never thought of grinding the nuts…I will have to try this recipe out. Thanks BEB
I love Mexican Wedding Cakes! I didn’t really appreciate how good they were until I got a little older. And I still remember the time my Mom and I were having a marathon baking session just a few days before Christmas, trying to get everything baked on time, and Mom forgot to put the flour in the cookies. They were lovely flat butter cookies. :)
These cookies became my favorite courtesy of my mother-in-law. She calls them crescent cookies and shapes them in a crescent moon shape and uses walnuts. Funny since I was never a big walnut person, but because she chopped the walnuts so finely I didn’t mind them. This was her mother’s recipe who was a baker from Scotland.
I grew up with these in the 50’s and my mother also called them cresants. She rolled them in the palm of her hands and made a long strip and curved them around like a cresant shape and then baked them. That must have been the thing in the 50’s. No one I have mentioned them to has ever hear of them being called cresants. Now I found someone. So I did not imagie it.
these look great! can you make them without nuts? or does that ruin the cookie?
Hi Chay, I have not made them without nuts, but I think you could try.
Try them with mini choclate chips– they are delicious that way too.
I cannot wait to surprise my Mom with these!
I’m not clear if you are saying to start with 2 cup of pecan halves and finely chop them or do you want to end up with 2 cups after the pecan halves have been chopped. If it’s the latter, what quantity of pecan halves do you start with to end up with the 2 cups finely chopped?
“2 cups of finely chopped pecans” (as opposed to 2 cups of pecan halves, finely chopped.”) So you measure them after they are finely chopped.
Thanks. That’s what I thought but wanted to clarify to be certain.
Hi Laurie, You want to end up with 2 cups of finely chopped pecans. I don’t pre-measure, I just take a big handful, chop it up, see how much I have, then grab a little more at at time until I get what I need.
Thanks! I make these cookies every year but this year I’m going to try your version.
Snowball cookies are a family tradition for us! Love them!
I don’t suppose I can persuade you to send these to Alphabakes? We’ve got a prize this month and the letter is S, so these would be perfect! Details are here:
http://www.themorethanoccasionalbaker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/alphabakes-december-2012.html
Oooh, snowballs! My kids favorite!
Ohhh, what a wonderful cookie!!
Wow!! I love these cookies (I am sure that the powdered sugar has a lot to do with it, too… lol). I can’t wait to try this recipe – I hope I don’t make too much of a mess!!!
One of my favorites, but I do not use nuts.
These are irresistible every single Christmas!!