Snowball cookies are a great holiday dessert that isn’t too rich or sweet. Snowballs be made at any time, of course, but they are most popular in the winter.
Remember when you were a kid and your mama or daddy would bring home a big box of powdered sugar donuts?
It was the best! It was like eating snow. Sweet, sugary, and totally messy snow. I loved it more than life.
I’m much more likely to reach for a glazed donut these days, but any time I eat something covered in powdered sugar, I feel like a kid.
Even though these snowball cookies are rolled in powdered sugar, they aren’t tooth-achingly sweet.
The cookie itself really isn’t sweet at all until it’s coated in the powdered sugar. It’s a bit like a shortbread cookie, but it’s absolutely loaded with ground pecans. The texture is just perfect – soft with a slight crunch.
We absolutely LOVE these snowball cookies! They’re a classic for a reason!
How to make our snowball cookie recipe:
Add your butter, flour, sugar, and chopped pecans to a bowl and mix them all together.
As it is mixing, you will need to scrape the sides down of the bowl to make it mix well.
This dough doesn’t come together quite like a traditional dough. It will be very crumbly, but as you shape it, the heat from your hands will help bring it all together.
We use a cookie scoop to get the perfect amount of dough and then drop it into our hand and roll.
Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees.
You’ll want to let these cool a bit on the baking sheet. I love how they hold their shape so perfectly!
When they are done, roll them in powdered sugar and you are ready to go.
Tips and tricks:
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For this recipe, it is helpful to have a stand mixer. You can stir this up yourself, but with this dough, you will find it much faster and easier to use a stand mixer.
I use this stand mixer nearly every day. It works for cookies and so much more!
A cookie scoop is always helpful for making sure your cookies are the same size – this ensures they’ll bake evenly too!
These cookies are prone to crumbling if you don’t let them cool before rolling them in cookie dough. It is best to not move them from the cookie sheet at all until they have cooled down.
Substitution options:
Powdered sugar is the most popular coating of these cookies for sure. However, you could also cover them in cinnamon and sugar if you wanted. So tasty!
Skip the powdered sugar and drizzle with melted chocolate or white chocolate, if you like.
Trying to cut the sugar? Try using powdered monkfruit in place of the powdered sugar.
Storing the snowball cookies
These cookies need to be stored in a sealed container.
You could be as basic as a freezer bag, or put them in a pretty holiday container.
These will last for about 5 days on the counter.
Don’t miss out on these other favorite holiday cookies!
Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookies are pretty, festive, and tasty!
My Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps make for a unique treat.
You can’t go wrong with a classic in Peppermint Patty Cookies.
In my house, we can put peanut butter on anything. So these Peanut Butter Nutella Sandwich Cookies are for the win!
Snowballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups finely diced pecans
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Add the butter, flour, pecans, and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until well combined. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The dough will be very crumbly but should come together in your hands as you roll.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then roll in the powdered sugar.
- Store tightly covered for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in December, 2013. It was updated with new pictures in October 2019.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
My Gran makes these every year and I loooooove them! Great recipe!
Andrea @Andrea's answer to says
One of my favorites! Make them every Christmas just like my mom. Although we call them Pecan Sandies! 🙂
Stephanie @ Plain Chicken says
YUM! These look delicious!
Erin | The Law Student's Wife says
I LOVE snowballs! My grandma used to make them every year and would sneak an extra baggie in my hello kitty backpack when my mom wasn’t looking. I can’t wait to get powdered sugar all over my kitchen and relive the glory days!
Ashley says
Snowballs are some of my favorites! They are definitely pretty and delicious cookies!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
mmmm such a classic!
TaraLee says
If you substitute the pecans for ground almonds, they are called Mexican Wedding Cakes. They are also a staple on our Christmas Baking list each year. Yum!
Layla @ brunchTimebaker says
Wow they look really yummy!
Joanne says
And wouldn’t you know, I had planned to make snowballs this weekend! They are such a classic for a reason. Though sometimes they do give me powdered sugar inhalation coughing fits. But I refuse to hold a grudge.
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
Snowballs are a favorite, I will be making them this weekend!
Susan says
I wan to make the snowball cookie recipe but do not have a stand mixer. Can I use hand mixer?
Karly says
@Susan,
Sure!
Kelli @ The Corner Kitchen says
Snowball cookies are one of the best cookies ever!!! Always a holiday time must-have!
[email protected] Cooking with Curls says
My mom never brought home powdered doughnuts, she was anti sweets! But, she did make Russian Teacakes every Christmas and they are still my all-time favorite cookie during the holidays. 🙂
Teresa says
Can you freeze the dough so you can cook them a different day?
Karly says
I haven’t tried that with this dough, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t work! Give it a shot. I think they’ll be fine.
Diannz says
Can you use walnuts in this recipe? I bought them thinking that’s what was used.
Karly says
I’ve never tried it, but I think it should work fine!
Sharon says
Yes they are wonderful that way. And are then referred to as Russian tea cakes!
Teresa H says
My favorite cookie. This is how I make them too, with regular sugar instead of powdered. I do double roll mine though in powdered sugar, that gets them pure white, and I love all the sugar! I really like your idea of using the scoop.
Thanks, Karly!
Connie Kelley says
I have frozen the dough before And they freeze good too after cooled
Rosa says
Delicious,I just made 2 batches the only changes I made is I roasted the pecans which it gave a very testy test and I added Hershey kisses in the middle
The 2nd batch I used roasted hazelnut instead of pecans and I added dates in the middle so so good
Karly says
Sounds delicious!!
Nancy Armbruster says
One of my favorite cookies
dee says
can these be frozen after they are baked?
Karly says
Hi Dee! I think they’d freeze fine, though I haven’t tried it.
Barbara Green says
I just now made this exactly the way it is listed on this page. I wish I could attach a picture of this mess. They all flattened out when baking. Such a waste of products. No way to roll them in powdered sugar cause they CANT ROLL, they are FLAT! Very disappointing, no Christmas cookies now.
Karly says
Oh no, I”m sorry to hear that. Was your dough real crumbly before rolling them into balls? It isn’t supposed to be like a traditional cookie dough, so if you added extra ingredients to bring it together that would cause them to flatten out. Otherwise, I’m not sure what would have happened. We make these quite often and have never had this issue.