I was browsing the cookie archives on MBA and realized that there is certainly a deficit in the area of holiday classics. Growing up, our holiday cookie platters were filled with a very specific variety of cookies. Of course we couldn’t make it easy on my mom – we each had a very different idea of holiday cookie perfection.
I decided that I wanted to recreate and post the classic cookies that made their way to Santa’s plate at our house year after year. First up on the list is one of my brother’s favorites – Snowballs. Jared may be the pickiest eater ever – the only vegetable he eats is broccoli and it must be covered in Cheez Whiz in order for him to choke it down. He’s also not fond of fruit – unless the word Roll-Up comes after it. However, give him a plate of these Snowball Cookies and he’ll eat every last sugar coated crumb.
These Snowballs are easy to whip up and definitely make an impact on any cookie platter. What’s cuter than little snowballs in a festive miniature liners?
These cookies may look familiar to you because I’m fairly certain this holiday cookie classic goes by several aliases – Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, but they’ve always been and always will be Snowballs to my family.
Snowball Cookies
Yield: about 30 cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted - for rolling cookiesDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.
3. Mix in the flour, pecans and salt. Mixing until just combined.
4. Roll about 1 tablespoon of dough (mine are a bit larger, see notes below) into balls and place on prepared baking sheet. The cookies can be placed quite close together since they do not spread during the baking process.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes – taking care not to over bake. Allow cookies to cool on baking pan until you are able to comfortably hold them in your hands.
6. Sift 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. While cookies are still warm, roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place cookies on cooling rack, once they have cooled completely, roll them in confectioners' sugar again.
Notes:
- Not a fan of pecans? Feel free to sub in another nut such as walnuts or almonds.
- I used a medium OXO cookie scoop to form my snowballs.
- Yield will depend on the size that you roll your Snowball Cookies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to one month.My Baking Addiction adapted from allrecipes.com.
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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
Yum! these are some of my favorite cookies to make. I love the way they melt in your mouth. Perfect timing that you posted them, I was just debating whether or not I was going to make these this year!
I just made these and blogged about them as well. So funny how something so simple can make such an impact. I make mine with almonds..but I would love to try other nuts as well!
I’ve never tried these, but they look great. Is the texture more crisp or chewy?
Candy-
They are definitely not chewy, more of a melt in your mouth type of texture. Hope this helps! Happy Holidays!
-Jamie
ohhhhhh, I love the melty texture. It’s incomparable.
I double roll mine in powdered sugar, once while they are still pretty hot, so it makes a sticky coating, and then again when they are cooled. The funny thing is that after the second coating, you can’t sneak one without getting dusted with at least a tad of sugar~ to tell on you, lol!
My husband’s favorite. I will have to bake them soon for him. Thanks. Kirsten
Oh, love the first picture!
You are right Jamie, these are definitely a classic. They look wonderful! So simple and so pretty in their shiny little red liner.
Can’t wait to see what else is on your cookie list of favorites!! Definitely gonna give these a go later today.
Ok…so just finished making these. Not sure if I did something wrong, but I found the cookie mix to be quite crumbly, so mixed it with my hands to get it to come together. I was careful with the balls too, as the first one fell apart, So I squished it a little more, then gently rolled it. They don’t brown per say, except on the bottom, so wasn’t sure when they were done…broke one apart and of course tasted it….LOL. What sort of texture am I looking for? Dry-ish, crumbly..? I will say, I haven’t let them completely cool, and only one layer of icing sugar is on them, but they do really taste good. Any suggestions?
Debora-
They are sort of a short bread texture. You definitely don’t want them to brown on the top -15 minutes in the preheated oven should do it. They are definitely sort of dry, crumbly just as you described – but melt in your mouth good! Sounds like you did an absolutely perfect job! Enjoy!
-Jamie
Thanks Jamie….I think I probably over baked them a little then. Gonna make them again, they will look so pretty on a dessert tray.
I Can’t wait to make these!!!!!! I have a long list of cookies I want to make and this is right there on top. Thank you for such a wonderful and simple recipe!!!! Can’t wait!!!!
Reading the ingredient list I’m pretty sure these are also called “Mexican wedding cookies”. Love the crumbly tender texture
These sound so freaking awesome.
These are so cute! Lovely holiday classic!
They were Russian Tea Cakes in my home growing up. And I agree, a holiday MUST.
Great holiday cookie to add to the list! Very festive, looking like actual snowballs and all
It looks like your borther and I are a lot alike. I don’t like fruit and the only vegetables I eat are potatoes and butternut squash (I’m learning to like sweet potatoes). However, when it comes to sweets, I too, will gobble them up
And I think I might start calling these cookies Snowballs too, it sounds more festive!
Jamie these look excellent!!!!! perfect for cookie swapping time
I made some of these just last week! They’re called Butterballs in my family.
Oh YUM.. these look gorgeous
Can’t wait to try!
These are the best cookies! They are a little messy to eat but oh so worth it when they melt in your mouth.
I haven’t made these cookies in years! Thanks for posting- yours look absolutely gorgeous!
I think these were called “Sand Dabs” or “Lady Fingers” growing up. The “Lady Fingers” were rolled into a long, thin cookie and then cooked. Have you ever heard them called these 2 names?
This post made me smile! These were always a staple at my house too. My Mom made them every year. I’ve never made them myself though… Maybe I’ll bring back the tradition this year
For as long as I can remember Snowballs have been a traditional holiday cookie in my family
I just love these kind of cookies, you have inspired me, I think I’ll make these this week!!
i make these every year for my cookie baskets i give out…….my neice just made them recently for the first time…. i am soooo proud of her…..you can also take this dough and add 3/4 tsp of citric acid and 1/2 tsp of lime oil and turn them into lime coolers!!! my friends go crazy for them that way!!!
these are some of my favorite holiday cookies! we always just call them pecan balls. love our photos!
Yum! I have a recipe similar to this! They’re amazing.
Ok so I made these cookies and the ‘dough’ was like crumbly, like rough flour almost. Very difficult to make into balls. I know i followed the directions exactly.
Jenna-
The dough is definitely a bit dryer than a typical cookie dough, but definitely shouldn’t be difficult to roll into balls. I’ve made this recipe countless times and have never come across this issue. Here is the link to the version I used from allrecipes. I’m sorry these weren’t a success for you. Happy Holidays.
-Jamie
Well I defiantly had to squeeze them in my hand to get the dough to stick together and form balls. Tideous but all and all they cooked up fine and tasted good.
Everything you make is perfection!!
Mmm…these are a family favorite in our house! I can’t wait to make some closer to Christmas (after my in-laws have arrived to help eat them). We make ours into crescent shapes and they are called “charms” (although not sure why they are called that!). Making them into snowball shapes is fun!
Fantastic! I have been invited to a dinner party this Thurs and I thought of taking something home baked for the hostess, this cookies came into my mind and you just save me the trouble of digging for the recipe. As other readers we used to make them into crescent shapes and we called them “cuernitos” (little horns) but I guess the round shapes are more ad hoc for Christmas
This is my favorite Christmas cookie! It is sometimes called Mexican Wedding Cookies in other places.
I just made these in a cooking class I am taking but we called them Mexican Wedding Cookies. They are so delicious. I am making them for neighbors this Christmas season. When we made them in my class we rolled them in powdered sugar once they were cool enough to be handled but were still very warm. It created a nice glaze over the cookies. Then we rolled them in the sugar again once they were completely cooled and that is what gave our the powdered look. They melt in my mouth.
Love this! They look so yummy…so happy to see so many cookies for the holidays!
My grandma called them Christmas Crescents as she would shape them thus. No matter, the ingredients are the same and they are just as delicious no matter what shape they’re in
I haven’t made these in years but I remember the texture and the melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness. Can’t beat it for simplicity. Thanks for posting this as it’s brought back some fond memories of warm kitchens redolent with the aromas of family holiday baking sessions.
Cheers
My German grandmother used to make these every Christmas. Even as she got older, she’d make them especially for me because she knew I loved them. I never got her recipe before she passed away, so thank you for this! I’m going to make some this weekend with my kids.
I make these with walnuts–they’re a family tradition and a favorite of all. At Christmas I color them with red and green, and last Easter, my daughter convinced me to color them in spring pastels!
They look gorgeous! And the recipe is easy to make – perfect for the holidays.
These were a staple in my house when I was growing up, and now I make them too. However, my mom came up with an ingenious holiday twist – subbing in crushed candy canes for the nuts! The candy canes tend to soften/melt during baking making their texture a delightfully chewy addition to the cookie. If you’re going to use crushed candy canes, I recommend parchment on the cookie sheets as the melted candy canes end up sticking like glue to your sheets otherwise – I learned from experience!
I truly forgot how much I loved these and well actually forgot the cookies altogether until I saw this post. I’m completely in the mood for a snowball fight now— meaning I’m making these and will fight anyone who tries to take them from me.
Ok, ive read every review posted before mine..i pretty much followed the recipe to a t BUT, i only had salted butter so i just omitted the salt..and i have fibro so i used my food processor to do ALL the work…yays…i didn’t have any nuts so i added a block of white almond bark that i chopped super fine instead, i baked them for 13 mins, then i rolled them in the powdered suger…im still drooling over how yummy they turned out…gotta try ladies!
if they aren’t going to be eaten until 5 days after baking, should I freeze them right away?
Gianna-
Yes, I would freeze them.
-Jamie
These cookies are Fabulous!! I have made them for my family for years. I have also added Mini chocolate chips which also is great! Happy baking.
Stephanie
I tested out your recipe and loved it! Thanks for the idea…and the Sugar Rush!
My family loves these! We call them Snowball Surprises. The surprise is a Hershey Kiss in the middle. I just form the dough around the kiss and bake as you’ve said. These are always better the following day after baking. Gives the chocolate time to cool and set up. Yummy!
These looks amazing!
i’m planning on making these this week and I was wondering if I can make the dough and freeze it before hand?
Thanks!
Natasha
Natasha-
I have never frozen this dough, but I am guessing that it will be just fine. Let me know how it goes.
-Jamie
Mmmmmmm I make these every Christmas… I add a cup of chocolate chips to the dough. Delicious…
My favorite of all cookies, i just made them again this year but they spread out ike a cookie !! what am i doing wrong here, i want them to remain in a ball shape Help please
debbie B
thanks
I followed this recipe exactly…my cookies are a complete mess. They pretty much melted in the oven to a flat *THING*.
I am so sorry the recipe did not work out for you. Please feel free to contact me with specific questions and we can try to resolve what the issue may have been. Have a great day!
-Jamie
Just baked these cookies, and they turned out delicious! I used almonds and added bacon bits for a salty, savory flavor. I have a feeling these will be requested every Christmas! Thanks for the recipe!
Wint-
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for stopping by and providing your feedback – have a great day!
-Jamie
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