Snowball Cookies

October 27, 2024 by Beth Pierce 265 Comments

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These classic Snowball Cookies are little balls of buttery shortbread, melt-in-your-mouth goodness with a powdered sugar coating. They are quick to fix, delicious, and freeze well.

You may even have the ingredients to make them in your house now. They are called Russian Tea Cakes, Italian Wedding cookies, butter balls, and Mexican Wedding Cookies, but in our house, we call them Snowballs. They are the delectable cookies with a thousand names.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Butter: unsalted or salted. If using salted butter, eliminate the added salt. Use natural, honest-to-goodness butter so your cookies taste yummy. I use Land O Lakes butter for all my cookies.
Powdered sugar: also known as confectioners’ sugar
Vanilla extract: pure vanilla extract, please
Nuts: pecans, English walnuts, black walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews.

How to make Snowball Cookies

These delectable holiday cookies are so very easy to make. First, using an electric or stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, cream the butter and the powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

Then, turn the mixer to low speed and add the salt, vanilla, flour, and chopped pecans. Using a 1-tablespoon scoop, roll the cookies into balls and place them on a parchment-covered baking sheet with a bit of space between them. Bake until lightly browned.

Allow the cookies to cool just enough to handle them. Then, gently roll them in the powdered sugar. Place them on a wire rack to cool. When they are thoroughly cooled, roll in the powdered sugar again.

Preparation Tips

Chop the pecans fairly fine. Remember, you can use different nuts.
This a thick dough, so roll the cookies with your hands because the warmth of your hands will help shape the cookies.
If you have time, do a test run with one or two cookies. This will help establish the baking time.
Do not over-bake the cookies. These are a type of shortbread cookies with a crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture.
When measuring your flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a table knife to keep from adding too much flour.
Store the cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.

Try These Recipe Variations

Roll the dough around an unwrapped chocolate kiss
Add 3/4 cup chopped Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips to the cookie dough.
Add 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough
Mix 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder at the same time as the butter and powdered sugar. Also, add 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips stirred in at the end to make Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Replace the vanilla with lemon juice, add 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest, and use finely chopped sliced almonds instead of the pecans to make Almond Lemon Snowballs.
Substitute almonds coarsely ground in a food processor for the pecans and add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.

Close up view of Italian wedding cookies on a serving dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use other nuts?

You can use English walnuts, black walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and even cashews. Just make sure the nuts are shelled, roasted, and finely chopped. Each nut gives the cookie a delicious, different, unique flavor.

Can I freeze the cookie dough?

Freeze the dough in a practice commonly known as flash freezing. Roll the dough and place it on parchment-covered baking sheets. Ensure the dough balls aren’t touching so they don’t freeze together.

Place the whole sheet in the freezer until frozen, and then transfer the balls to a freezer bag. Store that bag in a sturdy freezer container. When you are ready to bake, simply place the cookies on a parchment-covered baking sheet and let them thaw just a tad while the oven preheats. Frozen cookies may require an additional one to two minutes of baking time.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Pack the baked cookies in double Ziploc freezer bags, place them in a sturdy, glad-ware freezer container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookies in the fridge overnight. Once the cookies have thawed, reroll them in powdered sugar. Place them in airtight containers and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days.