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Snowball cookies are a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie, just like Grandma used to make. This Snowball cookie recipe can be made at any time, of course, but they are most popular in the winter.
Rolled in powdered sugar, but not tooth-achingly sweet? Sign me up.
The Powdered Sugar Mustache Is a Vibe.
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.
These snowball cookies aren’t donuts, but they are rolled in powdered sugar and that means I’m a sucker for them.
The cookies themselves aren’t overly sweet – made with just butter, flour, pecans, and teensy bit of granulated sugar. The sweetness comes from the powdered sugar exterior it’s just enough to keep you wanting a second cookie.
These look gorgeous on your holiday cookie trays, right next to our ginger molasses cookies and Grinch cookies.
Why You’ll Love Snowball Cookies:
- Quick and easy with just 5 ingredients!
- These are a classic, just like Grandma used to make!
- Not too sweet, which honestly makes them a bit dangerous. You won’t know when to stop!
- Perfect for gifting!
Ingredient Notes:
Butter – You’ll start with softened butter. We use salted, but if you use unsalted, just add a tiny pinch of salt to the dough.
Flour – All-purpose flour is what you’ll need here.
Pecans – These cookies aren’t big so you are going to need finely diced pecans, not large pieces. You can buy them like this or dice them up yourself!
Sugar – You’ll need both granulated white sugar and powdered sugar for these snowball cookies.
How to Make Snowball Cookies:
Mix: To get started 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.
Scoop: We use a cookie scoop to get the perfect amount of dough and then drop it into our hand and roll into a ball.
Bake: These snowball cookies will take about 20 minutes to bake 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.
Karly’s Tips & Tricks For Perfect Snowball Cookies:
- Flour: Make sure you measure your flour properly by spooning flour into a dry measure and then leveling it off with the back of a butter knife. Do not pack the flour or you’ll end up with dry, crumbly cookies.
- Rolling the Dough: We use a cookie scoop to ensure we have evenly sized cookies, but you’ll want to drop the scoop of dough right into your other hand. The dough may be a bit crumbly, but the warmth and pressure of your hands will help shape the dough into a ball. Don’t be shy about squishing it together.
- Cool then Coat: These will crumble apart if you try to roll them in the powdered sugar while they’re still warm. Let them cool on the baking sheet before rolling in powdered sugar.
- Coat the Cookies: We tend to only roll our snowball cookies ONCE in powdered sugar, but if you roll them TWICE, you’ll have full coverage and they’ll look like, well, a snowball! The choice is yours.
Variations:
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.
More Favorite Holiday Cookies
- Peppermint Cookies: They’re perfect for the holidays!
- Air Fryer Christmas Tree Cookies: Cookies made easy in the air fryer.
- Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps: These make for a unique holiday treat!
- Peppermint Patty Cookies: A homemade version of the classic.
- Chocolate Christmas Cookies: These are loaded with chocolate!
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups finely diced pecans
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups powdered sugar
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.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in December, 2013. It was updated with new pictures in October 2019.
Mandy says
How do I store these so I can make them before Christmas?
Karly says
They will store in an airtight container for 4-5 days at room temp or up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Mandy says
Thanks Karly
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.
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.
Nancy Armbruster says
One of my favorite cookies
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!!
Connie Kelley says
I have frozen the dough before And they freeze good too after cooled
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!