Buttery shortbread cookies filled with pecans and rolled in powdered sugar. These Snowball Cookies are a perfect easy dessert for the holidays!
Have you ever tried snowball cookies? Some people refer to them as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes, but I prefer to call them snowball cookies. They look just like a little snowball, right?
If you’ve never tried these cookies before, imagine a rich, buttery shortbread cookie that’s studded with chopped pecans and rolled in powdered sugar. And yes, they’re every bit as delicious as they sound.
More Reasons To Love These Cookies
- They’re incredibly easy to make
- The dough is mixed together in just one bowl
- Only requires 6 ingredients
- No dough chilling required
You can even swap out the pecans for something else like dried cranberries or mini chocolate chips!
Recipe Ingredients
To make this snowball cookie recipe, you will need some unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, flour, salt, and chopped pecans. Let’s discuss each of these ingredients:
- Unsalted Butter: As always, I prefer to stick with unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter on hand, just omit the salt in this recipe.
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as icing sugar or confectioners sugar, this is used to sweeten the cookie dough and the cookies are also rolled in it after they come out of the oven. Why powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar? Powdered sugar helps prevent cookies from spreading while granulated sugar causes them to spread more. When it comes to snowball cookies, you want them to stay nice and round!
- Vanilla Extract & Salt: These two ingredients enhance the flavors. Pure vanilla extract is always best.
- Flour: This provides the structure for your cookies, just be sure to measure your flour correctly.
- Pecans: The pecans are totally optional here so feel free to leave them out if you prefer or swap them out for another nut like chopped walnuts.
How To Make Snowball Cookies
To make these cookies, start by creaming together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until they’re fully combined. Depending on your mixer, this should take about 1 to 2 minutes.
Next, add the flour and salt and continue mixing until fully combined. The dough will be a little crumbly at first, but keep mixing and it will come together. If you’re using the chopped pecans, you can go ahead and stir them in or mix them in on low speed.
Once the dough is ready, scoop out tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough onto a couple of baking sheets lined with parchment paper. I like to use a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon or cookie scoop to measure out the cookie dough.
These pecan snowball cookies need to bake for about 13 to 15 minutes, just until they look set and the bottoms are lightly browned. You don’t want to underbake these cookies, but you also don’t want to overbake them, so just be sure to keep an eye on how they look in the oven.
Once you take them out of the oven, let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes and roll them in some powdered sugar. Once they’ve cooled completely, roll the cookies one more time in the powdered sugar to fully cover them.
At this point you can go ahead and enjoy the cookies or store them in an airtight container until you’re ready to eat them!
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Make sure to measure the cookies correctly. You’ll only need about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie. A one tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring spoon works great!
- Feel free to swap out the chopped pecans for something else like chopped walnuts, mini chocolate chips, or even dried cranberries.
More Christmas Treats To Try!
Video Tutorial
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 and ½ cups (180 grams) powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 and ¼ cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (90 grams) chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ½ cup (60 grams) of powdered sugar (set the remaining 1 cup aside to roll the cookies in), and vanilla extract for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the flour and salt until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the chopped pecans until fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop (or measuring tablespoon) scoop out the cookie dough, roll into balls, and place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are set and the bottoms are lightly browned.
- Allow cookies to cool slightly for about 5 minutes, then roll each cookie in the remaining 1 cup (120 grams) of powdered sugar while they're still warm. Allow to cool completely and roll all of the cookies one more time in the powdered sugar.
I’m very thankful that you provide measurings also in grams in your recipes. Normally when I am interested in a recipe (and mostly they are in English and I’m German) I have to convert always cups and ounces and other stuff. And I find a lot of very interesting recipes in English. I will certainly try your snowball cookis. They look good and they seem to be easy to make. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for providing such neat recipes.
Greetinngs from Germany, Dorothee
I’m glad the gram measurements are helpful for you, Dorothee! We use mostly cups here in the US, but I prefer to weigh my ingredients too because it’s much more accurate. Hope you enjoy the snowball cookies if you try them too! 🙂
Dear Danielle, thanks so much for another year of recipes wishing you and yr family a safe a happy holiday season and looking forward to another sweet year of treats. P. S. Can’t wait to make the snowball cookies.
Helen I
In oz.
Thank you for the kind words, Helen! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season as well and hope you enjoy the snowball cookies too! 🙂
I’ve made these before and they were simply amazing in flavor and texture. I was so surprised because the recipe was simple, was basic and felt too easy, and judging by the picture I totally expected them to be either tasteless or with an overpowering powdered sugar taste. But they beat my expectations and I’m glad. I didn’t make them with pecans (plain and chocolate chip) but they were good nonetheless. An idea for you – I rolled them in cocoa sugar and they tasted even better, a good chocolatey version. I was going to call them muddy snowballs except that didn’t sound so appetizing. ?
To clarify I made them years ago, with a recipe from a different site, and substituted butter with palm-oil Earth Balance which lended itself to good consistency.
Cocoa sugar is a fantastic idea, Annie! I think I’m going to try that out next time I make a batch of these cookies. The muddy snowballs name is perfect too haha! 🙂
I was wondering if you could use margine instead of butter.
It would change the texture and taste of the cookies, I would really recommend using butter for this recipe.
I can’t wait to make these. Love all your recipes. I’ve been looking for my moms recipe on these but not able to find. She made these every Christmas season. We called them “butterballs “
Will be making these with my grandson next week
Looking forward to more of your recipes
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes, Debbie! Butterballs sounds like an appropriate name for these cookies too 🙂 I hope you and your grandson enjoy the cookies! 🙂
Such a great recipe Danielle. I think I can make this recipe for my daughter for her snack box.
Can’t wait to make these snowball cookies. 🙂
Thank you, Puja! Hope you and your daughter enjoy the cookies 🙂
Thanks Danielle for another “keeper” recipe. I made these about a week ago and they are still so fresh and delicious. I substituted walnuts as I had no pecans and they were just as good. I rarely bake anymore since my kids have left home so I surprised myself with the outcome. The were delicious and so light and the texture was perfect. Appreciate the simplicity of your recipes and the baking hints. I will make these again soon. Merry Christmas! Cindy.
I’m so glad you liked the cookies, Cindy! I made another batch of these the other day 🙂 I hope you have a Merry Christmas as well!
Oh my GOSH, Danielle! These little snowball cookies are seriously cookie tray goals. They look so perfectly easy and impressive for any last-minute holiday cookie!
Definitely perfect for a last minute treat! Thanks, Sarah 🙂
I made them tonight as a dessert for a baby shower table and ive never made these so makimg them 24 hours b4 an engagement u were supposed to make them for would b a wise ides to test run. But my point os WHY are they so crumbly? The Flavor and texture is on point but no where near dence as i thought it would be. Can u tell me y my cookies may have came out the way they did?
Hi, Dani! When you say they’re crumbly, are they crumbling when you pick them up? If so, they may have been slightly under baked. If they’re hard and crumbling when you bite into them, they may have been over baked. Keep in mind that this is a shortbread cookie base, so they will be crunchier than other cookies.
Hi!! Do you think I can freeze these before baking or after? I don’t want them stale by next week and I already made the batter!
You can freeze balls of the cookie dough and just bake from frozen for an additional minute. Or you can freeze the baked cookies once they’ve cooled, just thaw to room temperature before serving.
These turned out great! I’m in South Texas, and we usually call any variety of a shortbread either ‘Mexican Wedding Cookie’ or ‘pan de polvo’. I rolled half of these in powered sugar and the other half in a cinnamon and granulated sugar mixture. Fantastic!!
Rolling these in cinnamon and sugar is a fantastic idea, Gina! I’m so glad you liked the cookies!
Hi, Danielle,
I write from Brazil!
An American friend of mine used to make these snow ball-cookies at Christmas and I forgot it for almost 30 years!
Now I found your recipie! Of course snow in Brazil is very rare and only in some South parts of our big country,
but this cookie will be a big success even in our very hot Christmas Season. They are delicious.
For me pecans are imprecindible! We have a pecan nut tree in our garden…
One question: for how long and how I can keep it?
My friend used to make it about 2 weeks before Christmas, keeping it in a glass container well closed.
Thank you also for the measurement in grams, it helps a lot!
Thank you for this beautiful work. God bless!
Hi, Paulo! I usually store these cookies for up to 5-7 days in an airtight container on the counter. After that I would suggest freezing them, then just thawing them and rolling in some more powdered sugar if needed.
They taste awesome but mine go flatter then the picture. Still good. Any ideas why that would happen. I’m 100% certain it’s me.
So glad you liked the taste of the cookies! Are you making sure to use powdered sugar and have you checked your oven to make sure it’s at the correct temperature?
my cookies also flatten. I predict this recipe needs more flour
Super easy and delicious! Very happy with the outcome. Directions were simple and the tips were very helpful.
So glad you liked the cookies, Christina!
Can granulated sugar be used instead of powdered sugar in the cookie?
You can use granulated sugar, but you’d need to use less and it may cause the cookies to spread. I would suggest sticking with powdered sugar if you can since you roll the cookies in it too.
Ok so I followed your directions. But for some reason my balls went flat. Do you have any idea why?
It’s hard to say, but the cookies definitely should maintain their shape. Was the cookie dough really warm when you put it in the oven? And did you double-check the measurements?
Hi Dani!
I’ve seen in other recipes for these cookies that you should chill the dough first. From what I gathered, it helps with keeping the shape of the cookies, without them flattening.
Do you recommend doing that?
Thank you!
Hi, Daniela! I typically recommend chilling cookie dough in most of my recipes. However, with this particular recipe, I’ve never had any issues with them spreading so I skip the extra step.
I saw a similar recipe that does not use salt. What would be the difference if I leave it out? Thank you.
You could probably leave it out if you need to and they would be fine. I always recommend using some salt in cookies and most baked goods because it enhances the flavors.
My dough turned out too crumbly for some reason, this time always great before. Can you recommend a fix for me. Thanks
Have you tried to work it together with your hands and see if it will form a ball? If it won’t, you could try adding a little milk to the dough to see if that helps.
i made this cookies they were mouth watering thanks so much for these recipe sharing
I made these when I was a kid around Christmas and loved them!
Thank you for posting b/c I had lost the recipe.
We never had real butter in our house, just sticks of margarine,
so I know that works. Growing up with German heritage (and recipes),
I’m pretty sure I used almond extract and maybe some other spices
like cardamom, anise or nutmeg. I’ll be testing those combinations until I figure it out.
I remember these when my mom used to make them. I did not have a recipe for them but, can’t wait to make these. As I am elderly now — I will make sure my daughter gets the recipe so my grandchildren and great-grandchildren can enjoy them.
I have loved your recipes and decided to try this one for the 1st. Loved it!! I didn’t have regular flour only King Arthur gluten-free flour and no one could tell the difference. The dough still stuck together and cooked well. Making them again for the holidays!
I can’t wait to make these. My mom use to make them every year for Christmas. We called them butterballs. Thank you for posting. Will let you know how I do
Hope you enjoy the cookies, Debbie!
I can’t wait to make this recipe using pecans. Was thinking about toasting them first, your thoughts?
That would be fine! Just be sure to let the pecans cool completely before you mix them into the cookie dough.
My cookies got flat. What did I do wrong?
It’s hard to say, but the cookies shouldn’t spread. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? Did you double check your measurements?
Mine went flat when baking. Any suggestions?
Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? And did you double check the measurements that you used, specifically the flour and butter?
I loved these cookies. They were a huge hit with the recipients of my holiday cookie boxes this year.
One side note is you have to watch if you change the number of cookies you want to make. I changed it from 36 to 72 and the flour amount was incorrect, going from 2 1/4 to 4 1/4 instead of 4 1/2. By chance I caught it before it was too late! Just an FYI.
I have yet to find a recipe on your site I haven’t loved…so thank you!