Soft and delicate Snowball Cookies recipe made with only 6 ingredients. These Mexican wedding cookies are buttery, sweet and loaded with pecans, the perfect holiday dessert.
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PECAN SNOWBALL COOKIES
These nutty, buttery, and sweet cookies are so easy to make and so delicious! Snowball cookies, also known as Mexican wedding cookies, are such a classic holiday dessert. The cookies are buttery, crumbly and loaded with chopped pecans and then coated in powdered sugar.
WHAT YOU NEED-
- Butter– The key is to use softened unsalted butter when making these cookies! If you want to use salted butter, just skip the salt.
- Powdered Sugar– Be sure to use powdered sugar, confectioners sugar, for both the cookie dough and for coating after! You can NOT substitute for any other sugar.
- Vanilla– Adding vanilla extract gives these crumbly cookies additional flavors.
- Flour– For the best results, use high-quality all-purpose flour! We love using Arthurs or Bob’s Red Mill brand.
- Salt– When adding salt, it helps enhance all the flavors in the cookies.
- Pecans– Adding chopped pecans is totally optional! You can also switch out pecans for almonds, walnuts or even pistachios.
HOW TO MAKE SNOWBALL COOKIES
Have these buttery pecan snowball cookies ready in no time!
- In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and nuts.
- With a mixer, mix the butter until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and combine.
- Gently fold in the flour mixture, creating a smooth and thick cookie dough.
- Using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, divide the dough into HOW MUCH scoops. With your hands, roll the scoops of dough creating a smooth and perfect shape ball. Repeat with all the dough.
- Add the cookie balls onto a lined baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart from each other. Chill the cookie dough balls for 30 minutes.
- Once chilled, bake the cookies until slightly golden, the cookies will remain in ball shape.
- Remove from the oven and cool until warm.
- Roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar, fully coating each cookie.
- Place the coated cookies on a cooling rack and allow them to finish cooling.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, coat the cookies in powdered sugar again.
- Add to a platter or plate and serve.
| Coating Tip– For easier coating, you want to sift your powdered sugar to loosen up the sugar. |
STORING & FREEZING
These buttery pecan snowball cookies are great to make ahead of time and can totally be frozen for later!
- Room Temp– These delicious Mexican wedding cookies can be stored in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 5 days!
- Fridge– Store the cookies in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks!
- Freezer– The cookies freeze great! Once completely cooled, freeze the cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months! Thaw at room temp or in the fridge.
| When storing the cookies, the sugar might fall off or melt so dust the cookies with extra powdered sugar right before serving! |
COOKIE VARIATIONS
There are several different variations to these snowball cookies! Substitute the pecans for:
- Sprinkles
- Chopped walnuts
- Mini chocolate chips
- Shredded coconut
- Crushed candy canes
- Lemon zest & extract
| Coating– Mix the powdered sugar with cocoa powder or cinnamon for added flavors. |
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE:
No, you can either leave it out or substitute for walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.
The first time you coat the cookies, they need to be slightly warm. Make sure to cool them not fully but till they are slightly warm. This will help the first coat of powdered sugar stick.
You must NOT forget to chill your cookies before baking! This will solidify the butter so that the cookies don’t spread into a puddle when baking.
Yes! There are several different names for these cookies, snowball cookies, Mexican wedding cookies and even Russian tea cakes.
Yes, lay the cookies onto a plate or platter (whatever will fit into your freezer) and freeze until hard. Once hard, transfer to a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, just bake the frozen balls, you will just need to add an extra minute to bake time.
Yes, you want to chill the cookies for at least 30 minutes or up to 3-4 days in the fridge!
OTHER COOKIE RECIPES
Check out all our other delicious cookie recipe ideas and follow our socials to keep up with our Christmas cookie series!
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour sifted
- pinch salt
- chopped nuts optional
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the sifted flour, salt, and chopped pecans in a bowl.
- Using a mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix to combine. The dough will create a smooth and thick cookie dough.
- Using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, scoop dough and then with your hands, roll to create a round ball and add to the baking sheet.
- Repeat with all the dough, creating about 38-40 cookies, spacing about 1 inch apart from each other. Chill the cookie dough balls for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and then bake the chilled cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until slightly golden. The cookies should keep their round ball shape.
- Remove from the oven and cool for about 5-10 until warm.
- Roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar, fully coating each cookie.
- Place the coated cookies on a cooling rack and allow them to finish cooling.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, coat the cookies in powdered sugar again.
- Add to a platter or plate and serve.
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