Snowball cookies with pecans are perfect for the holiday season, especially when we're getting closer to Christmas! This is a simple 7-ingredient recipe which could very well become a Christmas tradition in your home.
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Pecans add crunch while crushed candy canes offer a delicious taste of the holidays. A touch of vanilla adds a wonderful hint of flavor too. You aren't going to believe how more-ish these are. One is just never enough!
Making these cookies is easy, even for those who don't bake much or who are new to cookie recipes. Basically, you just need to combine the ingredients and roll them into balls - snowballs to be exact!
You're going to love these festive little delights. You might also want to try these easy sour cream cookies or my iced thumbprint cookies for even more festive cookie ideas!
Main Ingredients
So how do you make snowball cookies and what do you need? Let's first take a peek at some of the key ingredients that go into them:
- Pecans: For crunch. You know how you sometimes get little stones in real snowballs (I mean the ones you really don't want to hit you in the face!) Well, chopped pecans add some crunch to these cookie snowballs too. Not a pecan fan? Substitute chopped walnuts or pistachios? Not a nut fan in general? Just leave them out.
- Peppermint candy canes: For festive flair. This ingredient is optional, but I love the sweet, cooling peppermint flavor. It just seems to make the cookies more Christmassy!
- Confectioners’ sugar: To sweeten the cookies. Sometimes called powdered sugar or icing sugar, confectioners’ sugar is a very fine, powdery kind of sugar. You will use some in the cookie dough and the remainder to roll the cookies in.
- All-purpose flour: For the perfect cookie texture. Regular all-purpose flour is perfect for these snowball bites. You don't need cake flour or any fancy flour. Just combine all-purpose flour with the other ingredients and your cookies will come out as a roaring success.
Instructions Overview
Making snowball cookies with pecans couldn't be more straightforward. After mixing the butter, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar together, you can add in the pecans, candy canes, and flour.
Shape the dough into balls (you should get about 30) you can arrange them on a baking sheet then bake them for 15 minutes.
The final step is to roll them in more confectioners’ sugar then wait patiently (this is the hardest part!) for them to cool down before popping one in your mouth. Mmm, delicious!
Common Questions
A lot of butter, a little flour, and sugar are the main ingredients with pecans, vanilla, and (optional) crushed candy canes for flavor. You can use another kind of nut if you want or substitute another extract for the vanilla. These cookies are wide open to experimentation!
You might be curious about the pinch of salt in this recipe as well as many others. Actually, a little salt really brings out the sweet flavors. If you omit the salt the cookies would have a flatter taste. Not convinced? Try it and see, then you'll always add a pinch to your future cookie dough recipes.
If your cookies seem to be dry, too crumbly, or falling apart, you might not have added enough butter. The recipe calls for a cup of butter which might sound like a lot, but remember this recipe makes 30 little cookies, so you do need a whole cup in there.
I usually don't when I make these, since they are supposed to resemble snowballs. However, you might want to divide the dough into 3 equal parts and then add green food coloring to one-third, red food coloring to another third and leave the rest plain. Then you'll get red, green and white cookies which are just as festive as the white snowballs are. If you're using food coloring gel, you'll need much less than if you're using a coloring liquid. Add a little then mix then add more if needed and repeat.
Snowballs are known by many other names, such as Russian tea cakes or Italian wedding cookies. While they’re called different things in different places, they consist of a pastry type of dough that was popular in England in the time of the Middle Ages.
Like most cookies, snowballs freeze very well. Simply prepare the dough, shape them, and freeze them. They should be good for up to 6 months.
Snowballs will go flat if you use granulated sugar instead of confectioners’ sugar. Also known as powdered sugar, confectioners’ sugar keeps the cookies from spreading too much and helps them retain their famed shape.
Snowballs keep really well too and can stay in a paper bag in the pantry for about 4 days. In the fridge, they’ll keep for as long as 2 weeks. This is why they make the perfect cookie to gift for the holidays.
Chopnotch Tips
- Wrap these cookies in cellophane and tie them with ribbon or pop a few into a festive tin for a great Christmas gift. Everyone loves receiving homemade gifts, especially when they taste this good!
- There is no alternative for the confectioners’ sugar since no other kind of sugar is fine enough to give the right texture.
- You can prep the dough ahead and just keep it in the refrigerator then put the snowballs in the oven shortly before guests arrive. They'll soon be overcome with curiosity about that incredible bakery aroma coming from the kitchen!
Snowball cookies with pecans offer a sweet and nutty flavor along with a festive appeal. They're super simple to make and taste really good.
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Let us know what you think! Give this recipe a rating in the comments section below.
Recipe
How to Make
Snowball Cookies with Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- ¼ cup peppermint candy canes, crushed
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Combine butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar in a bowl and beat well until combined. Add pecans, candies, and flour and stir well.
- Shape the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Roll each cookie in confectioners' sugar and let cool completely!
Notes
- Wrap these cookies in cellophane and tie them with ribbon or pop a few into a festive tin for a great Christmas gift. Everyone loves receiving homemade gifts, especially when they taste this good!
- There is no alternative for the confectioners’ sugar since no other kind of sugar is fine enough to give the right texture.
- You can prep the dough ahead and just keep it in the refrigerator then put the snowballs in the oven shortly before guests arrive. They'll soon be overcome with curiosity about that incredible bakery aroma coming from the kitchen!
Snowball cookies are my favorite, but for some reason I don't make them outside of the holiday season, thanks for the delicious reminder!
Yes. We occasionally make them year round, without the candy cane.
these are the most addicting buttery delicious cookie recipe I have ever made so so good Thanks
These snowball cookies are melt in your mouth delicious!
These look so delicious, especially with pecans. Perfect for the festive season.
I never tried putting candy canes in snowballs. I love this idea, it makes them so much more festive.
The candy canes certainly add that special little hint of holiday!