If you make just one holiday or Christmas cookie this year, these soft homemade snowball cookies are absolutely the recipe to try!
The best snowball cookies
This is the cookie recipe that takes over Pinterest every December.
With just FOUR ingredients, the sweet holiday cookies are so easy to make that it’s almost impossible to find an excuse not to try them.
And once you do whip up these charming homemade snowball cookies, they will hook you for life with their soft and buttery deliciousness.
Readers also love these Sweet Potato Brownies
Mexican wedding cookies
This recipe is my own spin on the popular snowball cookie recipe my grandmother used to make every year for Christmas.
You can find many versions similar to hers, both online and in traditional cookbooks. They go by many different names, including Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Butterballs, Polvorones, Meltaways, and Snowballs.
For vegan snowball cookies, simply use either coconut oil or vegan butter in the recipe. There are no eggs or milk required, so no need to worry about replacing those.
**Edit: A huge thank you to People Magazine for featuring my recipe!
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Step by step recipe video
Watch the snowball cookie recipe video above
Snowball cookie ingredients
The recipe calls for flour, nuts, oil or butter, and powdered sugar.
If you want a healthier version, pulse coconut sugar, date sugar, or evaporated cane juice in a blender to make your own homemade unrefined powdered sugar.
Other variations you might want to try include adding a few drops of vanilla or almond extract to the dough, forming the traditional cookies into different shapes, adding a teaspoon of lemon or orange zest, or stirring in a handful of mini chocolate chips.
Next on my list is to add cocoa powder for Chocolate Snowball Cookies.
I might even include some pure peppermint extract and crushed candy canes too.
Or you can make pink snowball cookies by adding a drop or two of red food coloring or a handful of freeze dried strawberry or raspberry powder.
But honestly, the classic original version is so good on its own. If you make a batch, leave a review and let me know what you think!
Baking tips and substitutions
Flour options that work well include regular white all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or whole grain spelt flour.
If you wish to make gluten free snowball cookies, I’ve had success using Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour.
A good cookie baking tip in general is to let the cookies cool before handling. They continue to cook and firm up as they are cooling.
Start with softened or melted butter or oil. If using coconut oil, make sure all other ingredients are at room temperature. This step will ensure the oil does not harden during the mixing process.
Snowball cookies with almonds
While the original holiday cookie recipe calls for walnuts, these versatile homemade Mexican wedding cookies can also be made with almonds or pecans.
I’ve never tried another nut but would be interested to know if they might also work with macadamia nuts, cashews, or even pistachios.
For snowball cookies without nuts, simply omit the chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans. No further changes are required, and the resulting nut free cookie is a delicious soft butter cookie.
Leftover almonds? Make Almond Flour Banana Bread
How to make snowball cookies
The first step is to gather all of your cookie ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter and powdered sugar.
Combine the pecans, almonds, or walnuts and flour in a separate bowl. Mix all of the ingredients together to form a cookie dough.
Shape into balls, place on a cookie sheet, and bake on the oven’s center rack for twenty to twenty five minutes or until the Christmas cookies are lightly browned.
Roll the warm Italian butter cookies in a bowl of powdered sugar to evenly coat, then cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Storing the cookies
Because they do not need refrigeration, snowball cookies are a great dessert choice for any holiday party or gathering.
They are easy to transport, and leftovers can be stored in a covered container on the counter for three to five days. Of course, that’s only if there are any leftovers!
The dough can be made days in advance and refrigerated, or rolled into balls and frozen to bake at a later time. And the cookie dough is naturally egg free.
More holiday cookie recipes
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (white, spelt, ww pastry, or Bob's gf work)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or almonds or pecans
- 1 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar or sugar free powdered sugar
- optional additional powdered sugar or cocoa powder, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the butter with the powdered sugar, and beat in a medium bowl or stand mixer. Stir together the flour and nuts in a separate bowl. Then mix all ingredients together to form a dough. Shape into balls, place on a cookie sheet, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly browned. Ready an extra bowl of powdered sugar, and roll the warm cookies in this bowl to coat. Cool on a wire rack.*You may omit the nuts if desired. I cannot recommend using any flours not listed here or substituting a low fat butter spread, because I have not tried these substitutions. Feel free to experiment at your own risk, and be sure to report back for other readers if you do!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
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I’m not vegan, so we make ours with butter, but we also use almonds (nothing against walnuts; almonds are just what we usually have in the house already). 🙂
This was a fantastic recipe and so easy to make with my daughter 🙂 She wanted to change it up a bit so we did 1/2 as the standard recipe, 1/4 with added cocoa powder, and 1/4 with cocoa powder and orange flavouring – so delicious!
Thanks 🙂
PS Made your nutella recipe the other night too and it turned out great!
Thank you so much for making them!
mmm this look soo good. will try tonight. can you do a post or section of your lowest calorie recipes? I know you haven’t done nutrition facts for everything but for those that you have it would be nice to see all those recipes in one spot if possible 🙂 thanks for all the fab recipes!!!
Maybe I’m weird but these remind me of ice-cream balls in texture and taste, when they’re eaten chilled. 😀
I used coconut oil for the buttery spread and they came out of the oven a little sticky at touch; just let them cool. They turned out perfect! Thank you!
My sister just made these and they are delicious! The whole family loved them. Thank you Katie! 🙂
Thank you so much for trying them (or thank your sister)! 🙂
I just made these last night and Katie is right they do melt in your mouth! I used Almonds and pecans because that’s all i had in the house and they still turned out great!!
I used peanut butter in place of the butter spread and pecans instead of almonds and the result was a nuttery buttery mess! I had to use unreal amounts of oil to get the dough to stick together and it reaked of peanut butter and the dough was still crumbly, I got done forming half the dough into balls and put those on a pan and into the oven and tossed out the other half. Moral of the story: DONT USE PEANUT BUTTER
Hey there, I was wondering if I could make these with canola oil?
Sorry I’ve never tried it so I really don’t know. If you try it, definitely report back!
would it be completly horrible to leave out the nuts? We’ve got allergies.
I wouldn’t recommend it, as they make up a large portion of the dry ingredients.
I left the nuts out and they were fine, but I added 1tsb of imitation rum extract
Not tsb, it was 1tsp …sorry
With my daughter’s nut allergies, I usually use sunflower seeds instead of nuts in recipes that need them. Maybe that would work for you?
I have also made these with mini chocolate chips since my family is not really into nuts. When I do use nuts, it’s generally pecans. Can’t wait to start baking!