Easy Pecan Snowball Cookies
This buttery pecan snowball cookies are rich, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth. No eggs, no complicated steps. Just buttery, pecan-stuffed deliciousness.
You might know them as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes depending on where you grew up. Whatever you call them, they’re a Christmas Cookie tray essential. That melt-in-your-mouth texture is impossible to resist and they hold up beautifully for days, which makes them perfect for gifting or making ahead.
The secret to these is toasting the pecans first. It takes an extra few minutes but the difference in flavor is massive. That and rolling them in powdered sugar twice: once while they’re still warm so the sugar melts into the surface and again once they’ve cooled completely for the thick, snowy white coating.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Toasting the pecans before folding them into the dough gives a deeper, nuttier flavor that you just don’t get with raw nuts. The addition of powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar gives that impossibly tender, crumbly texture. It’s an instant fan-favorite and was one of the stand-out additions to this year’s Cookie Box.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter. I always use salted butter but unsalted butter can also be used. Make sure your butter is at room temperature so it creams into the sugar effortlessly.
- Powdered sugar/icing sugar. This is crucial to the tenderness of the cookies themselves. You also need it for the coating.
- Pecan nuts. Toasted pecan nuts add flavor and texture to the cookies. Walnuts and almonds both work well too if pecans aren’t your thing. Pistachios are lovely too.
- Flour. All-purpose flour is all you need. For a gluten-free version, a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend works here. Added xantham gum gives you the same stabilization that flour does.
- Vanilla extract.
- Salt.
Variations
Add a pinch of cinnamon or a teaspoon of espresso powder to the dough for a subtle twist that works so well with pecans. Swap the pecans for walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts. For a dairy-free version, use a good quality vegan butter.
How To Make Pecan Snowball Cookies
- Toast and cool the pecans: Spread pecan halves or pieces on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F/180°C for 6 to 8 minutes, shaking the pan once halfway through. They should smell nutty and look slightly darker. Let them cool completely.
- Make the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the butter and powdered sugar together for 2 to 3 minutes until combined. Add the vanilla and pulse again. Add the flour and salt and pulse until just combined then add the pecans and pulse until they’re fine, but not blended into a complete dust. The dough should be soft, not sticky.
- Shape: Roll the dough into small balls (just less than a tablespoon each) and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet about an inch/2.5cm apart. These don’t spread much. Place in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C then bake for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms are just barely golden. The tops will stay pale and that’s exactly what you want.
- Roll: This is the important part – roll the cookies in powdered sugar twice. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes until you can handle them but they’r still warm. Roll each one in a bowl of powdered sugar. The warmth melts the sugar slightly and creates a base layer that sticks. Set them on a wire rack to cool completely, then roll them through the powdered sugar again. This second roll is what gives you that thick, perfectly white snowball coating.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Layer parchment paper between layers so the powdered sugar coating doesn’t get damaged.
For make-ahead, you have two options. You can either freeze the unbaked dough balls on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen and add 1-2 minutes baking time. OR you can freeze the baked cookies before the final powdered sugar roll for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, then roll in powdered sugar before serving. Either way, these are one of the best make-ahead Christmas cookies you can have in your freezer.
Ingredients
- 225 g (1 cups) butter room temperature
- 100 g (½ cup) powdered sugar / icing sugar
- 225 g (2 cups) flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 100g g (3.5oz) pecan nuts
For the coating
- 2 cups powdered sugar/icing sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Spread the pecan nuts on a baking tray and place in the oven to roast for 6-8 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until the pecans smell nutty and are slightly darker. Remove and allow to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the butter and sugar until just combined.
- Add the flour, cornstarch and vanilla then mix until just combined with dry pockets here and there.
- Add the pecans and pulse until finely chopped but not completely fine.
- Roll the dough into cookie balls, just less than 1 tablespoon worth of dough per cookie.
- Place the dough balls on a lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated oven (180°C/350°F) for 12-15 until the bottoms are just barely golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes until just cool enough to handle then roll in the powdered sugar. Place on a wire rack to cool completley.
- Once cooled completely, roll in the powdered sugar a second time for a thick coating.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Snowball cookies are buttery, crumbly cookies made with finely chopped nuts and rolled in powdered sugar to look like little snowballs. They’re one of the most popular Christmas cookies and are known for their melt-in-the-mouth texture. The dough doesn’t contain eggs which makes them so tender and crumbly.
Essentially, yes. They’re all very similar cookies made with butter, powdered sugar, flour and finely chopped nuts. The names vary by region and family tradition but the recipe is nearly identical. Some versions use different nuts or slightly different ratios, but they’re all part of the same family of buttery, powdered-sugar-coated cookies.
The butter was probably too warm when you mixed the dough or the dough wasn’t chilled enough before baking. Make sure your butter is at room temperature but not too soft and greasy. If the dough feels too soft to hold its shape when you roll it, refrigerate it before shaping and again after.
A little crumble is normal and actually desirable. If they’re completely falling apart though, the most common culprit is too much flour. Make sure you’re measuring flour by spooning it into the cup and levelling it off rather than scooping directly from the bag. Also let them cool for a full 5 minutes on the baking sheet before attempting the first sugar roll.
About 1 week stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Both freeze very well for up to 3 months. Freeze unbaked dough balls on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen with an extra minute or two. For baked cookies, freeze them before the final sugar roll and re-roll after thawing.
A 1:1 gluten free flour mix with xantham gum works well. Handle them carefully while rolling.
They’re already egg-free! For dairy-free, swap the butter for a good quality vegan butter (one that’s solid at room temperature, not a spread). The texture will be slightly different but they’ll still be delicious and hold their shape.