These delightful confections are known by many names including Snowball Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Swedish Tea Cakes, Italian Wedding Cookies, Butterballs, Polvorones, and many more. Their origin is unclear but, as the many names suggest, they are enjoyed around the world, no matter what they are called. I call them Snowball Cookie Balls because the dusting of icing sugar gives them the appearance of snowballs, making them particularly popular at Christmas.
Snowball Cookie Balls do not take a lot of ingredients nor any uncommon ones. I would class them as being a relative of shortbread and they do have a very delicate and crumbly texture. Some might class it as a “short” texture in that they literally melt in the mouth.
My recipe version of Snowball Cookie Balls calls for a mix of all-purpose and superfine almond flour for which I do not recommend any substitution. The almond flour gives lovely flavor but, more to the point, it is a fantastic contributor to texture in baked goods like these Snowball Cookie Balls. If this isn’t a flour you commonly use, I suggest heading to your nearest bulk food store and buying just the small amount called for in the recipe. Even though the amount may seem small, I find the almond flour makes a difference to the texture of the cookies.
One-half cup of chopped nuts is called for in the recipe. Any variety of nuts can be used – pecans, pistachios (used in the Snowballs photographed in this post), walnuts, almonds, etc. The nuts should be ground reasonably fine in keeping with the delicate texture and size of these cookies but not ground to a powder as you still want to see bits of nuts when biting into a Snowball Cookie Ball.
I don’t find that my regular nut grinder (seen on the left in the photo below) will grind the nuts fine enough so I use a dandy little tiny 1-cup electric food processor/chopper that is great for chopping nuts to the desired degree.
There are some steps involved in making Snowball Cookie Balls. The dough does best if, after being mixed, it chills in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes or so. This firms up the dough a wee bit and makes it easier to form the dough into small balls. I recommend the use of digital scales for this recipe as it will ensure that the balls are all of consistent size. If ½ ounce (or apx. 14 grams) of dough is used per ball, this recipe has tested out at a yield of 46 balls provided, of course, that the ingredients have been properly and accurately measured.
Once the balls have been formed and are on the cookie sheets, place them in the refrigerator for 35-40 minutes to firm up the butter which will have softened again while the cookie balls were being rolled by hand. We all know what happens to soft butter that meets up with a hot oven – it starts to immediately melt and cause the cookie balls to spread. This is because the butter melts before the cookie structure has started to form and bake. There will still be some slight flattening but the cookie balls still should retain a relatively round shape as their name suggests – small snowballs.
I have found that the sweet spot temperature at which to bake these cookies is 365°F. Thank goodness for digital controls on modern-day ovens that allow any temperature to be set! I bake the Snowballs for about 15 minutes but recommend checking them at 13-14 minutes. They should not be browned and every oven runs a bit differently and some may run hotter than others and some will bake faster while others may bake a bit slower.
Once they come out of the oven, let the cookies set on the cookie sheet for 6-7 minutes. These are delicate cookies and, if you try to roll them immediately in the icing sugar, they will simply break apart. That said, the cookies should still be quite warm when first coated in icing sugar so that the sugar coating will adhere to them. Once they have cooled slightly, carefully roll each ball in sifted/sieved icing sugar. Don’t skip the sifting (or sieving) part. You may think that the soft icing sugar (which some of you may know as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) won’t have clumps and lumps in it but it will and it will make the Snowballs look messy. Once you have done the initial coating of icing sugar on the balls, gently shake off any excess icing sugar and place the balls on a wire cooling rack. Cool the cookies completely and then roll them again in icing sugar. This will ensure a more complete coating of icing sugar.
Store the Snowball Cookie Balls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or freeze for longer storage. Thaw the cookies in the refrigerator and, if desired, dust again with a light coating of icing sugar at time of serving.
These cookies are lovely for teatime and make a tasteful gift, too.
[Printable recipe follows at end of post]
Snowball Cookie Balls
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened at room temperature
½ cup sifted/sieved icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp pure almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free 1-to-1 or cup-for-cup baking flour, if required)
1/8 cup superfine almond flour
½ cup finely chopped nuts (e.g., pecans, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, etc.)
1+ cup sifted/sieved icing sugar for rolling baked balls
Method:
Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter well at medium speed. Reduce mixer speed to low and blend in the icing sugar followed by the vanilla and almond extracts.
Sift or sieve the all-purpose and almond flour together in bowl and gradually add to the creamed mixture in the mixer bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat mixture for about 30 seconds longer.
Remove mixer bowl from stand and stir in the chopped nuts until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate dough for about 20 minutes to make it easier to handle for forming into balls.
Scoop up about ½ ounce (14g) of dough for each ball and form into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing the balls 1½” – 2” apart. Place cookies in refrigerator for 35-40 minutes to firm up butter and help them to retain their shape during baking.
While balls are chilling, position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 365°F.
Transfer balls to oven and bake for apx. 14-15 minutes, turning cookie sheet once halfway through baking. Let cookie balls set on cookie sheet for about 6-7 minutes after coming out of the oven then carefully roll each ball in icing sugar and gently shake off excess sugar. Place balls on wire rack to cool completely. Once completely cooled, roll them a second time in icing sugar.
Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or freeze for longer storage.
Yield: Apx. 46 balls
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Snowball Cookie Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened at room temperature
- ½ cup sifted/sieved icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp pure almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free 1-to-1 or cup-for-cup baking flour, if required)
- 1/8 cup superfine almond flour
- ½ cup finely chopped nuts (e.g., pecans, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, etc.)
- 1+ cup sifted/sieved icing sugar for rolling baked balls
Instructions
- Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter well at medium speed. Reduce mixer speed to low and blend in the icing sugar followed by the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Sift or sieve the all-purpose and almond flour together in bowl and gradually add to the creamed mixture in the mixer bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat mixture for about 30 seconds longer.
- Remove mixer bowl from stand and stir in the chopped nuts until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate dough for about 20 minutes to make it easier to handle for forming into balls.
- Scoop up about ½ ounce (14g) of dough for each ball and form into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing the balls 1½” - 2” apart. Place cookies in refrigerator for 35-40 minutes to firm up butter and help them to retain their shape during baking.
- While balls are chilling, position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 365°F.
- Transfer cookie balls to oven and bake for apx. 14-15 minutes, turning cookie sheet once halfway through baking. Let balls set on cookie sheet for about 6-7 minutes after coming out of the oven then carefully roll each ball in icing sugar and gently shake off excess sugar. Place balls on wire rack to cool completely. Once completely cooled, roll them a second time in icing sugar.
- Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or freeze for longer storage.
Recipe Notes
Yield: Apx. 46 balls
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