Buttery and sweet, pecan snowball cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth holiday treat. This eggless Christmas cookie is a classic favorite, and easy to make with only 5 ingredients!
Fill up your cookie tins this holiday season with super soft, melt-in-your-mouth Pecan Snowball Cookies!
This cookie actually goes by several different names. You may know them as Mexican wedding cookies, snowballs, or Russian tea cakes. Regardless of what you call them, they're delicious!
This is an awesome cookie recipe to make with kids, though you might find yourself covered in excess powdered sugar.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- An easy holiday treat. Some of the best recipes use minimal ingredients. The buttery shortbread and crunchy pecans make these Christmas cookies a family favorite.
- No eggs. If you have family or friends with an egg allergy, this is the perfect treat to share with them.
- A fantastic homemade food gift. Honestly, homemade cookies are such a thoughtful gift for friends, neighbors, or your favorite delivery person!
Need a few more simple Christmas treats to add to your cookie tins this year? Make some Easy Butterscotch Haystack Cookies, Saltine Cracker Candy, or tasty Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies. You won't be disappointed!
Ingredients
To make these cookies you'll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Salt
- All purpose flour
- Finely chopped pecans
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar or Confectioners sugar
Substitutions
- Butter - If you want to use salted butter, it's best not to add any salt to the dough. Plant-based butter might work, but I haven't tested it with this recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour - If you'd like to make gluten free pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, substitute with a cup-for-cup gluten free all purpose flour. Popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
- Vanilla Extract - You can substitute with almond extract, or omit the extract completely if you want.
- chopped nuts - If you don't want pecan snowball cookies, you can use a different type of nut. Substitute the pecans with walnuts or almonds.
Recipe Variations
- Add chocolate or crushed peppermint candy - Some people like to add mini chocolate chips into their dough. Others like to use crushed candy canes, for a minty flavor. If you like the flavor of peppermint, you can try that, or just make some peppermint sugar cookies!
- Make them into snowmen - These snowball snow man cookies are so adorable!
How to Make Pecan Snowball Cookies
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Cream the powdered sugar and butter together. Be sure to start on low speed! If the speed is too high, your powdered sugar will be flying out of the bowl.
- Add the pecans and remaining ingredients.
- Refrigerate the dough until cold, then scoop portions onto a baking sheet. It only needs a quick 15-20 minutes for the dough to firm up.
- Bake until golden brown. As you can see in the photo above, the snowballs don't spread very much.
- Coat the cookies in powdered sugar.
Liz's Tips for the Prettiest Snowball Cookies
- Be sure the dough is cold before baking. If you don't chill the dough, the butter will melt too quickly, causing your cookies to flatten out too much.
- Avoid using oily nuts like peanuts, pistachios, and cashews. The excess oil can cause your snowballs to be greasy.
- Double dip them in powdered sugar. I like to coat the snowballs in powdered sugar while they’re still warm. This melts the powdered sugar a bit, so it becomes tacky. Then, I roll them through the powdered sugar a second time, for more coverage and a prettier appearance.
Storage
Storage: The baked snowball cookies will stay fresh for up to a week if stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Freezing pecan snowball cookies is not recommended. Technically, you can freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months, but they taste much better freshly baked.
If you still want to freeze your cookies, don't coat them in powdered sugar. Wait until they are thawed out completely, then roll them in powdered sugar.
Pecan Snowball Cookies Recipe FAQs
It's possible that your pecan snowballs fell apart because of a lack of moisture in the cookie dough. Another common reason is over mixing the dough.
The baking process does cause snowballs to flatten a little bit. However, if they spread out too much, then it's likely that your dough wasn’t cold enough before baking.
Other Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Peppermint Sugar Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Cut Outs (a no chill recipe!)
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer or electric hand mixer and large mixing bowl
- rimmed baking sheet
- parchment paper or silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened See Notes
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans See Notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Rolling
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer and large mixing bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and creamy.Start mixing on low speed to prevent the sugar from flying out of the bowl.
- Add salt, vanilla extract and flour to the bowl. Mix on low speed, until the ingredients are just combined. Avoid over mixing, which can cause the cookies to be dry and crumbly.
- Fold in chopped nuts with a spatula
- Chill dough in the refrigerator until firm enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ (180℃) and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoons each). Arrange cookies about 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light brown on the bottom.
- Remove pan from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes. While cookies are slightly warm to the touch, roll in powdered sugar. You don't want them to be too hot or the powdered sugar will melt!For a cleaner and more festive appearance, roll each snowball cookie in a second coating of powdered sugar.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- If using salted butter, omit the salt called for in this recipe.
- You don’t have to use pecans, even though that’s the traditional ingredient for this classic recipe. You can use almonds, walnuts, or any other chopped nuts you prefer.
- Double dip in powdered sugar - I like to coat the snowballs in powdered sugar when they’re just barely warm. This melts the powdered sugar a bit so it becomes tacky. Then, I roll them through the powdered sugar a second time, for more coverage and a prettier appearance.
Edie
Delicious and fun to make. I make a lot at Christmas time for me and my couple friends.
Michelle
Made these with Blue Bonnet plant based butter and walnuts, they turned out perfect!!
Christine
Delicious and easy to make. Highly recommend
Danielle Wolter
These are one of my favorite holiday cookies! So buttery and delicious 🙂
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
These are the perfect cookies for the festive season. So delicious and I love that you don't need too many ingredients!
Dannii
How cute are these! Perfect for Christmas time.
Jeannette
What an incredibe recipe! Love how they're so bite-sized and yes to store-bought pecans 😀 Time saving tips are the best!