These Pecan Snowball Cookies are a classic holiday cookie that will be on repeat in your home, once you try our perfected recipe. These melt in your mouth, buttery cookies are also known as Russian Tea Cakes, and Mexican Wedding Cookies, and are bite sized snowballs of sweet shortbread, with crunchy pecans throughout, and covered in a dusting of powdered sugar.
These easy cookies are a staple on my Christmas cookie tray, alongside my other favorites like ginger molasses cookies, and peanut butter blossoms. They’d be so good for a cookie exchange, neighbor gifts, or a holiday party. Add them to your cookie trays, along with our peanut butter rice crispy balls, and Christmas m&m cookies and you’ll be golden!
They’re a light shortbread cookie with such a delicious texture and flavor. Buttery, nutty, and a light melt in your mouth texture – these cookies are lightly sweetened, and oh so delicious.
The Best Snow Ball Cookies
- Only 6 Ingredients – You probably already have all the ingredients needed to make these cookies! They’re one of the easiest Christmas cookies you can make!
- Melt in your Mouth Texture – These cookies are so buttery, and made with powdered sugar that makes the cookie melt in your mouth with every bite.
- Buttery and Nutty Flavor – A tasty, lightly sweet buttery shortbread that tastes like butter and toasted nuts. Perfect for butter pecan lovers.
Snowball Cookies Recipe Ingredients Needed:
This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this Pecan Snowball Cookie Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- Unsalted Butter –
- Powdered Sugar – also known as confectioners sugar, it’s used in the cookie dough and to roll the cookies in
- All purpose flour – this is the structure of the cookie
- Salt – to balance out the sweetness, if you use salted butter, skip adding additional salt
- Vanilla Extract – adds a little flavor
- Pecans – toast them for extra flavor, chop them into small pieces with a knife, or run them through a food processor to get them even finer.
How to make Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies?
- Start the cookie dough. Beat the butter in a large bowl or a stand mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Use a hand mixer, or a paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat them together until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- Dry ingredients. Add in the flour and salt and mix it into the dough, just until it all comes together. Use your hands if needed to combine the ingredients. Add in the chopped pecans and fold them evenly into the dough.
- Bake. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart. They won’t spread a lot, so they can be pretty close. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown and the edges are just firm.
- Roll in powdered sugar. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then roll them in a shallow bowl of powdered sugar. Place them on a wire rack to cool for another hour. When they’ve cooled roll them in the powdered sugar again.
Snowball Cookies Tips and Tricks
- Toast the pecans – For added flavor, I recommend taking a few minutes to toast the pecans. This will add an extra dimension to the cookies flavor.
- Double Roll in Powdered Sugar – The tip to getting these extra white, and extra delicious is rolling them in powdered sugar twice. Roll them just a few minutes after they come out of the oven, then let them cool and roll them in the powdered sugar again.
- Carefully measure the flour – Weigh the flour, or spoon and level it into your measuring cup to prevent too much flour from getting mixed into the dough, and the cookies turning out dry.
- Other Nuts – Instead of pecans, try adding chopped walnuts, almonds, or any other nuts you like.
Mexican Wedding Cookies FAQ
These pecan snowballs can stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months, which makes them a great cookie for baking ahead during the holiday season. Let the cookies thaw at room temperature to enjoy again.
Yes, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Polvorones, Snowball Cookies, or Butterball cookies are all basically the same thing. They’re all rich, buttery, shortbread style cookies – that are sometimes filled with chopped nuts, and rolled in powdered sugar.
These cookies can be dry for a couple reasons, if you added too much flour to the cookie batter, or if they are over baked. To prevent them from being to dry use the spoon and level method for measuring the flour, by scooping the flour spoon by spoon into the measuring cup until its overflowing, then level it off at the top with the back of a butter knife. For baking the cookies, they should only be baked until the edges are firm.
These cookies might flatten for a couple reasons, if they are over mixed, or if you didn’t add enough flour. If your cookies flatten you can try adding a couple more Tablespoons of flour at a time – or try chilling your cookie dough for 1 hour in the fridge then try baking them again.
One thing is for sure, no matter what these cookies are called – they’re a favorite no matter! These melt in your mouth shortbread cookies are going to be one of your new favorite cookies.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans **
For Rolling:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- **For added flavor, toast your pecans first by spreading them out on a baking sheet. Bake them at 350 F for 5-10 minutes until toasted and fragrant. Watch them close to keep them from burning. Then let them cool before chopping and adding to the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- Add the butter to a large bowl or stand mixer and beat it for 1 to 2 minutes, until its smooth and creamy.
- Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat them well into the butter until light and creamy.
- Add in the flour, and salt and mix it into the butter mixture until just combined.
- Add in the pecan pieces and gently mix them into the dough.
- Form the dough into 1inch balls, and place them onto the prepared baking sheet, 1 inch from each other.
- Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are light brown, and the sides are firm.
- Cool for about 5 minutes, then roll the cookies in the remaining powdered sugar.
- Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, then roll then in the powdered sugar again and enjoy.
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