Pistachio Snowball Cookies

A stack of two pistachio drop cookies, and the top cookie has a bite out of it.

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.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Mexican, Russian

Keyword: Cookies, pistachio, pistachio snowball cookies, Shortbread, Snowball Cookies

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 20

Servings:

Calories: 116kcal

Ingredients

For the Pistachio Cookies:

1 cup Finely Chopped Pistachios
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

For the Vanilla Icing:

1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 TBS Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 dash Salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Pistachio Cookies:

Chop the pistachios finely with a sharp knife, or add them to a food processor and pulse. You don't want a sandy texture, but you want a mix of sizes, mostly small pieces that will mix evenly in the dough. 1 cup Finely Chopped Pistachios
Add the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a large bowl or stand mixer and beat it for 1 to 2 minutes, until its smooth and creamy. 1 cup Unsalted Butter, 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Add in the flour, and salt and mix it into the butter mixture until just combined. 2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour, 1/2 tsp Salt
Add in the pistachio pieces and gently mix them into the dough until evenly distributed.
Scoop the dough into 1 TBS portions (about 20g of dough each) and roll them into balls, about 1 inch in size. Place them on a lined baking sheet and place the sheet in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner, and place the cookies on the sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are light brown, and the tops are set.
Cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Vanilla Icing:

Whisk together the ingredients for the icing in a small bowl until smooth. 1 cup Powdered Sugar, 2 TBS Heavy Cream, 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract, 1 dash Salt
Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing and then flip them over and set them back on the cookie sheet until the icing is set.

Notes

Pistachios: You can finely chop your pistachios in a food processor, but you have to be careful with it. Use short pulses and stop before it becomes a crumb.
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.
Chill the Dough: You can chill the cookie dough in the ball for an hour or two, or if its thick enough to handle you can roll them into cookie dough balls and chill for only 30 minutes. Don't skip the chilling though or the cookies will spread more than you want.

Nutrition