Snowball cookies are some of the easiest Christmas cookies you could make—you need just 5 ingredients and 1 mixing bowl. These snowballs are a classic on the Christmas cookie tray, and optional toasted pecans add the loveliest flavor and texture! Without any complicated steps or ingredients, you can be confident this easy snowball cookie recipe is foolproof.
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and a few more success tips.
These sugar-dusted crumbly shortbread cookies have been around for ages, and there’s just something so irresistible about them. They’re uniquely buttery and dense with a melt-in-your-mouth texture—it’s hard to stop at just 1!
One reader, Jaye, commented: “I decided to try out this cookie this year for the assorted cookie boxes I give to neighbors and friends. It was an absolute hit. In fact, my partner LOVED these cookies so much that she has declared them her new favorite cookie. Thanks for the recipe! ★★★★★“
What Are Snowball Cookies?
Snowball cookies are part butter, part flour, and part confectioners’ sugar. Sometimes they include chopped nuts, as well (try them with toasted pecans!). The confectioners’ sugar not only goes into the cookie dough, but also coats the outside of the cookie for that iconic snow-dusted exterior. There are no eggs or leavening agents in traditional snowball cookie recipes.
What do you call these cookies? They have many names, and are usually made with nuts or nut flour as an add-in. Names include Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, butterballs, snowdrops, and more. If formed into crescent shapes, they can be called Viennese crescents or Greek kourabiedes.
These easy cookies are a steadfast staple on my cookie platter—alongside other classics like gingerbread cookies, pinwheel cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate crinkle cookies.
Here’s Why You’ll Love Them
- Melt-in-your-mouth texture, similar to almond crescent cookies
- Buttery, dense, and sweet
- Incredibly easy to make
- 1-bowl recipe
- Just 5 ingredients
- Leave them plain, or add chopped nuts or colorful sprinkles
- Only 30 minutes of dough-chilling time
- A classic Christmas cookie everyone should try!
Snowball Cookie Ingredients (& Why You Need Them!)
With so few ingredients, each one has a very important job to do:
- Butter: Creamed butter forms the base of these shortbread-style cookies.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: A little in the dough, and then roll the baked cookies in the rest.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor, especially if using homemade vanilla extract!
- Flour: This is the structure of the cookie.
- Salt: To balance out the sweet. Note that it can be optional if using salted butter, like we do in the video tutorial below.
- Optional: Finely chopped toasted pecans for delicious flavor. You know, just in case you have extra pecans leftover from your sweet potato casserole!
The ratio of butter to sugar to flour in the cookie dough varies between snowball cookie recipes, but I find 1 cup butter, 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, and 2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to be the sweet spot. Again, you’ll need extra confectioners’ sugar for the coating.
Expect a Crumbly Dough
The cookie dough comes together in just 1 bowl. It will be super thick, to the point where you don’t think it will come together. Turn your mixer up and watch the buttery goodness form before your eyes.
The dough will come together, I promise:
Chill the dough for just 30 minutes to help that creamed butter solidify, which helps guarantee your rounded cookies stay… well, rounded! Without chilling, your cookies could spread flat.
Use a Tablespoon measure to portion the chilled dough, and then roll into balls:
Unlike lemon crinkle cookies and chocolate crinkle cookies, we bake the cookies first and then we’ll roll in confectioners’ sugar… the best part of this iconic cookie!
How Do You Make the Confectioners’ Sugar Stick?
After the cookies bake, roll each one in confectioners’ sugar. The trick to the stick (ha!) is to roll them twice. Give the cookies their first coating when they are slightly warm. As the cookies cool, the confectioners’ sugar will melt into them. (It tastes amazing.) After the cookies have cooled, coat them in confectioners’ sugar one more time, and they’ll be as beautifully snowy as the final scene of a Hallmark Christmas movie.
3 Success Tips
- Use proper room temperature butter. Like when making Christmas sugar cookies or butter cookies, if your butter is too soft when you start, it won’t form a sturdy base for your cookie dough. The cookies will over-spread and taste greasy & dense.
- Make sure you use confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar or icing sugar) in the cookie dough. Granulated sugar causes the cookies to over-spread and they’ll lose their “snowball” shape.
- Coat the cookies with confectioners’ sugar twice, once when warm and again when cool, because the first layer melts like a… well, a warm snowball! 😉
Try My Pecan Snowball Cookies
Want to make the best snowball cookies? Add some toasted pecans. Popping pecans in the oven for a brief 8–10 minutes elevates their flavor, and is a welcome step in my pecan sugar cookies. All you do is scatter them on a baking sheet and bake them until you smell that toasty goodness. I usually use a food processor to pulse the warm toasted nuts a few times. It’s that easy.
You can also use finely chopped (and toasted, if desired) walnuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts.
Even More Variations
Instead of nuts, try adding sprinkles. Regular jimmie-type sprinkles are the best choice. And if you want some other variations, try my peppermint snowball cookies, cranberry spice cookies, pistachio cookies, and lemon coconut shortbread cookies! I even have a recipe for chai spice snowball cookies in my book, Sally’s Cookie Addiction.
Though the name varies, one thing’s certain: these snowball cookies always disappear quickly. There’s a reason they’re enjoyed in so many countries around the world!
More Classic Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Spritz Cookies
- Homemade Gingerbread House
- Peppermint Meltaways
- Snickerdoodles
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Snowball Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Eurpoean
Description
This cookie dough is made from just 5 ingredients in 1 mixing bowl and only needs 30 minutes of chill time before baking. Without any complicated steps or ingredients, you can be confident this easy snowball cookie recipe is foolproof. Toasted pecans are optional, but add the loveliest flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (see note)
- optional: 3/4 cup (100g) finely chopped and toasted pecans*
Coating
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar and beat on medium high speed until combined and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Next, beat in the vanilla extract on medium-high speed until combined. Switch to low speed and slowly add the flour and salt. The dough will look dry and you may not think the flour will fully combine. Once all of the flour is added, turn the mixer up to high speed. The dough will come together. Finally, beat in the chopped pecans, if using.
- Cover the cookie dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. (If chilling for 3+ hours, make sure you let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling into balls. The cookie dough will be very stiff after being in the refrigerator for that long.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Pour the confectioners’ sugar needed for the coating into a shallow bowl.
- Scoop or roll 1 Tablespoon (20g) of cookie dough per cookie. Roll into a ball and place on the baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottom edges and just barely browned on top, about 15 minutes.
- Coating: Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then very gently roll them in the confectioners’ sugar to coat completely. Place the cookies on wire racks to cool completely. The confectioners’ sugar will melt a bit and get sticky; that’s ok. Once the cookies have completely cooled, roll in confectioners’ sugar again. This is when the sugar will really stick.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Cooling Rack
- Salt: The video uses salted butter, so I skip the salt. Feel free to use salted butter and skip the added salt in the recipe.
- To Toast the Pecans: Spread chopped pecans on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 8–10 minutes at 300°F (150°C). Let them slightly cool. Then, give them a very fine chop with a sharp knife or pulse a few times in a food processor. You want small pieces of nuts. Feel free to skip the toasting step and just use finely chopped pecans.
- Sprinkles or Other Nuts: You can also use finely chopped (and toasted, if desired) walnuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts. Toast according to the same directions as pecans in Note above. Instead of nuts, you can beat in 1/2 cup sprinkles.
Reader Comments and Reviews
hello – my cookie dough seems really crumbly. I refrigerated them for over an hour. should I let them come to room temp? and then try to roll and bake?
Thankyou
Hi Ramona, you can try to let the dough warm a bit and bring it together with the warmth of your hands. How did you measure the flour and confectioners’ sugar? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale for next time. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I’ve made these cookies before and they were delicious but this year I can’t bake them the same day. Can I roll them into balls and place in the fridge overnight and then bake?
Thank you.
Doris
Yes, see step 2 for details, Doris. Happy baking!
I gave these a 5 rating because they taste great, but for some reason they spread during baking instead of staying in a ball. I’ve made these before and followed the directions – chilled overnight, took the dough out for at least 30 minutes before baking, and they still spread. Were they left out a few minutes too long before baking? That’s the only thing I can think of.
Hi Ellen! Thank you for giving these a try. Here’s our tips for keeping cookies from spreading that will he helpful for next time!
Merry Christmas, Sally and Team!
When storing these cookies, should I loosely cover (instead of covering tightly) so as to not have the confectioner’s sugar dissolve, or will this make the cookies harden overnight?
Thank you in advance!
Sarah
Hi Sarah! We hadn’t had issues with the confectioners’ sugar dissolving on these cookies in an airtight container.
You forgot they are known in the south as “Noels”.
Most requested during all holidays from friends & neighbors. I give the recipe to all.
These look perfect but they taste super bland and have a weird aftertaste. I don’t usually use unsalted butter but I see most baking recipes on this site call for unsalted so I thought I’d give it a try. Maybe they needed the nuts, since nuts were optional I didn’t use them. I wish they tasted good because they look so cute on a tray.
Hi Kristy, we’re so sorry you were disappointed in these cookies. What brand of confectioners’ sugar did you use? Some brands can have off tastes, so if you decide to try these again you may find it helpful to try a different brand. You can also use salted butter and/or increase the salt a bit to your tastes. Thank you for giving these a try!
Could I use cake flour instead of all purpose?
Hi Abby, yes, you can use cake flour in these cookies for an even more tender, meltaway texture–just be aware that the cookies might be a bit more crumbly/not hold together as well.
I made these cookies and they were delicious but was there any way i could make them into lemon snowball cookies and if so what would be the recipe?
Sally, i was thinking to roll in granulated sugar when cooked, and also instead of 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, i was thinking 1tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract. What do u think? Pecans added, of course
Hi Krista, we haven’t tried rolling in granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar, but they would lose their snowy snowball look. You could incorporate almond extract, but it’s more potent than vanilla, so we would recommend starting with 1/2 teaspoon and then adjusting to taste.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes! I really enjoy them!
After I chill the dough overnight, does shaping the cold dough right away help the cookies maintain their shape?
Hi Allison, if chilling the dough overnight, make sure you let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling into balls. The cookie dough will be very stiff after being in the refrigerator for that long. If you find they warm up too much during that slight thaw/shaping process, you can pop the shaped dough balls back in the refrigerator for a few minutes or while your oven is preheating.
Do we measure the nuts chopped or whole first and then chopped them? I have to toast them first so not sure if Im supposed to weigh them before or after.
Hi K! Measure after chopping.
Love it, easy recipe for a classic cookie!
Could I replace the pecans with coconut ? I need something coconut for my cookie boxes this year and these seem ideal, if the swap is doable
Thnx
LSS
Hi Lauren, we haven’t tested this particular recipe with coconut, and sometimes it can be drying. Feel free to give it a go (make sure to use sweetened shredded coconut, not unsweetened), or you might like these lemon coconut drop shortbread cookies or these no-bake chocolate coconut snowballs instead. Let us know what you try!
Great suggestions
Thanks for your snowball receipe. Delicious.
Is this something i could add some cinnamon too? And if so, how much?
Hi Jessica, Yes you can! We add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon to our cranberry spice drop cookies which was adapted from this recipe, so anything up to that amount should work here.
Just made these Snowball cookies and they delicious, as I expected! All of your recipes are winners!
Would you consider doing a post for those of us who do cookie trays at Christmastime? I make them for family/friends/neighbors and would appreciate some guidance regarding how long cookies can sit at room temperature or if they need refrigeration.
Hi Bonnie! All of our cookie recipes include storage instructions at the end of the recipe. For these cookies, see step 6: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Thank you so much for making our recipes!
We have a dairy allergy in our family. What can I use in place of butter?
Hi Anita, we haven’t tested any dairy-free substitutions here. A plant based butter may work, but again, we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do any experimenting.
Can you make this into a drop cookie ?
Hi Martha, no, this cookie is best as small scooped and rolled balls. Due to the shortbread nature, they won’t spread like drop cookies.
One of my favorite cookie recipes! Quite often, I like to add chocolate sprinkles, which provides just a hint of chocolate, besides the visual surprise of sprinkles inside! (Thank you, Sally, for everything you have taught me, that I am a better baker, many thanks to your love and generosity!)
Hi sally I baked and rolled them in powdered sugar and I want to freeze them for about a week. Will I need to reroll them in powdered sugar once I thaw them?
Hi Crystal! Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. We would roll them in sugar again before baking.
I am going to use Sallies recipè and instructions for the first time. I will let everyone here know how it goes.
Do I need to sift the confectioners’ sugar or can I just spoon and level it?
No need to sift here, Debbie. But if your sugar seems lumpy, it’s never a bad idea!
My mom made these every year at Xmas. She called them Pecan Sandies. Hers were crescent shaped, and would melt in your mouth.
Everyone loved them! Said they were better than a bakery
I used Ghirardelli mini chocolate chips in mine . They are delicious
Great idea since we have a nut allergy. How much and when do you add them? Thanks Carol
Happy holidays!
Hi! Has anyone tested these with gluten free flour? If so, how did they turn out?
Hi Marin, We haven’t tested it, but you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
Delicious! One of my favourite Christmas cookies, but not one I see often. I used walnuts because it’s what I had on hand. Next time I will use pecans.
Tip for chilling the dough: if you have the space in your fridge, scoop the cookies first and then chill on the cookie sheet in the fridge. They don’t need to be in there long so I just fit it in any way I can. I hate scooping the chilled dough.
My snowballs flattened out when baking. Didn’t stay round like in your video. Followed directions exactly as written. Thx for lmk why.
Hi Sharyn, Here’s our tips for keeping cookies from spreading that will he helpful for next time!
Mine lasted about a month in a glass airtight jar. Still delish. Can’t imagine why we had any left after the holidays…but good…3 more to go.
They turned out amazing… everything came together just like you said.. perfecto…
So I’m making these, along with your raspberry thumbprint cookies. I note that the dough recipes are identical except the type/quantity of sugar. Both get chilled and then rolled into bals from 1 T of dough. But THEN: these make 36 cookies while the thumbprints only make 26. Help me understand this.
Hi Cyndy, we just re-tested the raspberry almond thumbprint cookies, and found it makes about 28-32 cookies, so we have updated that recipe to reflect that. These two recipes have different types of sugar, which changes the volume of the dough slightly, and the snowball cookie recipe also has pecans in it, which adds more volume and weight to the dough. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Thanls for the quick reply! Now I’m just trying to get the dough to hold together… Have been trying off & on with the mixer for over an hour, all fine crumbs. I know it’s me, not the recipe! maybe a tad to much flour. Should I add a splash of milk?
A splash of milk can help bring the dough together, yes. Next time make sure to spoon and level the flour and powdered sugar (or use a kitchen scale) to avoid packing too much in.