Pecan Snowball Cookies
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
These melt-in-your-mouth pecan snowball cookies have an irresistible moist center like a chewy shortbread cookie. It’s the perfect to bake these holidays.
I love this recipe for pecan snowball cookies. I used to find my buggy steering towards the grocery store each year for the store-bought ones. I’ve always wanted to make my own and wondered if they would be even better at home. Well, the good news is, a few years ago I FINALLY got a recipe for them from Mama! The bad news is, they taste even better than store-bought snowball cookies.
Fortunately, it takes a small list of simple ingredients to make these buttery pecan snowball cookies, like flour, sugar, vanilla extract, butter, salt, and finely chopped nuts. While I use pecans, hence the name, you can use whichever nuts you prefer. All you have to do is slowly combine the ingredients, bake the cookies, and roll them in confectioner’s sugar once cooled, so they get that snowball effect!
Trust me, the inside of these pecan snowball cookies is an absolute delight! It’s like a yummy buttery shortbread with finely chopped nuts inside.
If you’re in the market for other holiday cookies to bake this year, check out this post, which features 14 of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. Happy baking!
Recipe Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
- Finely chopped nuts of your choice (I chop mine in the ).
- Salt
How To Make Pecan Snowball Cookies
Place your softened butter, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and cream it until it’s git up and go done got up and went.
Like this.
Next, add your flour to the wet ingredients.
This is where the original snowball cookie recipe said to sift the flour. Pfft. Right. I have a sifter and it sits upon a pretty little shelf in my kitchen where it collects dust. I don’t sift. It is against my personal convictions.
Just dump your flour in there. Be rebellious with me.
Pour in your vanilla extract.
The recipe calls for two teaspoons but y’all know I just kinda pour and leave it up to the good Lord how much ends up in there.
It’s called divine baking – and I just made that term up. How cool is that? Stick with me, we’ll be the cool kids, even if no one knows it but us!
Oh, you’re gonna need to scrape down the sides of your bowl some but you’ll figure that out…
Dump in your finely pecans.
Oh, now you need to mix it all up again until well combined.
Like this.
Go ahead and get you a pinch of that dough and taste it. Be sure to save some to bake though…I know it will be tempting.
It’s baking time!
I used my little cookie dough scoop and made some pretty generous-sized cookies. You can just make them with your hands and make little one-inch balls and have twice as many as I did.
However, I was in a lazy, cookie dough scoop kinda mood and when I’m in those moods I try not to deny myself the pleasure of indulging in the easy way out.
Now, bake ’em at 325 for 20 minutes, ensuring you don’t overbake them.
I made about 30 but you can easily make 50 or so instead.
After they cool, roll each in powdered sugar.
These pecan snowball cookies are absolutely, melt in your mouth, delicious.
Here is what the inside of one would look like if your teeth were actually a butter knife.
What pretty little snowballs! One bite and you’ll be making this every year from here on out!
Storage
- Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- You can also freeze either the unbaked cookie dough or the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Once you thaw the baked snowball cookies, roll them in sugar once more.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure to use in the and not , as we want the batter to be nice and smooth.
- If you have time, you can toast the pecans in the oven for about 10 minutes before chopping them and adding them to the cookie dough. It really elevates the flavor!
- Don’t be afraid to double-roll your snowball cookies in powdered sugar so they truly resemble snowballs!
- Besides pecans, you can use walnuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, or cashews. Just ensure they’re roasted and finely chopped before adding to the cookie dough.
- If you opt for almonds, you can also add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the recipe to enhance the flavor. Another option is substituting the vanilla extract for lemon juice and adding 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to make almond lemon snowballs.
- Speaking of almonds… substitute the all-purpose flour for almond flour to make gluten-free snowball cookies.
- Here are more additions to add to your cookie dough when you fold in the pecans:
- 2/3 cup of sprinkles
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips to make chocolate snowballs.
Recipe FAQs
What are some other names for snowball cookies?
Snowball cookies are also called Mexican wedding cookies (which we have a recipe for right here), Russian tea cakes, snowdrop cookies, Southern Butterballs, Pecan Sandies, and Italian butter cookies. But no matter what you call them, they’re utterly delicious!
You may also like these other holiday cookie recipes:
Candy Cane Cookies (Elf Favorite!)
Thumbprint Cookies with Jam or Preserves
Southern Plate’s Must-Make Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups finely ground nuts of your choice I'm using pecans
- confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until fluffy. Add the flour and vanilla extract and mix well, scraping down the sides as needed. Add finely chopped pecans and mix until well incorporated.1 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups finely ground nuts of your choice
- Shape into one-inch balls of cookie dough (mine are bigger because I use a little cookie dough scoop) and place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, but don't let them brown.
- Cool the cookies. When cooled, roll each snowball cookie in confectioner's sugar.confectioner's sugar
Video
Nutrition
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over….
it became a butterfly!”
Submitted by Judy Clark. Submit your quote or read others to help brighten your day by clicking here.
Girl, if I had known you didn’t have a Snowballs recipe, I would have supplied it to you. I have to make them every year for one of my co-workers. He LOVES them!! Love how you explained how to say pecans. I can’t stand when people pronounce them pea-cans and claim that is the southern way! I grew up with a huge paper-shell puh-kawn tree in the yard and that is the way you say it in Birmingham!! Luckily, my dad still lives where I grew up and puh-kawns are free for me as long as the crop is a good one!!
Thanks Lora!!!
They look like the pecan sandies that my mother in law makes every Christmas. We all sit and stuff ourselves! I took them to a cookie exchange last year and they were a hit!
P.S. I never sift either–just don’t see the point–tastes good either way!
To sift or not to sift, makes no difference ~giggles~
Christy,
I have a tulip bowl just like that that belonged to my grandmother. She passed away in 1982, so it is very special. The cookies sound great!
I hope you get to try the cookies Patti, I think you will love them.
Love these! And here’s a language lesson…”finished” in Russian is pronounced “sceo” (long e, long o, said fast with emphasis on the o)
Thanks for the lesson!
I love that these and so many of your recipes are adaptable without losing anything, thank you! I love nuts, but cannot have them as I’m allergic dang it. Your recipes are wonderful and I’ve started my grandkids on them, thanks again!
Your cookbooks are some of the most used in my kitchen. Your site is one of our favorites. And this cookie? We love these. Can’t wait to try this. Maybe tonight…. Yum.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much Anna!! That just made my day and I appreciate you so much! Enjoy the cookies!!
OOOOOOOooooooh! I’m so glad you posted this I’m making my first comment! (I’ve only known about your blog a coupla weeks.) My Aunt Kaye (she’s really my Daddy’s double-cousin but I call her aunt) gave me a gallon ziploc bag full of pecans at Thanksgiving. Guess what I’m gonna make!!!! 🙂 THANKS!
Welcome to the Southern Plate Family Cindy!! We are so glad to have you at the table.
Christy,,,,,,,these are the BEST Christmas (or anytime) cookies! Love these. Thanks for ‘splainin” how to pronounce “Pe cawn”…….Non Southerners mispronounce them all the time!
Love being Southern and LOVE your blog, website, Insta posts ……ALL you do : ))
Merry CHRISTmas !!
Thank you so much Lynn!!!
When my husband wants to be dramatic that’s he’s finished something, he’ll say, “Finito Mussolini!” That’s a play off of “Benito Mussolini,” the Italian dictator from WWII. It always cracks me up. 🙂
Seriously, though, those cookies look good. Wish somebody in my family other than me liked nuts.
Well Jessica, if you make them with nuts that means you get to eat them all yourself!
Can’t wait to make these!
I hope you get the chance soon Lesa!
I make these putting a candy kiss in the middle they are called secret kiss cookies which just makes them even more delicious.
One of my favorites
That sounds good!