Pecan Snowball Cookies
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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.
where we can we hear YOUR story christy? i wanna hear all about how you came to do this!!!!!
Thanks for all you do, you continue to entertain 🙂
You can find it immersed in many posts here on the website. Maybe one day I will get around to putting it all in one post, if people really want to hear the whole story.
I would love to hear the whole story and I’m sure all your followers would love it too. Keep up the good work and stay true to you roots.
You mean the story of how she started her blog? It’s on here somewhere. I remember reading it, of course, I’ve been here since day 1 almost! Try Googling the words Southernplate.com “banana pudding” blog!
i first saw you on that show where you where making a banana pudding and i fell in love with you. you are the sweetest, most loving from the heart person i have ever seen I dont have your cookbook yet but will get it this week. Are the recipes that you post on the Southern Plate blog in this cookbokk? i sure hope so . I live in Huntsville and so proud to have seen that show. You are just a sweetheart.
Thank you so much Vickie. There are some recipes in the cookbook that aren’t on the website. Let me know how you like it!
Can’t wait to make these along with the Holly Jollies from last year. I also saw a similar cookie recipe recently that had 2 TBS cocoa powder added, along with1 Cup of powdered sugar in the dough and 1 TBS cinnamon, but no nuts. I am going to try both recipes and I am betting I will like yours better 🙂
Thank you Patricia! Save some for me.
Thanky-thanky-bo-banky! Love these cookies!! Also, thanks for setting all those people straight who like to pronounce it “pea-cans”. As my husband says “pea-can is something you keep under your bed at night”.
LOL, that is too funny, I like your husband already!
Once heard the difference between a rich man and poor man…the rich man had a canopy over his bed while the poor man had a can o’ pee UNDER his…sorry-couldn’t resist!
Today…. my daughter called me today and said… “Mama… Christy has your cookies on her blog!! You know I loved them when I was little”…..Well..guess I need to make her some..BUT…..these are my FAVORITE cookies to make. So easy…. and yummy!
I am so glad to hear that, it just made my day. You should make her some for Christmas and surprise her with her favorite treat from when she was little.
Christy, how do you get your pecans so finely chopped? Do you use a food processor? I buy chopped pecans but I’m really lazy and it would take all day to get those chopped pecans as finely chopped as the ones you are showing. Help!!!
Janice, look for “cookie pieces”. They are chopped as fine as sundae nuts.
Normally I just chop them on a plate but I was feeling a little lazy so I just threw them in the food processor.
I have a mini 2 cup food processer that I keep on the counter. Anything that needs to be chopped goes into it. Time saver. Easy to clean in the sink or in the dishwasher.
Hi Christy, These are very much like my mom’s Sand Tarts. These are my favorite Christmas treats and I have been known to hide the tin full so only I can find them. If caught with the tine I do share, don’t ya know. Her recipe is very specific that you should use 7/8 cup butter??? Like that other 1/8th would matter? I am a Southern girl living in Maine and these Yankees call those nuts ‘pee cans’. Being a self appointed Southern ambassador, I have educated all who will listen that a pee can is what my grandmomma kept in our bedroom so we didn’t have to do to the outhouse at night. Now, I will have to go into the kitchen and make me some, hand rolled of course. Love your blog and I have asked Santa for your book. K
Thank you so much for being an ambassador Karen! People need to know these things.