Snowball Cookies for Christmas (2024)

Beautiful snowball cookies that just look like winter and Christmas with their dusting of powdered sugar. Not too sweet, these cookies are perfect to add to neighbor gifts, cookie boxes, or family gatherings to celebrate this holiday season.

This delicious classic Christmas snowball cookie is sure to become a holiday favorite, along with my perfect soft gingerbread cookies and thumbprint cookies. If you're taking them to a holiday party, they would look beautiful on a cookie tray next to my new double chocolate peppermint cookies!

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the little bit of snow we usually start to see. I love everything about the snow, so naturally I had to find the perfect snowball cookies recipe! These tender, buttery snowball cookies melt in my mouth just like snowflakes.

You probably have everything you need for this recipe in your kitchen, so I hope you give this snowball cookie recipe a try!

Ingredients for Snowball Cookies

The beauty of snowball cookies is that they are made mostly from staple ingredients. You will probably have most of them on hand, which makes them easy to whip up on short notice.
So the ingredients for this snowball cookie recipe are:

• salted butter
• vanilla
• powdered sugar
• flour
• pecans, chopped

How to Make Snowball Cookies

• Cream butter, vanilla, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until fluffy.
• Stir in flour and chopped pecans.
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350℉ for 13 minutes.
• Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar. Once cooled, roll in powdered sugar again.

Tips and Tricks

• As always, the key to every good cookie is using quality ingredients! Use real butter and, of course, pure vanilla tastes best!
• You can use walnuts or pecans in this recipe, so feel free to use whichever you prefer. You can buy them already chopped or do it yourself in a food processor or with a rolling pin. I just give them a quick chop with a large knife.
• Using a scoop is the easiest and quickest way to get evenly sized cookie balls. I use this 1 tablespoon scoop. You still need to roll the balls with your hands before placing them on the cookie sheet.
• Do not overbake! The cookies should NOT brown.
• Make sure the cookies are still warm for the first coating of powdered sugar. The heat will melt the sugar onto the cookie. Set on a tray while you finish rolling the rest of the cookies. Then go back to the beginning and roll all of them in powdered sugar again. Set on a rack or pan to cool. Optional- When fully cooled, if you want them to have even more "snow," you can roll each cookie one more time in the bowl of powdered sugar until generously coated. It will turn them into the powdery snowball cookies we all love!

How to Freeze Cookies

• Yes, you can freeze unbaked snowball cookie dough! After the dough is rolled into balls, place them in a freezer container, with wax paper between each layer. Use within 2 months. When ready to bake, set dough on counter until it is no longer frozen but is still cool—about an hour. Bake immediately per recipe directions.
• You can also freeze baked snowball cookies. Make cookies according to recipe, then allow them to cool COMPLETELY. (If they're frozen when still warm, ice crystals will form and ruin the cookies.) They'll taste the best if you freeze them the same day they are baked. Put in a freezer container with wax paper between layers. Thaw them at room temperature for a couple of hours and give them a fresh coating of powdered sugar, if desired.