Snowball Cookies
Snowball Cookies ( or Mexican Wedding Cookies) have become a holiday season staple and for good reason! These little cookies are the perfect balance between sweet and toasty nut flavors. They also offer the best texture. The cookie itself is melt in your mouth soft while the chopped nuts give a delightful crunch. The cookie dough isn’t too sweet so the powdered sugar coating is a must.
These cookies do have a few steps that go the extra mile. The dough must chill for an hour and it’s mandatory that you toast the nuts prior to adding them to the cookie dough. Though the these cookies are must bake and worth the extra steps. Enjoy!
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted pecans OR walnuts
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup powder sugar + extra to coat the cookies after baking
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Step 1: Over medium heat toast the nuts for about 8 minutes or until browned and fragrant. Finely chop the nuts and set aside.
Step 2: Whip together the room temperate butter with the powdered sugar until light in color and fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes. Make sure to use room temperature butter so the mixture whips together with ease and there are not lumps.
Step 3: Mix in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste. If you only have vanilla extract that works as well, just do 2 teaspoons of whatever kind of vanilla you have.
Step 4: Add in the flour and salt. Mix until a dough forms.
Step 5: Scoop the dough on to a cutting board covered in parchment paper. I like using a 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop so all the dough balls are the same size. Place the scooped cookie dough in the refrigerator to chill for an hour or more. NOTE: The dough must chill for at least an hour or more. Since the dough is mostly butter they must chill so the cookies hold the snowball shape while baking.
Step 6: Once the dough has chilled, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper one inch a part. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Turn the baking sheet and bake for another 6 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden.
Step 7: Let the cookies cool for a few minutes and then coat them in powdered sugar. Place the cookies on a tray to finish cooling completely.
Step 8: Once the cookies have cooled completely, give them another toss in powdered sugar. The double dunk in powdered sugar is a must. The first dunk gives the initial sweet coating and the second keeps the cookies bright white and adds another layer of sweetness.
Step 9: Enjoy! Store in an air tight container or zip top bag for up to a 3 days. You can also make the dough ahead of time and keep chilled in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
