Pecan Snowball Cookies — ❄️🍪❤️ They go by many names, but one thing for sure is that they’re a holiday FAVORITE! Super buttery with a lightly crunchy interior from chopped nuts, and dusted with confectioners’ sugar for a snowy look! These classic Christmas cookies just melt in your mouth and belong on your holiday baking list and are great for cookie exchanges!
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Easy Butter Pecan Snowball Cookies
It’s hard to think of a Christmas cookie that’s more iconic than these classic snowball cookies.
Every Christmas season from my childhood I remember helping my mom and grandma make dozens and dozens of snowball cookies.
My Christmas snowball cookie recipe produces cookies that are intensely buttery and rich. The cookies have a lightly crunchy texture from chopped pecans in the cookie dough, and after baking I like to double-roll them through plenty of confectioners’ sugar.
They’re fairly dense, yet somehow seem to just melt in your mouth! Snowball cookies aren’t an overly sweet cookie and are great with a cup of coffee or tea.
There are only 6 key ingredients in these easy cookies that are perfect for setting out at your Christmas parties, holiday entertaining events, for giving as hostess gifts, or for including in cookie exchanges.
They keep very well, making them a good make-in-advance holiday recipe. And everyone who nibbles on a bite-sized snowball cookie will have a hard time resisting a second one!
Ingredients in Pecan Snowball Cookies
For this classic Christmas cookie recipe, you only need 6 extremely common fridge and pantry ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Pecans (or walnuts) – chopped
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – must be brought to room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar (for the dough and for rolling)
- Vanilla extract
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Butter Pecan Snowball Cookies
Making the best Christmas snowball cookies is fast and easy. Here’s how you do it:
- Combine the chopped nuts (either by hand or in a food processor or high speed blender) with the flour, salt, and stir to combine.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the butter, and beat with a stand mixer or hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat to combine. Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, and beat to incorporate.
- Use a small cookie scoop and form the snowballs. Roll them through your palms to smooth them, place them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 to 60 minutes, or up to 3 days.
- Bake the snowball cookies on parchment or Silpat lined baking sheets at 400F for about 7 to 10 minutes, or 375F for 10 to 15 minutes.
- After they’ve cooled slightly, roll through a bowl of confectioners’ sugar. And repeat for the most snowy looking snowballs. Serve and enjoy!
Dough Chilling Tip
Do NOT chill the whole mixing bowl of dough and then later on try to scoop out the cookies. It’ll be rock hard and it’ll crumble and turn into a mess while you suffer trying to chisel it out. Follow my recommendation and chill individual balls of dough.
Cookie FAQs
In case you’re thinking these snowball cookies look and sound familiar to you, that’s because there are many names for the same cookie! Snowball cookies are also called: Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies and butterballs.
It’s really personal preference whether to use pecans or walnuts. Both will work!
Without the addition of the 3/4 cup of chopped pecans (or walnuts) that I use, the dough will be extremely thick and dense, but still workable.
It’s really up to you if you want to toast the nuts. Toasted nuts will have, a well, nuttier and more intense flavor since heat activates their natural oils and intensifies the flavor.
If you decide to toast the nuts, you can either:
1. Add the finely chopped nuts to a dry skillet, and heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until very lightly toasted; stir very frequently.
2. Scatter the finely chopped nuts to a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes in a 300F oven, or until very lightly toasted; open the oven and stir and scatter the nuts a couple times to ensure even toasting.
Yes, you need to chill your snowball cookie dough for optimal results. Namely, so these butter laden cookies don’t spread into buttery puddles in the oven. I recommend a bare minimum of 30 minutes (but 1 to 2 hours is better). 
Yes! You can chill them for up to 72 hours if you want to make these as a make-ahead cookie recipe so that when you’re ready to bake them, that’s really all you need to do.
If you do chill the dough for a long period of time, allow the dough to come to sit at room temp for 20 to 30 minutes before baking those days-long chilled cookies if you go that route because they will be very firm and very cold.
Do NOT chill the whole mixing bowl of dough and then later on try to scoop out the cookies. It’ll be rock hard, it’ll crumble, and will turn into a mess as you futilely attempt to chisel it out.
Instead, chill individual balls of dough. Make some space in your fridge for a large dinner-sized plate. That’s all you’ll need to accommodate 24 small mounds of cookie dough.
Yes of course you can. Double all ingredients. Make sure to chill appropriately and then bake the cookies for the amount of time listed – about 7 to 10 minutes at 400F no matter how many cookies you make.
If making a double batch of cookies, I still advise baking one sheet of cookies at a time, in the center rack of your oven, and rotating the pan once midway through the baking time for optimal results. I’m not a fan of baking two sheets of cookies in the oven at one time. The sheet underneath always turns out paler and just a bit “off”. 
Don’t be nervous if the dough seems dry as you’re trying to combine the flour and chopped nuts mixture with the creamed butter and confectioners’ sugar. It’ll eventually all combine.
Using a 1-tablespoon or small cookie scoop is optimal for the snowballs so that they turn out to be a couple satisfying bites, and not bigger. While you could potentially make them bigger, it’s not traditional, and I worry that the outsides may burn before the interiors cook through with bigger sized cookies.
Rolling the cookie dough balls in powdered sugar as soon as they come out of the oven which soaks in and absorbs into the warm cooking. Then repeat and roll them a second time for the best results in terms of taste and really “snowy looking” snowball cookies.
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Pecan Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup pecans, or walnuts, finely chopped; toasted optional*
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for the dough, sifted (plus more for rolling)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add the flour, chopped pecans or walnuts, salt, and whisk to combine; set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric handheld mixer), add the butter, and beat on high speed for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until soft, fluffy, and creamy. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and initially beat on low speed to incorporate the sugar, and then ramp up to high speed until the mixture is soft and fluffy. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients mixture (flour, nuts, salt) and mix to just incorporate; don't overmix.
- Using a small 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or similar, form approximately 24 equally sized mounds of dough, place them on a large dinner plate, cover with plasticwrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or longer (up to 3 days**). Tips – Do NOT chill the whole bowl of dough and then later on try to later scoop it out because it'll be dry, crumbly, difficult to work with, and this chiseling method is not advised. Use a large dinner plate and find some space in your fridge for 30 to 60 minutes to chill the dough.
- While the dough is chilling or before you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats; set aside. Note – You can also use a 375F oven rather than 400F. The cookies will take longer to bake but will be less prone to burning on the bottoms and you won't need to watch them quite as carefully.
- Place the chilled cookie dough mounds on the baking sheets. Tips – I bake about 12 cookies per sheet. They don't spread much. I bake them one sheet at a time in the center oven rack, rotating the pan once midway through baking, for optimal results. I try to avoid baking two sheets of cookies at once because the sheet baking on the bottom tends to not turn out quite as well as the other sheet.
- If you're baking at 400F, the cookies will bake for about 7 to 10 minutes. At 375F, they'll bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Tips – Because this is quite a hot oven cookies, keep a very close eye on the cookies, especially the bottoms, and bake just until they are barely golden browned and the tops are set. The cookies will continue to firm up as the cool and the bottoms will also darken a bit more, so if in doubt, I recommend pulling them out sooner rather than later. Watch your cookies, in your oven, and not the clock when determining doneness since all ovens, baking sheets, climates, etc. vary so much.
- Allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet before rolling them in confectioners' sugar.
- Add a generous amount (at least 1 cup) of confectioners' sugar to a small bowl, and roll each baked cookie though the sugar. Repeat, assembly line style, until they are all rolled.
- Optional but recommended, roll all the cookies through additional confectioners' sugar a second time. Tips – I do this because in the first round of sugar rolling, the sugar tends to melt into the warm cookies a bit and while delicious, it doesn't give the visual cues of a really snow-covered snowball. For this reason, I roll twice. First round of rolling is for sweetness, second round also adds sweetness but adds the visual effect, too.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temp for up to 10 days. Obviously cookies are best totally fresh, but as cookies go, snowballs are good keepers, making them great for cookie exchanges or as make-ahead cookies.** Baked snowball cookies will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 4 monhts.
Notes
- Add the finely chopped nuts to a dry skillet, and heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until very lightly toasted; stir very frequently.
- Scatter the finely chopped nuts to a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes in a 300F oven, or until very lightly toasted; open the oven and stir and scatter the nuts a couple times to ensure even toasting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes:
Glazed Eggnog Cookies — Soft, buttery tea cakes topped with a creamy eggnog glaze are a Christmas treat that everyone will love!! EASY to make, not at all dry, and great for cookie exchanges or hostess gifts!!
Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies – These traditional sugar cookies are just like Grandma used to make!! They’re thin but still soft, topped with a simple 2-ingredient royal icing, and loaded with sprinkles! So festive and perfect for cookies exchanges or hostess gifts!!
Classic Gingerbread Cookies – Soft and chewy cutout gingerbread cookies filled with plenty of ginger and warming spices! Decorated with a sweet, soft royal icing and topped with cinnamon candies, these gingerbread men are a nostalgic favorite Christmas cookie that everyone adores!
Santa’s Kitchen Sink Cookies – Santa and everyone else won’t be able to resist these AMAZING cookies loaded with everything but the kitchen sink!! EASY, festive, salty-sweet treats with a FUN ingredients list!!
Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies — Christmas sugar cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll cookies that everyone goes crazy for!
No-Roll Christmas Sprinkle Cookies — These tender, buttery holiday sugar cookies use a no-roll dough with the sprinkles baked right in so you don’t even have to decorate them!
For the chocoholic just roll your cookie dough around a Hershey Kiss.before refrigerating and baking for a sweet surprise in the middle.Take care to cover the entire kiss.My son’s favorite cookie.
For the chocoholic just roll your cookie dough around a Hershey Kiss.before refrigerating and baking for a sweet surprise in the middle.Take care to cover the entire kiss.My son’s favorite cookie.
I have that recipe too using pie crust! https://www.averiecooks.com/chocolate-kiss-powder-puff-cookies/
Wow,how simple!I am going to have to try that.
These cookies are amazing! I toasted my pecans in the oven first, I loved the nuttiness in each bite! I thought I had done something wrong at first because the dough seemed quite crumbly but I decided to just go with it make each mound and I am so glad I did! Made them for a family gathering now my husband is asking me to make him boxes of treats for his coworkers! Haha thanks for the recipe! ย
These cookies are amazing! I toasted my pecans in the oven first, I loved the nuttiness in each bite! I thought I had done something wrong at first because the dough seemed quite crumbly but I decided to just go with it make each mound and I am so glad I did! Made them for a family gathering now my husband is asking me to make him boxes of treats for his coworkers! Haha thanks for the recipe! ย
Thanks for the 5 star review and Iโm glad that you stuck with your dough – yes it is a crumbly dough, that’s normal. And now you’ve been given the job to make gifts for your husband’s coworkers! That’s a nice compliment!
Holiday Greetings!
I’ve made a somewhat similar recipe for over 60 years. I got it from my Danish grandmother and it’s called Smor Boller (butter cookies). The recipe is as follows: 350 oven /20 minutes
1 cup room temperature butter
3 tbl sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Cream butter with sugar & add vanilla. Add flour & nuts . Roll into small balls & bake on ungreased cookie sheet 20 minutes or until golden brown on bottom.
Roll in powdered sugar while hot. Then dust again when cooled.
This is my absolute go-to Christmas cookie recipe which brings back fond memories of my childhood holidays with my 1st generation American Danish family.
I have passed this exact recipe to many people over the years.
A woman stopped me a few years ago to thank me for this exact recipe which I’d given to her 30 years ago! She said it is one of Her favorite family recipes which she has passed to her daughters!
And the goodness goes forth! : )
Happy Holidays.
Linda Benson
Thank you for sharing your family recipe and it sounds like it’s been a favorite of so many people for many generations! That is so wonderful! Merry Christmas!
“Snowballs” are fun for Christmas, but they are such a good cookie, we like them as a snack any time of year. So, my mother often rolled the dough into a tube form about an inch and a half in diameter and wrapped it in waxed paper and put it in the freezer. It didn’t take up much space that way. Then it could be sliced into 1/2 inch cookies and baked and sugared. Always delicious. By the way, your recipes are always good, but your photography is fantastic. What camera do you use and who is your great photographer?
“Snowballs” are fun for Christmas, but they are such a good cookie, we like them as a snack any time of year. So, my mother often rolled the dough into a tube form about an inch and a half in diameter and wrapped it in waxed paper and put it in the freezer. It didn’t take up much space that way. Then it could be sliced into 1/2 inch cookies and baked and sugared. Always delicious. By the way, your recipes are always good, but your photography is fantastic. What camera do you use and who is your great photographer?
Thanks for the nice praise and for sharing how your mother made her snowballs, like a slice-and-bake style cookie.
The majority of the photos on my site are taken by me! I have this camera body https://amzn.to/3PqdxPH and use a 100mm prime lens with it.
Hi Averie! Greetings from a -24ยฐF Alberta, Canada morning.
I was wondering if the dough for these cookies can be frozen, prior to baking? My fridge is already jammed so full I probably couldn’t even squeeze a slice of bread in – so trying to freeze as much as possible in advance so I can have a bakinฤฃ marathon next week, thus all cookies will be at their freshest.
Thanks so much!
WOW that is cold. I grew up in Minnesota so I can empathize!
Yes you can freeze the cookie dough balls prior to baking. Do NOT freeze a big bowl of dough. Make sure they are portioned out and ready to go. You can carefully add them to a ziplock and freeze for probably 1-2 months actually before baking them off. Allow them to thaw a bit before baking them off.