Snowball Cookie Recipe (AKA Russian Tea Cakes)

Snowball cookies, also known as Russian tea cakes, are one of our favorite cookies to make a Christmas time. These cookies are very similar to short bread and have a buttery, melt in your mouth crumb. Bits of chopped walnuts (or pecans) add a delightful, nutty crunch. A coating of powdered sugar gives these cookies just the right amount of sweetness and the appearance of a freshly rolled snowball.

These cookies were also one of my mom’s Christmas favorites. She would bake them every single year. After she was diagnosed with ALS and she slowly lost the use of her arms she was no longer able to make Christmas cookies. So last Christmas she requested I bake them for her. She passed away this past June and so it was very bittersweet baking these for the first time this season without my mom. I am thankful that I have these memories of her baking Christmas cookies but it’s also so hard not having her here.

Ingredients you will need for Snowball Cookies:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• About 1 more cup pf powdered sugar for rolling the cookies in

Directions:

• 1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
• 2.) In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
• 3.) Chop the nuts and set aside.
• 4.) In the bowl of a stand mixer mix the butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together thoroughly.
• 5.) Add the vanilla and mix until thoroughly.
• 6.) Add the flour and salt mixture and mix thoroughly.
• 7.) Mix in the chopped nuts.
• 8.) Using a 2tbls cookie scoop, scoop the dough in balls onto the cookie sheet. They can be fairly close together since they will not spread out.
• 9.) Bake for about 15 minutes keeping an eye on them. Once the bottom edge turns the tiniest bit of a golden brown they are done. Do not let them brown!
• 10.) Remove from the oven and while they are still hot roll them in the powdered sugar and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• 11.) Once the cookies have cooled completely roll them in the powdered sugar again. Enjoy!

Notes on making snowball cookies:

• Make sure to pull the butter out ahead of time to make sure it is room temp. These will not come together well if the butter is too cold. Melting the butter will also give the wrong consistency. If you forget to pull the butter out early you can stick the butter (still in the wax paper in a cup or bowl of warm water to speed up the softening time.
• It’s very important to not let these brown so keep an eye on them. Baking time can vary for different ovens. Once the bottom edge gets the tiniest bit of golden brown that’s when they are done. Pull them out immediately.
• Rolling the cookies in the powdered sugar twice, once when they are hot and once when they are cool, makes sure they get a nice coating of powdered sugar.

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