My grandma Barbara was the Christmas queen. The tree was perfect, the cookie tins were full, and everything appeared exactly when it was supposed to. Snowball cookies were part of that rhythm, and now they’re part of mine. I don’t change much about them, because they don’t need it.
Snowball Cookies
Snowball cookies were my grandma Barbara’s signature Christmas cookie. If there was a holiday gathering, these were on the table in multiple tins, usually disappearing faster than expected. They’re simple, buttery, and unapologetically old-school. The chopped pecans give them that perfect crumbly crunch, and the powdered sugar does what powdered sugar does best: ends up everywhere. I still make these every Christmas, partly because they’re excellent, and partly because they’re one of those recipes that feels like a requirement if you want the season to feel right.
Notes From the Kitchen:
Chop your pecans from whole nuts so you can control the size. You want them small enough to blend but still big enough to add some bite.
I always mix in the flour before the pecans to make sure the butter is fully incorporated—nobody wants butter pockets or dry patches.
Roll the dough into balls and chill them before baking. This helps them keep their adorable little snowball shape instead of flattening into sad blobs.
Don’t skip the double roll in powdered sugar—first while warm, then again after they cool. This gives them their signature snowball look.
Pecan Snow Ball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter (Unsalted )
- 2½ cups sifted powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Finely Chopped Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350°F
- Cream butter until soft; add ½ cup of the powdered sugar, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla; continue creaming until thoroughly mixed.
- Stir in flour first, then pecans. Dough should be very thick and somewhat crumbly.
- Shape dough into small balls, no more than 1 inch diameter. Refrigerate for 1 or more hours to ensure cookies stay in ball form in the oven.
- Place on baking sheet and bake in 350°F oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from baking sheet and quickly roll the hot cookies in the remaining 2 cups powdered sugar.
- Cool; roll again in powdered sugar. Store in a tight container.
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