These pecan snowball cookies made an appearance at family gatherings just about every Christmas during my childhood. My aunt Susie, a fabulous baker, used to bring a tin of these treats to us during the holiday season. These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth delicacies also made a special appearance in Episode 4 of Baked with Love: Holiday, where my husband and I were contestants!
We used these cookies for decoration around our gingerbread house on TV! 📺 While the gingerbread structure was a large build I don't plan to recreate anytime soon, this beloved, simple recipe deserved a place on my site.
These classic snowball cookies are easy, nostalgic, and perfect for holidays, cookie exchanges, or enjoying with afternoon tea or a pot of coffee.
🎄 For more holiday cookies and desserts, check out these recipes:
- Saffron orange trifle with cardamom - This was a winning recipe for us on the show, and it used a beloved orange cake recipe from Saman's grandmother.
- Dark bark and snow chocolate Yule log - Another winning recipe from our time on Hallmark Channel's Baked with Love: Holiday, this is a showstopper of a dessert for Christmas dinners and gatherings.
- Big batch chocolate chip cookies - These cookies are a constant at the holidays; I've been making and tweaking the recipe for over 15 years!
- Christmas tree sugar cookies - These are one of my favorite festive desserts to bake during December! I have a full tutorial with how to bake them, as well as make the buttercream you use to dress them up. ⭐️
We had the time of our lives appearing on Hallmark’s baking competition series, Baked with Love: Holiday, which premiered October 27, 2025!
Jump to:
- 📋 Ingredients for these Classic Christmas Cookies
- 📝 Snowball Cookies: A Dessert by Many Names
- Best Results: Baking in Grams
- Step-by-Step Instructions to Bake Pecan Snowball Cookies
- 💡 Tips for Perfect Snowball Cookies
- 💭 Variations and Substitution
- ❄️ Storage, Serving, & Make-Ahead Tips
- Related Recipes You'll Love
- Snowball Cookies by Aunt Susie
📋 Ingredients for these Classic Christmas Cookies
These old-fashioned snowball cookies use simple pantry staples and come together in just one bowl with a handful of ingredients (only 6!!). Find all the steps in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Unsalted butter - While you don't want to taste butter in a baked good, you do absolutely want the flavor and texture it imparts! Butter gives these cookies a smooth and creamy mouthfeel as you eat them. Yum!
- Powdered sugar - Key for sweetness, the powdered sugar gives them their lovely "snowball" appearance.
- Vanilla extract - Gives the cookies a cozy, comforting flavor.
- All-purpose flour - Helps hold the cookies together and gives structure.
- Salt - Salt balances out the cookies' sweetness.
- Finely chopped pecans - They add a nutty flavor inside these simple cookies, as well as give them a bit more texture. Alternatively, make your batch nut-free by omitting this ingredient. Or swap in another nut (like walnut or pistachio, to name a few) if you prefer.
📝 Snowball Cookies: A Dessert by Many Names
Traditional snowball cookies. Mexican wedding cookies. Italian wedding cookies. Russian tea cakes. Pecan butter balls. Pecan snowball cookies. Pecan snowballs.
Each of these terms may be what you or a loved one calls these cookies. When I was trying to name this post, I went through all the iterations!
We did typically refer to them as Russian teacakes when I was growing up. That said, snowball cookies feel a bit easier to understand and visualize.
But if you've tried one of the cookies above, you've enjoyed a treat very similar to the classic Christmas cookie recipe you'll find here.
Best Results: Baking in Grams
If you’re not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.
While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.
I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Bake Pecan Snowball Cookies
Start by preheating the oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepping the nuts. Chop pecans into small, finely sized pieces or run them through a food processor.
Cream the base: In a medium bowl, cream butter together with powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
Add dry ingredients & nuts: Stir in the flour, salt, and chopped nuts. The dough will look crumbly at first, so continue mixing until it holds its shape and is more cohesive.
Shape and arrange the cookies: Shape dough into balls or mounds, and place them about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake: Bake cookie dough balls for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they're set but not browned.
Cool slightly: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.
Coat in powdered sugar: While still warm, roll cookies in a shallow bowl with powdered sugar. Let them cool completely, then roll a second time for a thicker “snowy” coating.
💡 Tips for Perfect Snowball Cookies
- Don’t brown them! Their pale color is part of their signature look and texture.
- Warm cookies hold powdered sugar best. The first roll helps it melt slightly; the second gives it that snowy coating.
- Chop nuts very finely to keep the dough from crumbling.
- Scoop dough evenly so cookies bake at the same rate.
💭 Variations and Substitution
- 🍊 Citrus - If you prefer an orange or lemony kick, zest one of these fruits and add a half a teaspoon or so to the dough.
- 🫖 Spiced - To make them even cozier, ground spices like cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger could all be interesting to add into this dough. Try adding a teaspoon or so.
- 🌰 Change or omit the nut - I've seen versions of these cookies online that use other nuts like walnut or pistachio. Pecan is the go-to in our family, but these other options would be worth trying! I've also seen recipes with toasted pecans, which would be another way to intensify the nuttiness if that's your thing and you have the time! Also, for loved ones with a nut allergy, you can skip this ingredient entirely.
- 🍫 Alternative mix-ins like dried fruit or mini chocolate chips - For another twist, you could swap in some dried fruit (like dried cranberries). I'd also enjoy these with chocolate chips in them.
At Christmas time or year-round, these are one of my favorite cookies because they're so versatile!
❄️ Storage, Serving, & Make-Ahead Tips
Room temperature: Store cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Freezing: These freeze well, and my grandmother used to do this often so she could savor and enjoy these melt-in-your-mouth cookies!
Store baked cookies (already coated in sugar) in a freezer-safe container up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp and re-roll in powdered sugar if needed.
Make ahead: You can also freeze the unbaked cookie dough balls and bake them straight from frozen. Just add an extra minute or two to their time in the oven and be sure to remove before browning.
☕️ For serving, I most enjoy these pecan cookies at room temperature with a mug of tea or coffee! But the options are endless and adaptable to your preferences and needs.
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Related Recipes You'll Love
Snowball Cookies by Aunt Susie
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies 1x
Description
These melt-in-your-mouth pecan snowball cookies are an easy holiday classic. They're made with just six pantry staples and a mixing bowl. In our family, they made an appearance nearly every Christmas and are a favorite I hope you'll enjoy making and sharing, too.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (339 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (135 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (165 grams) finely chopped pecans
- Extra powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat and prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C), and chop pecans into small, finely sized pieces.
- Cream the base: In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
- Add dry ingredients and nuts: Stir in the flour, salt, and chopped nuts. Mix until the dough holds together when pressed.
- Shape the cookies: Shape dough into snowballs, as well as flat concentric disks to stack into tree shapes. You can also use a tree cookie cutter for more tree-style cookies. (For green trees, roll the tree-shaped balls in dark green sanding sugar before baking.)
- Arrange on baking sheet: Set cookies about 1 inch apart on an ungreased aluminum baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the cookies are set but not browned.
- Cool slightly: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.
- Coat in powdered sugar: While still warm, roll cookies in powdered sugar. Let them cool completely, then roll again in powdered sugar for a thicker “snowy” coating.
Notes
This nutritional information is an estimate based on ingredient data and standard calculations. Exact values may vary depending on specific brands, preparation techniques, and serving sizes. For the most accurate results, consider using a nutrition calculator with your specific ingredient labels.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 149 kcal
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.4 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 1.4 g
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
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