I call these Snowball Cookies
But you may be more familiar with Russian Tea cakes?
Also known as Italian Wedding Cookies OR Mexican Wedding cookies.
Whatever you call them they are delicious!
I have made these cookies every year to compliment my cookie platters for over 2 decades!
I cannot even imagine how many I have eaten over that same course of time! Yikes!
They are quite possibly my favorite cookies, and I guess because for me they remind me of Christmas I just naturally call them Snowball Cookies!
They are crispy inside with sweet and velvety nutty goodness!
A perfect bite to pop in your mouth!
You may notice the actual dough part is a very low sugar recipe, partly because they warm balls of bliss get rolled two times into powdered sugar right out of the oven for a sweet coating!
These cookies are part of my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies recipe series!
I have at times, subbed in Pumpkin Seeds & Peanuts in place of the Walnuts & Pecans since my boyfriend is allergic to those.
The results were spectacular and so much cheaper too!
- Vegan Butter 1 cup (226g)
- Granulated Sugar ½ cup (100g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons
- Pecans ¾ cup
- Walnuts ½ cup
- All Purpose Flour 2 cups (250g)
- Confectioners Sugar for coating 1½ cup
- Lightly roast the nuts in a 300°F on a sheet pan for 5 minutes, then cool and process then fine in a food processor
- Cream the vegan butter with sugar just to combine well, then add the vanilla extract.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl for an even mix, then add the sifted flour all at once and mix just until combined
- Add the cooled chopped nuts and mix well.
- Scoop the cookies with a #100 cookie scoop onto a parchment lined sheet pan spaced approximately 1" apart and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 20 minutes or light golden browned.
- Let cool for just a couple minuted then toss them gently into the confectioners sugar
- Shake off the excess, return the to the sheet pan and then sprinkle them with additional powdered sugar
I just made these and they are the best vegan cookies I’ve made so far, by far. This will be a go-to for me during the holidays. Thank you Gretchen!!!
YAY! Thank you for the feedback I am glad you liked them! So do I ! they are dangerous (but so easy so if I eat them all I can just make them again! LOL)
My husband claims these are his new favorite Christmas cookie and I have to agree. SO GOOD! They are light woth just the right sweetness and a perfect pairing for a (morning!) cup of coffee. Five stars for sure!
Love these! Did a gluten free version with King Arthur gf flour. Turned out perfectly, and because of the shortbready nature of snowballs, the grittiness of the gf flour was barely noticeable.
The following were made with regular flour, bob’s red mill…
Also great with a handful of candy cane bits in the powdered sugar coating. (did a batch with the candy cane bits in the cookie dough, but they spread a bit and didn’t stay in nice round balls. Were a bit chewy too, but super tasty)
I tried a Grinch version too! subbed pistachios for the pecans and added 1/2 cup of finely chopped dried cranberries. Used trader joe’s orange infused crans. Also added a few drops of green food gel coloring.
Looking forward to trying a gingerbread version…not sure how adding a bit of molasses will work.
Thanks for the amazing and successful recipes you give us!! Blessed 🙂
I was looking to “veganize” this classic cookie and was so happy to stumble across your recipe. They taste just like the ones I ate growing up, which is exactly what I was going for. I used Country Crock Plant Butter (avocado oil variety) and my dough was pretty sticky–especially since I just used a teaspoon when making the balls–but this didn’t impact cook time or flavor. Next time I’ll use pecans only simply out of personal preference. Looking forward to making these again and again for years to come–thank you!
Hi Gretchen I’m new to this Vegan don’t even know what it is lol but sure do like the snowball cookie’s .I have a few ? ….. where do I find vegan butter ? where can I find a good cookie scoop like the one you use I’m tired of my cookie scoops breaking on me God Bless
Hey there! Vegan Butter is essentially margarine, however not all are created equally. I prefer Earth balance (brand) it is the best, but if you cannot get that you can use any one that does not list “milk products” on the ingredients list.
As for thew scoops I use – Check out my Amazon Page here for reference