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A plate of snowball cookies thickly dusted with powdered sugar beside a few scattered pecans

Snowball Cookies

Buttery pecan shortbread cookies baked until lightly golden and rolled twice in powdered sugar for a soft, snowy coating.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Chilling 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 4 minutes
Servings: 36 cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 120
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dough
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened (226 g)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar 60 g
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
  • 1 cup pecans toasted and finely chopped (110 g)
Coating
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar for rolling (180 g)

Method
 

Make the dough
  1. Beat the butter and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy, then mix in the vanilla and salt.
  2. Add the flour on low speed until the dough just comes together, then stir in the pecans.
  3. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Bake
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
  2. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place 1 inch apart on the sheets.
  3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the bottoms are lightly golden. Cool for 5 minutes.
Coat
  1. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar and cool completely on a rack.
  2. Roll the cooled cookies in powdered sugar again for a thick coating.

Notes

Storage: Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Freezing: Freeze unbaked dough balls for up to 3 months and bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
Nutrition is an estimate per cookie.