Pecan snowball cookies are perfect for the holidays. Not only is this recipe simple and easy, it is the perfect balance of nutty, sweet, and buttery.
Pecan snowball cookies are the perfect ending to my holiday cookie series this week because they are my favorite. Not only is this recipe simple and easy, it is the ideal balance of nutty, sweet, and buttery. I love how these cookies practically melt in your mouth!
And if you’re not much of a nut fan, DON’T LEAVE! I’m not huge on nuts in my cookies but I seriously love these pecan cookies. They aren’t your typical cookie and the nuts aren’t just an addition to the dough, they are an integral part of it!
Pecan cookies are known by a lot of names: pecan snowball cookies, pecan crescent cookies, nut crescent cookies, Russian wedding cookies, or Russian tea cakes. But no matter what they are called they are delicious. You will probably be surprised at the simple and short ingredient list, it doesn’t take much to make these babies!
You may also be surprised that there isn’t much sugar in the dough. I love that about this recipe! The powdered sugar coating adds plenty of sweetness, any more sugar in the dough would be overpowering. Speaking of the powdered sugar coating, I’ll let you in on a little secret.
The easiest way to coat the cookies is to gently place them in a gallon size zip-top bag, add the powdered sugar, and gently move the bag around until all the cookies are coated. No mess and perfectly coated cookies. Plus you can just store them in the bag. Double bonus.
But, the real star of the show in these pecan snowball cookies is, of course, the pecans! I think the perfect texture is achieved by chopping half of the nuts finely, and the other half even more finely.
You can do this one of two ways – by hand, or in a food processor. If you opt for the food processor method just divide the pecans in half so you can get the varied texture.
If you’re chopping by hand, I find it’s easiest to chop about 1/2 cup at a time. If you have a sharp knife, this will be much easier. Actually, everything in the kitchen is easier with a sharp knife. {Need a knife sharpener? Get this one.}
I usually chop the nuts for this recipe by hand. Because I’m too lazy to get out my food processor and thinking about washing it feels overwhelming most days. Ha!
These cookies will be a perfect addition to your holiday celebrations this year. Try them! And don’t forget to check out my awesome post on the tips for the best Christmas cookie recipes!
If you like these pecan cookies, you’ll love some of my other favorite Christmas cookies!
- Chewy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Sablés – French Butter Cookie Recipe
- Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups pecans
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Chop pecans - you want a mixture of finely chopped and very finely chopped. I like to do this by hand, but if you want to use a food processor just divide the pecans in half, processing one half very fine and the other half not as fine.
- Whisk together flour, pecans and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add vanilla and mix well.
- Mix in flour mixture until just combined. The dough will be very crumbly but hold together when pressed.
- Use a tablespoon measure to form rounded balls. If you want the dough to be a crescent shape, place the ball of dough on the cookie sheet and gently form it into a crescent.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, the dough should be light and dry and just starting to brown on the bottom.
- Cool for 30 minutes and then toss in powdered sugar.
- I find the easiest way to do this is to gently place cookies in a gallon size bag, add the powdered sugar, and gently move the bag around until all the cookies are coated.
Kim says
Do you ever freeze these? Should I freeze dough balls or after they’re baked but before they’re dusted? Or are they some that are just better when they’re fresh?
Alli says
If you freeze these, I would highly recommend you freeze dough balls before they are baked. That makes sure the cookies will be fresh!
Alli says
One of our favorite Christmas cookies!
Kim says
These are in the oven now. I can’t wait to taste them! Except I’m super bummed because I had to halve the recipe since I didn’t have quite enough pecans to do a full. But I forgot to halve the salt! Gah! I hate when I mess up the easy math. Oh well. I know I’ll eat them anyway. 🙂 Merry Christmas cookies!
Kim says
So they do taste a bit salty, but really they are divine otherwise! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Alli says
I do stuff like that ALL the time. I am not to be trusted with simple math when baking. I’m glad they still turned out ok!