These almond snowball cookies just melt in your mouth. They are perfect Christmas cookies and look like darling little snowballs. They remind me of these Russian Tea Cakes but these snowball cookies have more of a melting consistency. Get it? Melting? Hee hee.
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The almond paired with orange zest is a delicious and highly irresistible combination. Here’s the story behind these: I bought tons of almond meal/flour for the endless macaron testing that I did and had some leftover so I decided to try it in these snowball cookies. And WOW!!!
These are melt-in-your-mouth good and the best snowball cookies I’ve ever had!
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Can Snowball Cookies be Frozen?
This snowball cookie recipe freezes really well so they are a make-ahead cookie #SCORE!! Make them fully including powdered sugar and just dust with fresh powdered sugar once they are thawed and sitting on your cookie platter. They’ll taste just as good as the day you made them!
Ingredients for Snowball Cookies:
- We used store-bought almond meal/flour. The package should say either “Extra Fine Almond Meal” Or “Almond Flour”. You can make your own almond flour using blanched almonds.
- Use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Do not skip the oranze zest. A little goes a long way in both flavor and aroma.
- For the cookies to form correctly, dry ingredients must be measured correctly.
How to make Snowball Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 1 extra large (I LOVE that I can fit them all on this 3/4 size cookie sheet) or use 2 regular cookie sheets with parchment paper.
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer (highly recommend this mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together 2 sticks butter, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla, until smooth.
2. Switch to the paddle attachment and gradually mix in 2 cups all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Once well incorporated, add 1 cup almond meal and 1/2 Tbsp orange zest and mix until well incorporated.
The dough stuck slightly to the spatula but not at all to my hands. If very sticky, add 1-2 Tbsp more flour (I didn’t need to).
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls (this small ice cream scoop made it so easy and exact!) and place them on prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart. You should get 38-40 cookies.
Don’t make them too large or they won’t bake through properly. Bake 11-13 min, or until bottoms are golden and edges are barely golden (I bake 11 min for softer cookies). Remove from baking sheet and let cool 5 minutes.
4. Fill a bowl with powdered sugar and roll the cookies in it while they are still warm (not hot, or they make the powdered sugar gummy). Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
It’s best on a wire rack so the powder sugar doesn’t become moist but they will still be ok if they cool on the parchment paper.
5. Once cookies are at room temperature, roll in powdered sugar again or dust the tops with a mini sieve (here’s the one in my picture) to give them that snowy look.
Watch How to Make Snowball Cookies:
We love these tea cookies year round (not just for the holidays), but they sure are a treat and look beautiful on a Christmas cookie platter!
More Christmas Cookie Recipes:
- Russian Tea Cakes – crumbly, buttery perfection
- Shell Cookies – laced with meringue and walnuts
- Baklava – the ultimate holiday treat!
- Jeweled Biscotti – perfect for holiday gifting
Almond Snowball Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, (16 Tbsp) softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar , plus 1 1/2 cups more for rolling cookies
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
- 1/2 tsp fine salt, I used fine sea salt
- 1 cup almond flour, or fine almond meal
- 1/2 Tbsp orange zest, from 1 medium orange
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 3/4 size cookie sheet or 2 regular cookie sheets with parchment paper.
How to Make Snowball Cookies:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together 1/2 lb butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, until smooth.
- Switch to paddle attachment and gradually mix in 2 cups all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Once incorporated, add 1 cup almond meal and 1/2 Tbsp orange zest and mix until well blended. The dough will stick slightly to the spatula but not to finger tips. If very sticky, add 1-2 Tbsp more flour.
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls (a small ice cream scoop makes it easy and exact). Place them on prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart. You should get 38-40 cookies. Don't make them too large or they won't bake through properly. Bake 11-13 min, or until bottoms are golden and edges are barely golden (I bake 11 min for softer cookies). Remove from baking sheet and cool 5 min.
- Fill a bowl with powdered sugar and roll the cookies in it while they are still warm (not hot). Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cookies are at room temp, roll in powdered sugar again or dust the tops with a mini sieve for a snowy look.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I hope you are having a Merry Christmas season. Is your tree up? Are you done shopping? Did you order Christmas cards? So many questions!! 🙂
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha!! These cookies look delicious! I was wondering, could I add almond extract to make them taste more almondy? Or does the almond meal do that on its own? I love the stronger almond flavor but I don’t want it to be overpowering! I love your recipes so much!! Thank you 🙂
Hi Kate! I’m so glad you loved the cookies. Yes, you can add a little almond extract. Almond extract can be overpowering so I would start with a small amount and add increase it from there until you reach your desired taste preference.
I have baked these cookies today and they taste amazing. Super easy to make and the ingredients were super well described. Definitely eat them with some team The only problem was that my Russian husband has never heard of them lol I will continue making your recipes to see which dishes he actually knows (true Siberian man)
I’m so glad you enjoyed the process and cookies, Marla! Thank you so much for sharing that great review with me!
Hai Natasha, I love your recipes and the way you present it! About the almond snowball cookies, can I change the all purpose flour into a gluten-free flour? Please let me know, thanks! Anna
I haven’t tested that so I can’t say for sure but I think it should work. I don’t have much experience with gluten-free flour but I would suggest using a gluten-free flour that is intended for baking.
Annechien, I use King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure in bake goods just swapping out equal amount for the flour and this always works for me. Hope this helps.
Natashas can you subsitute almonds for walnuts? i have a lot of walnuts on hand. thank you love your posts….
Hi Donna, it could work great but adding crushed walnuts could make it more crumbly and make it harder for them to stay together.
I’m looking forward in making these for my daughter’s bridal shower. I would like to make them a few weeks before the event and I just wanted to know if these freeze well.
Hi Maria! Yes, they do. You can freeze them in an air-tight container once they have cooled. Thaw them at room temperature and dust with fresh powder sugar before serving! I hope they are a hit!
Hi Natasha, how can you shape the ball to 1” when your ice cream scooper is 7 cm (= 2.75”) in diameter. Thanks.
Hi Donna, you are referring to a regular ice cream scoop and I was using a small cookie scoop to make these Snowball Cookies. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha ,
I love this recipe. I’m not a big fan of any citrus zest so I had omitted that , instead I added some orange blossom water and these tasted AMAZINGLY unique. I know in Morocco they use a lot of almond flor and orange blossom water to create pastries. I was wondering, can I substitute vegetable oil instead of butter? I have a vegan coworker and I wanted her to try it.
Hi Yelena! I have not tested it to advise. You may find this comment from one of my readers helpful, “Instead of 16 tbsp of butter, I had to add 18 tbsp of coconut oil and add some more almond milk to get that consistency. Then followed the same baking instructions. It turned out great.” I hope this helps.
Hi Natasha, thank you for this amazing recipe! I loved it just as all the others on your page that I have tried! I added the juice of the orange too, not only the zest, and I enjoyed this flavor so much! Making them again for youth group!
You’re welcome, we’re so glad you love it!
Hi,Dear
Thank you for your good recipe
Everything I made from your recipe&video
But my question for snowball cookies for 1 cup almond
96 grams is ok for 1 cup
Thank you
Hi! It is about 112 g almond flour.
I made these cookies and they are so delicious! I didn’t have an orange so I added some orange extract. Thank you for the recipe.
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Debbie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made the almond snowball cookies. I like them but I think adding some fine granulated sugar and some nuts will give it more flavor. In my opinion all that it needs is more sugar confectioners sugar was just not enough for me .Too bland. Love all of your recipes though! Thank you !
Hi Joanne, these are intended to be rolled in a generous amount of powdered sugar so make sure not to skip that step before serving.
Hi Natasha, I made these last year and they were melt in your mouth perfect! But I can’t remember if I A) sifted my flour and B) do you chill the dough at all before baking? Thanks!
Hi Dee, I did not sift, and I did not chill these before baking! I’m so glad you’re planning to make them again! That’s so great!
These are delicious!!! Make sure to test one first, as 11 minutes was a hair too long in my oven!
If I only have salted butter on hand, will that work? Also will the zest of a mandarin work just as well? Thanks!
Hi Mary, I would definitely omit the salt and just use what you have on hand. 2 sticks of salted butter typically have 3/4 tsp salt. I think that should still be ok although you may be able to taste the salt slightly more.
I add mini chocolate chips to the recipe (about 6 oz / half bag)
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Debbie! I hope you loved it!
Help! My batter is dry and crumbly. I can’t even form the balls! What happened?? All ingredients are correct. Thx!
Hi Angela, it is most likely due to adding too much flour. Be sure to measure flour correctly or you can get 25% too much flour.
Is Almond meal & Almond flour the same thing??
Thank you ,Natasha
Hi Mary, almond meal is usually made from raw (unpeeled) almonds, almond flour is made from blanched (peeled) almonds. Compared to almond meal, almond flour has a more delicate/ finer texture and lighter color.
How long would they stay fresh? Should I keep them inside the fridge ?
Hi Erika, I have kept them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
My family loved loved these cookies. They are soft and buttery and the orange zest gives them a beautiful flavor . Thank u
That is the best when the family loves what we moms make. That’s so great!
Hi Natasha can I leave these in the freezer for couple of weeks and then bake them? Or is it better to bake first?
Hi Amina, They freeze best baked. I haven’t tried freezing the dough alone. If adding the powdered sugar before freezing, I would freeze between layers of plastic wrap in a freezer-safe container.
Can I put finely chopped almonds? I love something crunchy in my cookies
Hi there, I honestly haven’t tried that yet but I imagine that should be okay. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.