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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PIN Snowball Cookies HERE to Save for Christmas
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
- Angel Wing Cookies – Polish Chrusciki
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
Filed Under
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!! 🙂
A favorite that my mom made and I have made for years.❤️
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you for sharing that with me, Lorrie!
Can you substitute gluten free flour for all purpose?
Hi Cynthia! Yes, GF flour will work. Just use a good quality blend that is a 1:1 measure.
These little snowballs are fantastic and so easy to make. I made one small addition of 1/2 tsp of almond extract and they turned out great! Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Hi Susan! I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the Almond Snowball Cookies!
I love your recipes, helpful tips and great reels!
Can I use all Almond flour so it is gluten free?
Hi Judy! I haven’t tested that, but you could use a good quality GF flour blend like- King Arthur measure for measure.
I have not made these yet but have a question.
I do not have a stand mixer. Can I use a handheld?
Hi Diana, a hand held mixer should work great.
The best cookies that I have made, thank you Natasha you’re perfect . I Like your all recipes .
I made these with a Macadamia in the centre. They are utterly delicious. Thanks again Natasha.
You’re so welcome! Happy to hear that you loved the cookies with macadamia!
Has anyone used vegan butter in place of butter in this recipe?
Hi Melanie! I haven’t tried that. I looked through the comments but I didn’t see any other comments about this. I think it’s possible but the cookies could spread more since these often have a higher water content. I would use a good quality vegan baking butter such as- Miyoko’s Creamery European Style Cultured Vegan Butter, or Earth Balance. Let us know how it turns out.
That’s what I was thinking about the spreading. I will try it and let you know!
Yes I have made them with dairy free unsalted butter and they came perfect just I add 1cup of walnuts
These were very delicious, but extremely crumbly! We couldn’t pick them up without it breaking apart…but still tasted amazing! Not sure why this happened though 🤔😅
Hi Jenifer. It sounds like there may have been too much flour. Did you measure by weight? If not, be sure to fluff your flour and spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with a knife.
Hi Natasha!
I want to make these as christmas gifts and froze the dough balls unbaked ahead of time. How long will these last after they are baked? Can I give them out as gifts more than a week ahead? Or is it best to give them out a couple days before christmas? I guess another way to put it is – whats the expiration date after they are baked?
Hi Annika! You can keep them up to 5–7 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Refrigerator for 10-14 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
How do you recommend packing these for travel in checked in baggage ? I want to take some home for Xmas but its a 24hr journey 😕
Hi Jan! I would line the bottom of your container with a folded paper towel to help absorb shock. Add more paper towel between layers and fill any empty space with more paper to avoid movement which causes breaking.
Thank you for the response! I didn’t think of paper towels
Mine were raw inside despite being tiny and my adding extra bake time. Is there something I can do about the ingredient ratio to fix this?
Hi Alexandra, I’m sorry you’re having issues with the recipe. Did you make any changes or substitutions? How are you measuring your ingredients? I have a tutorial here, be sure to measure your flour correctly to ensure the right ratio of ingredients.
I also recommend using an internal oven thermometer (affiliate link) to verify your oven temperature accuracy. Make sure to fully preheat your oven beforehand and if your oven runs cooler, you may need to adjust the temperature rather than bake them longer.
Hello Natasha , I would like to know if I can substitute the regular flour for just almond flour or gluten free all purpose flour? These cookies looks delicious I love sweets but I cannot eat regular flour.
Hi Yessy, I can’t say for sure but I think it should work to substitute some gluten free flour. I don’t have much experience with gluten-free flours but I would suggest using a gluten-free flour that is intended for baking.
Yessy, did you try it with GF flour? I would like to make them for my daughter who cannot have gluten and I was curious how it went.
Hello – I am totally making these! Do you think adding some Mini choc chips would be ok for this type of cookie texture?
Thanks!
Hi Gina, I have not tried adding those myself, but one of my readers mentioned ” I add mini chocolate chips to the recipe (about 6 oz / half bag)”. I hope that helps.
Mine spread into one giant cookie —should I have chilled the balls?
Hi Jessica! This can happen if your butter is too warm or is the proportions of wet/dry ingredients is off. You want to work with softened butter that’s not too warm. If you live in a very warm climate, you may consider refrigerating the dough.
I just made these today. Phenomenal taste, fresh, citrus taste and scent (Yum!) & simple to make.
For transparency, I am not a big Russian Tea Cake fan. The almond snowballs were nice, but need more flavor, in my opinion. I would try changing the vanilla to almond extract, and adding a whole Tablespoon of orange zest or some orange extract. Mechanically, I don’t think you need the whisk attachment. Thank you for the recipe. Merry Chritmas.
This sounds like a good idea – I haven’t made them yet, but I plan on trying this!
How long do these cookies last? Can you freeze the dough and bake them later?
These cookies can be stored for a while. Yes, you can freeze the dough to bake later too. Hope you love them!
Can I freeze the baked balls after the first coat of powdered sugar? Once they have come to room temp after I have taken from freezer, will the second coat/ roll in sugar stick? Thank you! Anna
Hi Anna! 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!
Ok thank you! I’m starting to make them now. I’ll let you know how they turn out. They look SO delicious!😋