Butterball Cookies, aka Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies, are rich, buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies with finely chopped pecans and a powdered sugar coating. Classic Christmas cookie for your holiday cookie plate.
For more delicious Christmas cookies, try No Spread Cut Out Sugar Cookies with glossy Sugar Cookie Icing or Buttercream Frosting -- both dry until firm enough to stack!
What do you call Butterball Cookies? Mexican Wedding Cookies, Italian Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Snowball Cookies? Whatever you call them, I think we can agree these delicious buttery cookies have earned their well-deserved spot on holiday goodie trays everywhere.
These nostalgic butter balls were a staple on my grandma's legendary cookie tray every holiday season, and this is her recipe -- I still have her recipe card written in her loopy cursive. They're super easy to make with simple ingredients you might already have. So what are you waiting for?
🧈Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Butter. Use room temperature butter; that is, it's not squishy soft but leaves an indent if you press it with your finger.
- Pecans. Even if you're not a fan of nuts in cookies, finely ground pecans just sort of blend into the dough and leave the rich, nutty flavor without big chunks of nuts. You can also use roughly chopped pecans, or any nuts, if you want that extra texture.
- Powdered sugar. Just a little powdered sugar goes into the cookies, and the rest is used to roll the cookies. Once when they're still warm and again when they're cooled.
🍪Variations
- Nuts. Use any kind of nuts, chopped coarsely or finely, or none at all. Almonds, walnuts, or pistachios would be delicious.
- Chocolate chips. Add some mini chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
- Extracts. Instead of vanilla extract, how about peppermint, orange, maple, or almond extract?
- Flavorings. Add a little orange or lemon zest or cinnamon to the cookie dough or a little cinnamon to the powdered sugar (yum!).
🥣How to Make Butterball Cookies
Step 1: Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. To the butter mixture, add the salt, then the flour, in about 3 installments, and mix until just combined into a soft dough. Mix in the pecans on low speed. Chill dough.
Step 2: Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 12-14 minutes until the cookies are set and the bottoms are a light golden brown. Cool baked cookies a few minutes on the pan.
Step 3: Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4: Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar again.
☑️Tips
- If the dough is too stiff when you take it out of the fridge, let it warm slightly at room temperature for easier handling.
- For dough that feels too dry, a few drops of water can help.
- If it feels sticky, work in a bit more flour.
🎁Storage
Store leftover butterball cookies between layers of wax paper or parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
📅Make Ahead
- Freeze the dough. You can freeze a batch of dough or the rolled out cookie dough balls. To freeze the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, then place it in a freezer bag. To freeze the dough balls, freeze them on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer the frozen balls to a freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Freeze the cookies. Freeze cooled cookies coated in powdered sugar in a freezer bag. Once thawed, you may need to give them a fresh coating of powdered sugar.
🎆More of our Favorite Cookies
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📖 Recipe
Butterball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 2 sticks
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Beat the butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the salt and gradually mix in the flour just until it forms a soft dough. Mix in the chopped pecans on low speed until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the cookie dough into 1-tablespoon portions and roll them into balls. Place the cookie balls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are set and the bottoms are very light golden brown. Cool on the pan for a few minutes. While still warm, roll each cookie in powdered sugar and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Roll cooled cookies a second time in powdered sugar.
Notes
Storage
Keep cookies fresh by storing them in an airtight container, layering them with parchment or wax paper. They’ll stay delicious at room temperature for up to one week.Make Ahead
Freezing the Dough: Wrap a batch of dough in plastic wrap, then place it in a freezer-safe bag. Alternatively, roll the dough into individual balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, and transfer to a freezer bag once solid. Dough can be frozen for up to a month. When ready to bake, thaw in the refrigerator. Freezing the Cookies: After baking and fully cooling, place cookies in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to three months. Once defrosted, you may need to give them a fresh coating of powdered sugar, as some of it may dissolve during freezing.Helpful Tips
- If the dough is too stiff when you take it out of the fridge, let it warm slightly at room temperature for easier handling.
- For dough that feels too dry, a few drops of water can help.
- If it feels sticky, work in a bit more flour.
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