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These Vegan Snowball Cookies are the perfect treat for the holiday season. Also known as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes, these have a light and airy dough filled with toasted chopped nuts and dusted with powdered sugar. They’re one of the most delicious and satisfying cookies out there!
This is one of those recipes in which the result far outweighs the amount of effort needed to make it. Like, seriously, these cookies come together so quickly. They’re also actually fun to make! Invite your partner, kids, or whoever to make these with you and you can take turns rolling them around in the powdered sugar.
Ingredients for Vegan Snowball Cookies
- Vegan butter. Since the butter flavor is a huge part of these cookies, make sure to use a brand you like and trust! For more info on vegan butter, check out our comprehensive guide.
- Powdered sugar. To sweeten the dough and to roll our cookies in.
- Flour. This recipe uses all-purpose flour but it will also work perfectly with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour.
- Toasted pecans or walnuts. Chopped nuts give these cookies their signature flavor and as a bonus, your house is going to smell incredible when you toast them up.
- Vanilla extract. Adds a little extra flavor that rounds out these cookies.
- Salt. How much you need will depend on how salty your vegan butter is.
- Plant milk. You only need to use a touch of milk to get your cookies to the right consistency.
How to Make Vegan Snowball Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together softened vegan butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add flour, toasted nuts, and salt, and stir to combine. If the dough seems a little too dry/crumbly to easily form into a ball, stir in 1-2 teaspoons of plant milk.
- Roll the dough in your palms to form small, smooth balls. These cookies don’t spread at all, so you can fit them all on one tray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they look set. They can be very lightly browned on the bottoms but they shouldn’t take on much color otherwise.
- Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes till you’re able to handle them.
- Roll each cookie in powdered sugar to coat. Place the cookies on a wire cooling rack. Once they’re fully cooled, roll in powdered sugar once more.
Gluten-Free Vegan Snowball Cookies
These cookies can be made gluten-free super easily! I’ve made them using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour and they’ve come out perfectly. Since gluten-free flour gives these cookies a slightly drier texture, you’re probably going to need the 1-2 teaspoons of milk. Just something to look out for if you’re going to make this recipe gluten-free.
Storing These Cookies
Vegan snowball cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. If you stack the cookies, I recommend placing a piece of parchment between each layer to keep them from sticking together. (Though honestly, I think it’s physically impossible for a batch of these to last entire week without being eaten.)
More Vegan Dessert Recipes
Vegan Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- silpat or parchment
- cookie sheet
- mixing bowls
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts toasted and finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (only use a pinch if butter is salted)
- 1-2 teaspoons plant milk (ONLY as needed)
For Rolling
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together softened vegan butter, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add flour, toasted nuts, and salt, and stir to combine. If the dough seems a little too dry/crumbly to easily form into a ball, stir in 1-2 teaspoons of plant milk. (This isn't always necessary, depending on which brand of butter you are using and how you measure your flour.)
- Snowball cookies are slightly crumbly, so they're easier to eat when they're small. I like to use exactly one level tablespoon of dough per each cookie. Roll the dough in your palms to form smooth balls. These cookies don't spread at all, so you can fit them all on one tray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they look set. They can be very lightly browned on the bottoms but they shouldn't take on much color otherwise.
- Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes till you're able to handle them. Add powdered sugar into a small bowl and roll each cookie in the sugar to coat. Place the cookies on a wire cooling rack. Roll them in powdered sugar one more time after they are fully cooled.
Storage
- Store Snowball Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. If you stack the cookies, I recommend placing a piece of parchment between each layer to keep them from sticking together.
Notes
- Vegan Butter: Country Crock Plant Butter sticks are my favorite to use in this recipe! (Both the avocado oil and olive oil sticks work great. Make sure to use the sticks and not the tub.)
- Gluten Free: I’ve personally tested this recipe with the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour and it works great! The texture is sightly dryer than cookies made with all-purpose flour, so you will probably need to add the 1-2 teaspoons milk.
