Easy Holiday Walnut Pecan Snowballs
BUTTERY, SNOWBALLS FILLED WITH PECANS AND WALNUTS THEN ROLLED IN ICING SUGAR
These Holiday Walnut Pecan Snowballs are buttery and will melt in your mouth with a bit of crunch from the walnuts and pecans.
Although snowballs with no nuts is an option especially if you have an allergy or just don’t care for nuts.
Just leave the nuts out of the recipe.
These Walnut Pecan Ball Cookies with powdered sugar are made all over the world and many different ways.
I pop one of these snowballs in my mouth and instantly you hear, Mmmm, Mmmm.
I’m like an 8-month-old child trying cookies for the first time.
Baking For Christmas
It’s now December and with the festive season upon so is baking Christmas Cookies and this Holiday Walnut Pecan Snowballs recipe is an easy Christmas cookie recipe.
This snowball cookies recipe is no-fail and really no effort at all to make.
A sweet bonus to making snowballs is that you can make them months in advance so you don’t have to rush bake near the holidays.
They are actually very budget-friendly and the kids can help to make them as well.
If you remember from reading the previous Grocery Game Challenge- Ho, Ho, Ho Holiday Treats, I gave you a full rundown of what I was going to make each week in December for the upcoming festivities.
The goal is to finish them all and it’s a lofty goal for us but we will try.
Traditional Holiday Snowballs Recipe
Mrs.CBB has been making these recipes compliments of her grandmother for many years as holiday baking is a tradition in her family.
Now we both make all of her family’s traditional Christmas treats together like Santa and Mrs. Clause.
However, I’m far from having a white beard, large tummy, elves to do my dirty work and reindeer to whisk me away.
Using Pecans and Walnuts For Snowballs
We’ve made a few changes to the recipes over the years but for the most part, they are the same.
Today what I did with this recipe and Mrs.CBB agreed was to mix the walnuts and pecans.
Previous years we would just add walnuts and that’s perfectly fine.
You must make sure that the nuts aren’t big chunks so even a blitz in the food processor works.
We put ours in a plastic bag and use a meat mallet to bash them until they are small.
What happens when the nuts are big is that they protrude out of the snowball and it cracks in half.
I do caution with these cookies that you watch them like a hawk.
You must check them after 5 mins to see what the bottom looks like.
If the bottom is brown (see pic below) they are done.
Don’t worry if the tops are still white, get them out of the oven and into some icing sugar for the first dusting.
Once you pull them out they will still be hot, wait about 2 minutes and then gently roll them into a tray of confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar).
Some of the icing sugar will melt around the snowballs at this point and that is normal.
Set the snowballs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper to cool and then repeat the process.
The second coating of icing sugar will turn these balls into something magical and perfect for any gathering.
How To Store Holiday Snowballs For Christmas
We store our snowballs in the freezer for up to 3 months, sometimes longer if they don’t all get eaten up as we make lots.
Take them out and let them come to room temperature before serving.
These Holiday Walnut Snowballs are buttery with a nutty texture and melt in your mouth.
How To Make Holiday Walnut Pecan Snowballs
Ingredients For Holiday Snowballs
Recipe- Yield about 72 Holiday Walnut Pecan Snowballs or 6 Dozen (this recipe can be halved)
The printable version of this recipe is at the bottom of the page.
Tools:
- Stand Mixer or Bowl (manual)
- 3 Baking Sheets
- Container for icing sugar to roll balls
- knife to cut the butter
- parchment paper to line trays
Prep Time:
- 10-15 minutes prep
- 5-8 minutes to cook in a 350-degree oven
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups of unbleached flour
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla
- 1.5 cups crushed walnuts
- 1.5 cups of crushed pecans
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt (not in the picture above)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups of icing or confectioners sugar for rolling
Step-by-Step Instructions To Make Holiday Snowballs
Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In your mixer put in your butter which you cut into cubes
- Mix the butter with the sugar until fluffy
- Add in the vanilla, salt, and mix to incorporate 1 minute
- Add in the flour bit by bit while mixing
- Add in the nuts and mix to incorporate it all. It will come away from the bowl or look like the picture below.
- You can do all the above in a bowl by hand if you don’t have a mixer.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
- Roll the balls into small to medium balls, bit bigger than bite size and place on the baking sheet. These cookies hardly rise at all so you can place them closer together, just not touching. I put about 5 to a line.
- Place them in the oven to bake 5-10 minutes and at 5 minutes check to see if the bottoms are brown like the picture above. If so pull them out, let stand 1 minute then roll in the icing for the first roll. They will still be hot and that’s ok just be gentle with them so they don’t break.
- After about one hour when they cool down completely give them their second and final roll in the icing sugar and they are ready to enjoy!!
- It’s that easy!!!!
Holiday Snowballs Printable Recipe
- 1 lb of unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups of unbleached flour
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla
- 1.5 cups crushed walnuts
- 1.5 cups of crushed pecans
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt (not in the picture above)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups of icing or confectioners’ sugar for rolling
- Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In your mixer put in your butter which you cut into cubes
- Mix the butter with the sugar until fluffy
- Add in the vanilla, salt and mix to incorporate 1 minute
- Add in the flour bit by bit while mixing
- Add in the nuts and mix to incorporate it all. It will come away from the bowl or look like the picture below.
- You can do all the above in a bowl by hand if you don’t have a mixer.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
- Roll the balls into small to medium balls, bit bigger than bite size and place on the baking sheet. These cookies hardly rise at all so you can place them closer together, just not touching. I put about 5 to a line.
- Place them in the oven to bake 5-10 minutes and at 5 minutes check to see if the bottoms are brown like the picture above.
- If so pull them out, let stand 1 minute then roll in the icing for the first roll.
- They will still be hot and that’s ok just be gentle with them so they don’t break.
- After about one hour when they cool down completely give them their second and final roll in the icing sugar and they are ready to enjoy!!
If you find that the recipe is too much you can easily half the recipe.
So, if you are looking for a recipe for walnut or pecan Holiday Snowballs this is the one, try it out!
Coming up Next Sunday…Mr.CBB’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Discussion: What is your favourite Holiday Treat? Leave me your comments below and I’ll be sure to respond.
Mr.CBB
