Almond snowball cookies are buttery shortbread balls rolled twice in powdered sugar, made start to finish in a food processor. That makes them an easy Christmas cookie for a cookie exchange or a gift tin, with no egg, no leavening and no mixer needed. One log gives about 30 cookies.
Toss them in the powdered sugar twice, once warm and once cold. The warm coat melts into a thin glaze that grips the cookie, and the cold coat sits on top of it and stays chalky white.
The almonds are ground with the sugar, not on their own. Sugar crystals keep the nuts moving and soak up the oil they release. That is the only thing stopping three quarters of a cup of almonds turning into almond butter.
Almond Snowball Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalSliced almonds milled with sugar, then butter and flour pulsed in to a soft dough, chilled as a log and sliced into balls. Baked gently and rolled twice in a snowy coat of powdered sugar.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, sliced and softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- For Coating:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
- Grind the almonds: Pulse the sliced almonds with the granulated sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Grinding them together is what stops the nuts turning oily, so do not grind them on their own.
- Make the dough: Add the butter and process until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl down if the dough climbs the sides. Pulse in the vanilla and almond extracts, then add the flour and salt and pulse to a soft dough.
- Chill the log: Turn the dough onto a large sheet of waxed paper and roll it into a log about 15 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Wrap it and refrigerate 30 minutes. Fifteen inches cut at half an inch gives exactly 30 cookies.
- Shape and bake: Heat the oven to 325 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Cut the chilled log into 1/2 inch pieces and roll each into a ball by hand. Space them on the sheets and bake 15 to 20 minutes, rotating once, until only slightly golden.
- Coat twice: Put the confectioners sugar in a pie plate. Cool the cookies briefly on a rack, then toss them while still warm so the first coat melts and grips. Cool them to room temperature and toss them a second time for the chalky white finish.
Notes
- A 15 inch log cut into 1/2 inch slices gives exactly 30 cookies, and the 114 calories each checks out. Only about half the cup of confectioners sugar ends up on the cookies, so save the rest.
FAQs
Can I use almond flour instead?
You can, but you lose the sugar grinding step that gives this dough its texture. Sliced almonds ground fresh also taste stronger than flour from a bag. If you swap, match the weight rather than the cup measure.
Do I really need a food processor?
For grinding the almonds, yes, since a blender overheats them into paste. The rest of the dough can be made by hand or with a mixer once the nuts are ground. A coffee grinder works for the almonds in small batches.
Why bake at 325 and not 350?
A snowball should be pale, because any browning shows straight through a white sugar coat. The lower oven cooks the center through before the outside colors. Fifteen to twenty minutes at 325 is slower than it looks on paper.
Why does my sugar coating look patchy?
Almost always because the cookies were fully cold for the first toss, so nothing melted and nothing gripped. The first coat has to go on while they are still warm. The same two stage coating idea works on these ginger chocolate crackle cookies.
How long do they keep?
Two weeks in an airtight tin, and the coating holds up better than you would expect. Re-roll them in fresh powdered sugar before serving if they have dulled. Keep them like these apple pie shortbread cookies, cool and sealed.
