Snowball Cookies (Russian Tea Cakes)

Before you start

Snowballs go by many names, including Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies, and nearly every version is the same simple idea: butter, a little powdered sugar, flour and finely chopped nuts, rolled into balls and coated in more powdered sugar. There is no egg and no leavening, so the cookies stay round and bake into a sandy, crumbly texture that melts on the tongue.

Two things lift them above average. Toast the nuts first, which turns their flavor from flat to rich, and chop them fine so the balls hold together. Then coat the cookies twice: once while they are warm, so a thin layer melts and sticks as a base, and again once cool, for the thick snowy finish. Bake them until the bottoms are lightly golden but the tops stay pale.

Ingredients

• Dough120 g (1 cup) pecan or walnut halves
• 225 g (1 cup) unsalted butter — softened
• 50 g (½ cup) powdered sugar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• 250 g (2 cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• Coating120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar — for rolling

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Toast the nuts on a baking sheet for 7 to 9 minutes, until fragrant and a shade darker. Cool them completely, then chop them very fine, almost to coarse crumbs. If using a processor, pulse with 2 tablespoons of the flour to keep them from turning oily.
2. Beat the butter, 50 g powdered sugar and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes, until creamy.
3. Add the flour, salt and chopped nuts and mix on low until the dough comes together in clumps. Press it into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes so it is easier to shape.
4. Line two sheets with parchment. Roll the dough into 20 g balls (about 1 tablespoon), smoothing any cracks, and space them 4 cm (1½ in) apart. They spread very little.
5. Bake one sheet at a time for 14 to 16 minutes, until the bottoms are light golden and the tops are set but still pale.
6. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, just until you can handle them. Roll each warm cookie in the coating sugar and set it on a rack. The first coat will look patchy and partly melted.
7. When the cookies are completely cool, roll them in the powdered sugar a second time for a thick, even white coat.

Tips for success

• Warm cookies are fragile. Roll them gently with a fork or your fingertips rather than tossing them in the bowl.
• Sift the coating sugar if it is lumpy, and save any leftover for a last dusting before serving.
• A small cookie scoop makes uniform balls quickly, which matters here because they all bake on one schedule.

Substitutions

Pecans

Walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts work at the same weight. Almonds give a firmer, lighter-colored cookie; hazelnuts need their skins rubbed off after toasting.

All-purpose flour

A measure-for-measure gluten-free flour blend works well here since there is no structure to build. The dough may need 1 tablespoon of water to hold together.

Unsalted butter

Salted butter is fine; omit the added salt. Margarine or spreads with a lot of water make the cookies spread and lose their round shape.

Variations

Chocolate snowballs

Replace 30 g of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder and use toasted hazelnuts.

Spiced wedding cookies

Add ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dough and another ½ teaspoon to the coating sugar.

Troubleshooting

Cookies flattened into disks

The butter was too soft or the dough was not chilled. Chill the dough for 30 minutes and use butter that is soft but still cool.

Dough is too crumbly to roll

The flour was over-measured or the dough is very cold. Let it warm slightly and squeeze it firmly; add a teaspoon of milk only if it still will not hold.

Coating looks wet and gray

The cookies were too hot for the first roll, or they were stored before cooling. Wait 5 minutes before the first coat and finish with a second roll once cool.

Storage

Store snowballs in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, with parchment between layers. They freeze well for up to 3 months; give them a fresh dusting of powdered sugar after thawing.

Safety notes

Contains tree nuts, wheat and milk. Like any flour-based dough, the mixture should not be eaten raw.