The Edgy Veg

vegan snowball cookies vegan christmas cookies

Snowball Cookies | VEGAN Christmas Cookies

vegan snowball cookiesThe season of baking is upon us. Starting now until January 2nd, my kitchen smell exclusively of sugar, mulled wine and gingerbread spices. I tend to lean more towards cookies than any other baked good because James is very icky with sweets. He really only eats cookies, and even then, it’s in small amounts. So, if I bake a cake, I end up eating it all to myself, and that’s not good for my 2018 figure. I’ve been slowly baking my way through the traditional cookies I love eating as a kid, and these are way up on the top of my fav cookies ever list.

Snowball cookies, are delicate, buttery, cookies similar to shortbread, but with nuts and dusted with powdered sugar. They are called snow ball cookies because they do, in fact, look like snowballs! They’re so cute, I love putting them out for friends simply because of how pretty they are. Not much extra work for presentation required. I am currently enjoying a bowl of cookies to myself with a glass of homemade vegan eggnog, topped with coconut whipped cream, just because it’s the Holidays and I can!

To create this recipe, I tried to stay as true to the traditional technique and ingredients as possible. In a stand mixer, (or medium bowl with a hand mixer) I creamed together vegan butter (I like Earth Balance or Melt), 1/4 cup powdered sugar, pure vanilla extract and pink salt. This butt-sugar mixture on it’s own is delicious, but quite ratchet to eat alone… not that I haven’t done so.

In a separate bowl, I combined unbleached all-purpose white flour and finely chopped nuts. You can use any nut you like, but my favorites for this recipe are walnuts or almonds. That’s what my Omi (grandmother) always used in her holiday baking and so, I’ve stuck to the same. Then,

I gradually added the flour mixture to butter mixture; beating after each addition. I mixed until it all came together like a dough.

This part is always my favorite! Using my (clean- duh) hand to shape the dough into balls, and then placing on a cookie sheet 1 inch apart. These cookies are best baked for 15 minutes until lightly browned. I highly recommend not overbaking them- so pay attention. In fact, I suggest under baking them slightly. You want them to melt in your mouth, not crumble- under baking ensure this happens.

When the cookies, are baked, I have found the best way to go about the next steps are as follows:

-Gently remove cookies from baking pan, and  place on a wire rack to cool for 2-5 mins until you can handle them.

-Meanwhile prepare a shallow bowl with 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

-Gently roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and place back onto the wire rack to cool completely.

-Once cooled, roll cookies in powdered sugar a second time.

Voila! Cookies are ready to eat! I hope you love this stupid easy recipe as much as I do, and make it part of your holiday baking traditions. Oh and don’t forget-these snowballs are better for eating than for throwing at your friends faces.

vegan snowball cookies

4.9 from 7 reviews
Vegan Snowball Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
The classic snowball cookie gets a vegan makeover in a really delicious way! These melt in your mouth vegan cookies are buttery, and dusted with sugar. This is the easiest vegan cookie recipe you've ever made!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Holiday
Serves: 12 cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a stand mixer, or medium bowl with a hand mixer or spoon, cream together vegan butter, ¼ cup powdered sugar, vanilla and salt.
  3. In a separate large bowl, combine flour and nuts of choice.
  4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; beating after each addition. Mix until until the mixture comes together like a dough.
  5. Shape into balls and place on a cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes until very lightly browned. Do not over bake.
  6. Meanwhile prepare a bowl with ½ cup powdered sugar.
  7. Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on a wire cooking rack to cool for 2-5 mins or until cool enough to handle. Gently roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and place back onto the wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Once cooled, roll cookies in powdered sugar a second time.
  9. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
You can use any nut you like. My favourites are walnuts or almonds, but cashews and pecans are also delish!

It is better to under cook these cookies than over cook them. PAY ATTENTION

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  • I have a buttery mess in the oven 😞 not sure what I did wrong. No balls for sure 🤣
    I’ll give it another go

  • Hi! These look just like the ones my mother used to make and I can’t wait to try your vegan version. I’ve been having some trouble with getting the amount of flour right in baked goods when a recipe uses cups instead of weight in grams. Could you tell me whether you dip the measuring cup into the flour & level it off or whether you spoon the flour into the cup & level it off. I appreciate it! Thanks for the recipe.

  • Made these with my niece & nephew this Christmas (6 & 7 years old) it was easy to make and they enjoyed focusing on rolling the balls and coating them in the “snow” afterwards 😆 they turned out great and we’re a big hit among many. I ended up making 2 double batches 🤤

  • I haven’t any nuts, will the recipe work without them or with choc chips or raisins instead?

    • The nuts are optional, you can definitely replace them with chocolate or raisins or just leave them out.

  • I absolutely love this cookie recipe!! This is the third year I’m making them for Christmas and I look forward to it every year.

    Since this year I’m only celebrating Christmas with my immediate household, do you think I could freeze some of the dough and cook at a later date or do you recommend freezing already baked cookies?

  • Impatientmiss says:

    Made this today. Instead of using the Gluten-Free Bobs, I substituted 1/2 cup of Brown Rice Flour and 1/2 cup of Tapioca Starch. Turned out wonderful. Super easy to make. Made with my 6-year-old grandson.

  • Tammy Barry says:

    Amazing cookie recipe
    We did some covered with powdered sugar
    Some dipped in chocolate
    And some sprinkled with chocolate and pecans
    Wish I could leave a picture

  • I made these cookies for my coworkers and they were a huge hit- gone in 30 minutes! Would definitely recommend. These are buttery, soft and flakey!

  • My mom used to wrap the dough around a red or green maraschino cherry before baking. Then it was always a game to see which colour cherry was in the snowball

  • Made those on the weekend and LOVED THEM! Easy to make with the kids too!

    • YAY! So happy you loved them! I use to make these as a kid, so they’re totally kid-friendly! 🙂

  • My favorite cookie in the world (even though it’s not chocolate!) and now it’s vegan! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I love to bake with pecans and am always looking for healthy versions of great tasting foods.

    • Thanks so much for letting me know how much you loved my recipe! Love adding pecans too!

  • Elena Balsamo says:

    Which vegan butter do you recommend? I usually buy ” I can’t believe it’s not butter-vegan” it’s in a tub. Or do you recommend sticks.

    • I used cold vegan butter in sticks for this recipe, but as long as it’s any cold vegan butter, everything should turn out great!

  • Jennie Reece says:

    Hi do you use a certain brand of vegan powdered sugar? Most white sugars are made using bone char which of course isn’t vegan. What do you use? Thanks!

  • Christina says:

    I followed this recipe exactly except that I substituted pecans instead of walnuts. I was so hopeful that this recipe could replace my Grandmother’s non-vegan snowball recipe – and it did!! Everyone loved it for the holidays and no one could tell there was any difference between this recipe and a non-vegan one. This was delicious and super easy to make also. Thank you!

    • I am SO happy that I could replace a family recipe! I made these to replace my grandmothers recipe as well 🙂

  • Would coconut oil work in lieu of vegan butter?

  • Gurpreet says:

    Can’t wait to make these tonight!!!

  • Can I use a gluten free flour and still have the same great taste?

    • I don’t see why not. I recommend using a GF all-purpose flour for best results. Happy Baking!

    • Responding in the interests of future readers – I just made these with Gluten Free all purpose flour and they taste amazing! (And truely melt-in-the-mouth!)

  • Susie Sunshine says:

    These are my favorite Christmas cookie of all time! ❤
    Did you mean to say 30 days instead of 3? These cookies are quite shelf-stable. The powdered sugar may absorb the oil after a few days, but you could always re-roll them for presentation to company. 😍

    • To maintain freshness, I recommend 3 days, but if you had them in an airtight container for longer, I’m sure they will be fine too! I wouldn’t recommend 30 days lol unless you freeze them

  • Aaaah cute! Love the video theme! I’m so into Xmas themes and love it when others are too. Lifes too short not to use xmas as an excuse to stuff your face with good food and wine:-)

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