Christmas

Lemon snowball cookies

January 18, 2012
2.5
2 Ratings
  • Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Author Notes

Snowball cookies are those melt-in-your-mouth, vaguely nutty cookies that are at every single holiday cookie exchange. You don't know where they came from or who made them, but they're ALWAYS there. I can't leave a cookie alone, so here's my delightfully lemony tart version —JessicaBakes

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Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans...and I mean FINELY chopped!
  • 2 1/4 cups AP flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
  1. Mix the flour, pecans, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl until well combined
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar until light, smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and lemon zest and mix until smooth.
  3. Gently mix or fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Your dough may seem a little dry, but leave it for now.
  4. Roll the cookies to be about a tablespoon. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
  5. Sift 1/3-1/2 cup confectioners sugar into a small bowl. Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, roll them one at a time in your bowl of sugar.
  6. Once the cookies have completely cooled, roll them one last time in your confectioners sugar so they have a snowy exterior. Enjoy!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

4 Reviews

Sue R. January 21, 2022
What a horribly written recipe! No oven temperature given. And, what does “roll the cookies to be about a tablespoon” mean? Roll with my hands? Then what? Flatten? A ball? Giving up on this one.
CarmenLuvsCookies December 25, 2019
I thought I posted my last review? Basically, made this cookie, the flavor is lighter on the lemon than I liked. May try this one again at another time and up the amount of lemon zest or use organic lemon flavoring instead.
Richard D. October 3, 2018
So what temperature do you make them at? Did I miss it? I don't see it
CarmenLuvsCookies December 25, 2019
I baked them at 350F for 12 mins