Pistachio Snowball Cookies
Traditional Christmas snowball cookies get a festive and delicious makeover with pistachios. Recipe developed in partnership with Go Bold with Butter.
I am late to the game on these cookies. I think growing up I always assumed that since they looked so uninteresting, they must not taste good.
Wrong!
Whether you know them as snowballs, Mexican wedding cookies, or Russian tea cakes, these buttery mounds of toasted nuts rolled in sugar are a must for every holiday season.
In this recipe developed for Go Bold with Butter, I decided to give the traditional cookie a twist, and so I swapped out pistachios for the pecans. And I absolutely loved the subtle change in flavor and little hint of seasonal color.
View the recipe for Pistachio Snowball Cookies on the Go Bold with Butter website
Just make sure you have a plan when you bake these cookies— gift plates for the neighbors, or a holiday party, or something— because otherwise before you know what’s happened the cookies will be gone and all you’ll be left with is powdered sugar on your shirt (if you’re like me).
baking tip:How to finely chop nuts
- Use a food processor, giving the nuts a few pulses until they’re the desired size.
- Use a knife and cutting board. Place the nuts on the cutting board, then hold your knife down perpendicular to the board. Set your non-cutting hand over the top of the blade and use both hands to create rocking motion over the nuts, chopping them till they’re the desired size.
- Plan ahead and purchase chopped nuts. This is a great time saver!
Pistachio Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (170 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (180 grams)
- 1 ½ cup pistachios , very finely chopped (180 grams)
- Pinch of salt
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium high speed until creamy and pale in color, about 4-5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Add the flour, pistachios and salt, and mix until just combined.
- Shape the dough into rounded tablespoons and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until cookies just begin to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes.
- Let sit on the pan until cool enough to touch but still warm, then roll in powdered sugar. Let cool completely and then roll in powdered sugar again.
- Note: If you use salted pistachios, omit the salt in the cookies.
Notes
Disclosure: This recipe was developed in partnership with Go Bold With Butter. I am a paid contributor to their website. All opinions are my own, as always. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands I believe in.
I just made these with gluten free flour and and sliced, blanched, toasted almonds. I followed the recipe as is and they turned out amazing! Light, airy, slightly sweet, and look perfect. Oh joy!
Waste of time! These cookies are too much work, fall apart and make such a mess. Not worth it.
I have to say out of all my holiday baking so far, this recipe is by far my masterpiece. Thank you for sharing it, it is fabulous!
I made these yesterday for Christmas. I found the dough was rather hard to shape into mounds, but I stuck with it and they turned out rather nice. https://lifestooshorttoskipdessert.blogspot.com/2013/12/pistachio-snowball-cookies.html
Ooh, I like the proportions in your recipe! I just figured out how to make Mexican wedding cookies a couple of months ago (with the almonds) but never thought of using pistachios. I like that yours have a greater ratio of nuts and less butter. I’ll have to give these a bash. Thanks!
Made Mexican Wedding Cake cookies two days ago and like you, had powdered sugar all over my shirt. Pistachios instead of the the traditional pecans sound scrumptious. Merry Christmas Annalise!
Yum! I can almost taste the sugarcoating on my lips!
Believe me or not but I had never heard of these cookies before! I actually think they look sooo cute and definitely resemble snowballs, which makes them a perfect Holiday treat!
xo, Elisa