Cherry Almond Snowball Cookies
Cherry almond snowball cookies are soft and flavorful with a buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture. These powdered sugar-dusted cookies are filled with candied cherries and almonds for a fun twist on the classic!
These pretty-in-pink cherry almond snowball cookies are so fun and cute, and perfect for the holiday season, Valentine’s Day, or any day of the year!
They are the classic snowballs (i.e. Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, etc.) with a fun cherry and almond twist, and I gotta say— they’re amazing! So soft and delicate, with a little crunch from the almonds, and lots of great cherry-almond flavor. (They actually remind me a lot of my favorite cherry chip cake, just in cookie form.)
Ingredients You’ll Need
Let’s get baking, shall we? Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Slivered almonds
- Maraschino cherries
- Powdered sugar
How to Make Cherry Almond Snowball Cookies
- Chop cherries and almonds. Finely chop the maraschino or candied cherries and slivered almonds separately in a food processor, or with a sharp knife.
- Prepare cookie dough. Beat butter and sugar together until creamy and add almond extract. Mix in flour, followed by the chopped cherries and almonds.
- Portion into rounds. Use a spoon or cookie scoop to portion out dough, then roll into rounds and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment.
- Bake. Bake cookies at 325°F until puffed and bottoms just begin to turn brown.
- Roll in powdered sugar. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then roll in the powdered sugar. Let cookies cool completely, then roll in powdered sugar again.
These cookies are best enjoyed within a day or 2 of baking, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
Snowball Cookie Tips
- I recommend using blanched slivered almonds so the almond skins don’t change the color of the cookies. If that’s not important to you, feel free to use whole or sliced almonds instead.
- A food processor is best for chopping the almond and cherries, but if you don’t have one a knife will do too.
- Butter should be soft enough that a pressed finger will leave an indent, but not soft enough that your finger can press all the way through. If it’s shiny or melty at all, the butter is too warm and your cookies may spread.
- If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment as that’s the best tool for creaming butter and sugar.
- Make sure you measure the flour correctly. All my my recipes are tested with the spoon and level method.
- These pre-cut parchment sheets are perfect for cookie baking.
- These cherry almond snowball cookies freeze very well! Freeze cookie dough rounds in an airtight container for up to a month or more to bake as desired. If freezing baked cookies, let cookies cool completely and roll in powdered sugar as instructed in recipe. Freeze in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature, then roll in more powdered sugar before serving.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
- Pineapple Coconut Macaroons
- Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
- Brown Butter Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies
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Recipe originally published January 2017.
Cherry Almond Snowball Cookies
Soft and powdered sugar-dusted cookies filled with candied cherries and almonds.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (170 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (210 grams)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup blanched slivered almonds , finely chopped (114 grams)
- ½ cup candied or maraschino cherries , finely chopped (100 grams)
- Powdered sugar , for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- With an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add almond extract. Add flour and mix just until combined. Add almonds and cherries and mix just until incorporated.
- Drop by rounded spoonfuls (I use a #20 scoop) onto prepared sheet pan about 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and bottoms just begin to turn brown, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar. Return coated cookies to the sheet pan and let cool completely. Once cool, roll again in powdered sugar.
- Cookie will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
NOTES:
- I prefer to use a food processor to finely chop the nuts and cherries, but you can also chop by hand with a knife.
- I used blanched slivered almonds because I didn't want any almond skins messing with the color of my cookies. If that's not important to you, feel free to use whole or sliced almonds instead.
Calories: 119kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 15mg, Sodium: 2mg, Potassium: 41mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 177IU, Calcium: 14mg, Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review below or take a photo and tag it on Instagram @completelydelicious with #completelydelicious.
Marsh cherry cookies
I just baked these today, took them to two parties, and they were a hit!!!! Everybody loved them! And I love them! Thank you!!!!
Yum! Can these be frozen?
We are midway through backing a double batch. They are yummy and easy to make.
Is 325 degrees correct? I’m 25 min in and they are not getting done. A normal “russian teacake” cookie bakes at 400.
Hi Cindy! Thanks for your comment. I just did a quick google search of recipes and it looks like temps for other snowball recipes range from 325° to 400°. I’ll have to test the recipe again to double check that it works at 325° and get back to you.
The question was asked about the baking temp and was not answered. Is the baking temp 325 degrees or 400?
325°F is a little low. I baked some earlier this month at 350°F and it worked a little better. Have not tested for 400°F, seems a little high.
Amazing
These cookies are amazing!! I have made these at least 6 times now and I have perfected the recipe to our taste.
For starters, I always make the dough a day or 2 ahead of time. I always double the almond extract, use half the amount of almonds but, chop them super fine almost to a powder. Plus I add several tbls of cherry juice. Then turn out bright red inside and absolutely perfect!! I make these for my Mom all the time. They are her favorite!! Thank you for an awesome recipe!!
I made these for Valentine’s Day but they didn’t come out at all. And I followed the recipe closely. But I adde some cherry juice to the dough because it didn’t look pink. It didn’t change the texture. Nevertheless the cookie still was not pink and did NOT taste like cherries. It had pieces of cherries in it but was far from looking like these cookies. Also the cookie didn’t taste good either. Too much flour, no salt and hardly any sugar. Very disappointed!
These cookies are fantastic! I love the flavor combination of almond and cherry, so I knew this was going to be a winner. I followed the advice I saw on one of the other comments: added 3 Tablespoons of marachino cherry juice to the dough, and 3/4 cup of slivered almonds (pulsed in my blender until they were very finely chopped). These cookies hit the spot!