It’s almost Christmas, and what I love the most about this season is baking Christmas cookies of all kinds. Last year, I shared with you my peppermint snowball cookies, Vegan Biscotti, and Vegan Shortbread Cookies, and you loved them. Snowball cookies are not only cute, but they are also an easy, no-fail Christmas cookie recipe for beginners. It’s so simple to bring the ingredients together, and their melt-in-your-mouth texture never disappoints. So let me share with you how to make these delicious pecan snowball cookies. You may also know them as Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies, but Snowball Cookies all are the same recipe. It’s a buttery, thick, shortbread cookie filled with chopped pecans and coated with confectioner sugar.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make the best vegan snowball cookies with pecans are:
Butter of Choice – We used plant-based margarine, but plant-based butter works as well. Don’t use coconut oil. It won’t come out great at all. All-Purpose Flour or spelt flour. I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flour, but some readers reported success with a 1:1 ratio blend containing xanthan gum. Powdered Sugar – also known as confectioner’s sugar. Vanilla Extract – for flavor. Toasted Pecan – finely chopped
How To Make Pecan Snowball Cookies
It’s super easy to make these buttery shortbread cookies to succeed in making delicious snowball cookies.
Add-Ons
You can play with flavors and add some delicious ingredients to the batter. Try halving the amount of pecan and stir in some of the below instead:
Mini Chocolate Chips – white or dark chocolate chips are great additions to the base recipe. Walnuts – toasted and chopped Slivered almonds Crushed Candy Canes Almond Extract
Storage Instructions
These pecan snowball cookies store very well in an airtight metallic cookie jar, airtight container, or glass jar. They last about 6 days at room temperature or 3 months in zip-lock bags in the freezer. Thaw the cookies the day before serving at room temperature.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some substitution suggestions to try if you are allergic to some of the recipe’s ingredients.
Gluten-Free – I didn’t try gluten-free flour, but I am confident that a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour blend should work. Sugar-Free – Powdered erythritol works in this recipe, but don’t use powdered xylitol, or the cookies will be too soft. Butter – Margarine and plant-based butter works perfectly, and that’s our recommendation. Nut-Free – You can swap pecans for sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or shredded coconut, or leave them out to make plain snowball cookies
Below are my answers to your most frequent questions about this recipe.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you like cookies for Christmas, you’ll love these:
