Snowball Cookies

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What Are Snowball Cookies?

Snowball cookies are a shortbread type ball shaped cookie. I’ve always had them made using all purpose flour, butter, pecans and sugar. However, the nuts can vary between walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts. It all depends on the tradition and cultural origin of the recipe.

Where Do Snowball Cookies Originate?

This depends on a lot of different things. First of all, snowball cookies have a LOT of different names. They’re called Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Pecan Butterballs, Pecan Sandies, Swedish Tea Cakes and Polvorones, just to point out some of them. Apparently, the name depends upon the area that they’re found in.

In Ohio, my grandmother made them at Christmastime and called them snowball cookies. In Alabama, my mother-in-law, who also made them every year for Christmas, calls them Pecan Butterballs. On the East Coast they’re better known as Pecan Sandies. For the sake of time I’ll stop there, but you get the idea. I chose to call them snowball cookies for this post, because in my research that was the most familiar name that people were using to find the recipe on the internet.

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The earliest name I’ve found for them is Mexican Wedding Cookies. It’s believed they were brought to the Americans by either European nuns or Spanish conquistadores sometime in the 16th century.

Sometime around the 19th century, they acquired the name, Russian Tea Cakes. From my research, it looks like the name came from America’s fascination with Russian culture during that time period. Apparently, Russian themed tea parties were all the rage at that point in history. Who knew?

In the 1950’s, with the strained relationship with Russia and The Cold War, the name primarily changed back to Mexican Wedding Cookies. It was also around the same time that a lot of the other name variations started to appear.

Are Snowball Cookies Easy to Make?

Snowball cookies are one of the easiest cookies to make. They only require a few ingredients and no fuss. The main thing you need to be aware of is overbaking. Snowball cookies have no egg in them, so butter is the ingredient that holds the cookie together. When baking, you want very little color change. If you over bake them, they’ll be extremely dry and crumbly. You want them to just turn a little golden, not brown.

One other tip is to make sure your butter is softened, not melted. I see a lot of people making this mistake when baking. Softened butter will give your baked goods a different texture as opposed to melted butter. Here’s a tip to soften your butter quickly, without overdoing it.

Fill a tall drinking glass or a 4 cup glass measuring cup 3/4 full of water. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the water is very hot. Using a potholder, carefully remove the glass and pour the hot water down the sink. Immediately invert the hot glass or glass measuring cup upside down over your stick of butter. Voila! Your butter will be perfectly softened in just a couple of minutes.

Snowball cookies have been a part of my family traditions for many years. I love them because they’re not overly sweet, pair well with hot coffee or tea and come together quickly. I hope all of you enjoy them as much as we do.