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A pile of powdered sugar-coated pecan snowball cookies with chopped pecans on white marble, next to a wire cooling rack and a bowl of powdered sugar.

Snowball Cookies With Pecans: No-Chill Christmas Recipe

These buttery pecan snowball cookies take six ingredients and no chilling, so a batch is ready for the cookie tray in about an hour. Roll them in powdered sugar while they are still warm for the classic snowy coating.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 34 minutes
Servings: 36 cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar divided (1/2 cup for the dough, 1 cup for rolling)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup pecans finely chopped

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Beat the butter and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
  3. Whisk the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the butter mixture on low speed just until combined, then fold in the pecans.
  4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon each) and place 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets.
  5. Bake 12-14 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden and the tops are still pale. Cool on the sheets 5 minutes.
  6. Roll the warm cookies in the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, set on a rack, and roll again once cool.