strawberry snowball cookies
The only place you should throw these snowballs is in your mouth.
Happy Thursday! Almost through the week, and what better reason to treat yourself than that?
These precious little Strawberry Snowball Cookies contain crunchy chopped walnuts, powdered strawberry, and lots of soft white sugary coating to elicit images of gentle snowfall over a berry field. They’re buttery, sweet, and so easy. The most famous version often occupies holiday cookie boxes, but mine is a cute addition to a sweetheart gift box this Valentine’s Day, or maybe even an Easter basket.
Minimal ingredients, maximal fun. Let’s get to it!
That’s Balls
Literally.
Though, I do wonder how that expression came to be. Any connotation of “balls” doesn’t seem to befit a vernacular equivalent of “oh shit.” I’ll have to mull over that.
Anywho, back to snowballs. The first step in this cookie baking shindig is to buy some freeze-dried strawberries and blitz them into a powder. You will need about 1 cup of the fruit to make the necessary 1/4 cup of the powder. I used my food processor to grind them, but a high speed blender would likely work too if you have one of the individual-sized blending components. A full-ass bowl might be too large.
Toss your strawberry powder into a mixing bowl with butter and powdered sugar. Beat until nice and fluffy, then add in some vanilla extract.
Mix in flour, salt, and lots of chopped walnuts. Make sure the nuts are knifed up pretty finely. Big chunks will not allow the dough to adhere to itself properly.
The dough will be crumbly, as exemplified in the photo, but when pressed together should stick nicely. When you’ve achieved this texture, scoop up tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and press/roll into balls. Set onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. These guys won’t spread much so you can put quite a few, maybe 12, onto one sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes until slightly golden on the edges. Let cool on the pan 5 minutes. While that happens, pour some more powdered sugar onto a plate. Roll each cookie into the sugar, then place onto a wire rack set atop a piece of parchment. Like any good science experiment, this is messy business, so be ready to rinse powdered sugar off your fingertips every 2 seconds.
Once all the cookies are fully cooled, roll one more time into the powdered sugar to get that nice, even, snowy finish. Serve immediately on a pretty pink platter, or package up to store.
As far as preservation goes, they will keep well in the fridge up to 5 days or the freezer for 3 months. In both cases the sugar might melt into the cookie and create a stickier texture. They will taste great, but won’t look quite as cute.
I assign to you some fun baking this weekend, starting with these. How does that sound? Hopefully like a swell little adventure!
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
A berry happy belly:
Strawberry Vanilla Surprise Cupcakes
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey Bourbon Strawberry Jam
strawberry snowball cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 cup + 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- In a food processor, blitz the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder. You should have about 1/4 cup; if you come out with more, reserve what remains beyond the 1/4 cup that you will use in the recipe.
- In a bowl, beat the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and strawberry powder until fluffy, then mix in the vanilla. Add the flour, salt, and chopped walnuts. Fold together until combined. The batter will be crumbly but should stick together when pinched between your fingers.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon sized mounds of dough and press into balls. Set onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. These will not spread much! Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
- On a plate, measure the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar. Cool the cookies from the oven for 5 minutes, then roll each into the powdered sugar and set onto a wire cooling rack placed atop a slab of parchment. Cool completely, then roll the cookies into the powdered sugar again to coat completely. You may need to replenish your powdered sugar if you start to run out on the plate.
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