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Chocolate Snowball Cookies are tender chocolate cookies with the best texture! A buttery cookie made with cocoa powder and ground walnuts gets coated in sweet powdered sugar. Make this classic holiday cookie a tradition every year!
Reasons You’ll Love These Cookies
- Rich Chocolate Flavor: If you love my classic snowball cookies, and you LOVE chocolate, then you will go crazy over these cookies! The added cocoa powder adds a rich chocolate flavor.
- Amazing Texture: The nuts add the tastiest texture! Everyone loves these cookies because they melt in your mouth!
- Holiday Classic: I love to bake these year-round, but they’re especially great for the holidays! It reminds me of Christmas time!
Ingredients You’ll Need
These cookies are the perfect snowball cookie. They bake to perfection and literally melt in your mouth —just the way a snowball cookie should! Follow my recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Brown Sugar: Pack the sugar tightly in the measuring cup!
- Butter: Use softened butter to help make the mixing easier.
- Egg: Just 1 large egg for this recipe.
- Milk: Any kind of milk works here.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a sweet vanilla flavor that enhances the chocolate flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structure of these chocolate snowball cookies!
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: I like to sift my cocoa powder to get out any lumps.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise while they bake.
- Baking Powder: Gives the cookies their puffy and soft texture!
- Salt: Enhances the sweetness and balances the flavors in this cookie.
- Walnuts: The oils from the walnuts give it that melt-in-your-mouth texture!
- Powdered Sugar: For rolling the cookies and giving them that signature “snowball” look!
Chocolate Snowball Cookies Recipe
One of my favorite parts of a snowball cookie is rolling them in powdered sugar. This gives them a sweet, powdery finishing touch that reminds me of Christmas snow!
- Pulse the Walnuts: Add the walnuts to a food processor and pulse until very finely ground. Set aside.
- Beat the Butter and Sugar: Add the brown sugar and butter to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add Egg, Milk, and Vanilla: Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Whisk Flour Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine the Flour Mixture, Butter Mixture, and Ground Nuts: Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely combined. Stir the walnuts into the dough until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- Roll the Dough Into Balls: After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until the tops begin to crack. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on cooling racks.
- Roll in Powdered Sugar: Roll the cooled cookies in powdered sugar before serving.
Chocolate Snowball Cookie Tips
Follow my tips below to help make your chocolate snowball cookies a success! I’ve made this recipe a lot to know what works and what doesn’t work.
- Chilling: Be sure to chill the dough fully, otherwise your snowballs won’t hold their shape.
- Walnut Tips: The walnuts need to be fully ground into a fine powder to give these cookies the melt-in-your-mouth texture that is the signature of these delicious cookies. Be sure to grind the walnuts enough!
- Salted Butter: If you use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon to avoid overly salty cookies.
- Make Ahead: This snowball cookie recipe is perfect for making ahead! Take a look at my storage tips for my refrigerator, freezer, and storing options.
Storing Leftover Cookies
These cookies will last for days and store great! I like to bake a few batches at a time so they’re ready to deliver for all my neighbor treats!
- At Room Temperature: Once your cookies have cooled then place them in an airtight container. They will last on your counter at room temperature for up to 7 days! Avoid storing them in the refrigerator once they have been rolled in powdered sugar, as the powdered sugar will get sticky and moist, and will eventually begin to weep.
- Storing Cookies Without Powdered Sugar: The baked cookies can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 7 days if they have not been rolled in powdered sugar.
- In the Freezer: Only the cookie dough can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let the dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Thaw the cookies at room temperature before rolling them in powdered sugar.
More Holiday Cookies to Make
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Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Chocolate Snowball Cookies are tender chocolate cookies with the best texture! A buttery cookie made with cocoa powder and ground walnuts gets coated in sweet powdered sugar. Make this classic holiday cookie a tradition every year!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups walnuts
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Add 1 ½ cups walnuts to a food processor and pulse until very finely ground. Set aside.
- Add ¾ cup brown sugar, and ¾ cup butter, to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add 1 large egg, ¼ cup milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely combined. Stir the walnuts into the dough until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until the tops begin to crack. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on cooling racks.
- Roll the cooled cookies in 1 cup powdered sugar, before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 93kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 55mgPotassium: 44mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 91IUVitamin C: 0.05mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 0.4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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will it turn out ok if i don’t add any nuts??
Hi Tia, unfortunately this recipe needs the nuts to create the cookie shape and texture. Sorry! You could make this chocolate crinkle cookies which look similar but don’t have nuts!
Love the recipes have made a few but u need to figure out how we can print without the ads.
If you don’t use any kind of nuts.
Do you have to increase flour or sugars or anything?
Thank you
Lin
no need to make any changes if you omit nuts
Do you absolutely.have to leave the dough in the fridge overnight? How long do they.need to chill? I just got done putting the stuff together and would like to make them today
No, you do not have to. You can leave it in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours or until it has hardened together.
Loved this exactly as is!
Quick and used items already in my cupboards.
Will make this again
My daughter is very allergic to walnuts. Would the cookies still turn out if I left them out?
Yes! You can leave them out. 🙂
Do you think these can be made with pecans instead of walnuts??Don’t have any walnuts on hand and would love to make these.
You can use whatever is your preference.
Interesting! I make chocolate crackles and cardamon snowballs, but chocolate snowballs are new. I will have to try them this year. Thanks for the recipe.