Description
These melt-in-your-mouth gluten-free snowball cookies are filled with crunchy pecans and coated with powdered sugar for a beautiful finish! Perfect for your holiday cookie tray. Totally dairy-free too.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted dairy-free butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your gluten-free flour blend already includes it)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup unsalted pecans, chopped
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling, or more as necessary
Instructions
- Beat Butter and Powdered Sugar: In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened unsalted dairy-free butter, cut into cubes, and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Beat the powdered sugar and butter for a couple of minutes until creamy.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: To the butter-sugar mixture, add the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.
- Prepare Dough: In another bowl, whisk the gluten-free measure-for-measure flour, xanthan gum (if using), salt and lemon zest to combine. Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix to get a smooth yellow dough (the dough should be viscous and not too dense).
- Add Pecans: Chop the pecans roughly with a knife or pulse them in an electric blender. Add the chopped pecans to a bowl with dough.
- Fold Pecans into Dough: Mix the pecans into the dough with a spatula until they are evenly distributed.
- Chill Dough: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
- Preheat and Line: Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat (silicone mat).
- Form Dough Balls: Once the dough has chilled, use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the dough balls in a single layer at least 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake Until Ready: Bake the snowball cookies for 13-15 minutes until golden, then let them cool for 5 minutes.
- Roll Cookies in Powdered Sugar: Roll the still-warm cookies in powdered sugar and set them aside for 10 minutes. Then roll again to make the sugar shell more dense.
- Serve and Enjoy: Enjoy the snowball cookies!
Notes
Butter: I used unsalted dairy-free butter to keep this recipe dairy-free. However, if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use regular unsalted butter instead.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar) is sugar that has been processed until it has a powder-like texture. This super-fine texture allows the sugar to dissolve well into the butter, so make sure you use powdered sugar and not regular sugar. If you are diabetic or insulin-resistant, I highly recommend using powdered monkfruit sweetener (a 1:1 powdered sugar substitute that is zero glycemic index and will not raise your blood sugar).
Eggs: Eggs are a necessary binder in this gluten-free snowball cookie recipe, so I wouldn’t leave them out. I personally have not tried making this pecan snowball cookies without eggs, so I don’t know how they would turn out.
Vanilla Extract: I recommend adding a bit of vanilla extract for some extra flavor.
Gluten-Free Flour Blend: I recommend using a good-quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend (a gluten-free 1:1 substitute for regular all-purpose flour) that is made up of lighter flours/starches (such as rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch or potato starch) for the best results. I do NOT recommend using a gluten-free blend that is made up of heavier flours (such as garbanzo bean flour).
Xanthan Gum: Xanthan gum is the replacement for gluten in gluten-free flours and helps to better bind the ingredients together. For best results, if your gluten-free flour blend does not already include xanthan gum, make sure to add it in.
Lemon Zest: I recommend grating the lemon zest just before using it for the best lemon flavor.
Pecans: Make sure to use unsalted pecans. You can roughly chop the pecans or pulse them in a high-speed blender for a rough chop. If you don’t like pecans, you may also use other unsalted nuts such as walnuts or almonds.
Storing/Freezing: To store, place these gluten-free dairy-free snowball cookies in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To freeze, place the snowball cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let the frozen cookies thaw completely overnight in the refrigerator before eating.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Chilling Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Western
