If you are looking to make the most addictive edible gift to make for the holidays, try this Mexican Wedding Cookies recipe. Also known as Hazelnut Butterball cookies or Snowball cookies, these melt in your mouth.
These Mexican Wedding Cookies are one of my favorites for many reasons. They look super cute and are perfect for the holiday season.
They are tiny and just the right size to pop into your mouth. This recipe yields quite a bit of cookies and that means it is perfect when making for a large crowd.
Making edible gifts for Holidays has been a tradition in our family ever since my boys were born. My blog is filled with cookie recipes as it is something I bake very often for us as well as for gifting.
I enjoy baking different cookies and packing them. Buying cute little cookie tins has become almost an obsession for me.
What Kind of Nuts to use
I first tried this Mexican Wedding Cookies recipe a few years ago, back in NY. This recipe is from my dear friend Marybeth and she had made this recipe with pecans and called the pecan butterball cookies .
I go back and forth and make these cookies with any available nuts. This year I made it with pecans. My neighbor has a Pecan farm and we buy fresh pecans from him this time of the year.
So, use any nuts of your choice but make sure that they are fresh. The cookies use quite a bit of nuts and get their flavor from them. We don’t want stale-smelling or tasting cookies.
What other cookies are baking in my kitchen?
My family’s favorite recipe that I made this year again was the Old fashioned Ginger cookies . My holiday baking cannot be complete without these ginger cookies as my little one loves them.
I also made some Orange Scented Cranberry walnut cookies . The house just smelled amazing after baking these cookies and screaming holidays.
If you are looking for some other cookie to bake with pecans, then this Pecan Shortbread Cookies is an absolute must. I also have a gluten-free Chocolate cookie recipe with pecans if you are looking for a gluten-free option.
These snowball cookies are so simple to make with just the basic ingredients. We need the flour, sugar, butter, and some nuts along with vanilla flavoring. You can use a stand mixer like I use or a hand mixer will work just fine.
This time of the year my Kitchen aid stand mixer works the most (only second to me though). I have it out constantly making batches and batches of cookie batter. This year we baked over 600 cookies and I might still have a batch or two to bake.
Preparation time - 15 mins Cooking time - 25 mins per batch Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients Needed
- Butter (Unsalted) - 1 cup (room temp)
- All Purpose flour - 2 cups
- Granulated Sugar - ⅔ cup (can use ½ cup if you prefer less sweeter cookies)
- Vanilla - 2 tsp
- Hazelnuts or pecans or walnuts - 1 ½ cups (finely chopped)
- Salt - ½ tsp
- Powdered sugar - for coating
Step-by-step process
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a couple of baking trays with parchment and keep aside.
In the bowl of a mixer, add the sugar and the butter.
Cream them until light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Now add the salt and the vanilla and mix them well.
To the butter mixture, add the flour little by little and mix well until completely incorporated and forms dough.
Now add the chopped nuts and mix them well.
Make about half-inch balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake them for about 25 min or until slightly browned.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, roll them in powdered sugar and set aside in a cooling rack. Be extremely careful since the cookies would be really hot and very fragile. It is very important to roll them as soon as they come out of the oven to get the sugar to coat well.
- Once the cookies have cooled down entirely, roll them again, for the second time in the powdered sugar.
Expert Tips
- It is very important to use good quality, fresh nuts as the recipe uses quite a bit of them. The cookies take up a lot of flavor from the nuts and you want them to taste the best.
- Remove the butterball cookies from the oven as soon as they are light golden brown.
- Roll them in powdered sugar right after they come out of the oven. Using a spoon helps as the sugar melts quite a bit when handling with fingers.
- It is essential that we roll them again in powdered sugar once the cookies cool down entirely.
Traditionally it is made with hazelnuts, but I have used all different nuts and also a mix of nuts to make these Butterballs. I love using pecans and walnuts.
Absolutely. You can make the dough and freeze it and then bake whenever you prefer. I also like to make tiny balls of cookie dough, freeze it on a tray, and then transfer it to freezer bags. This way it is much easier when it is time to bake.
These are also called the Russian tea cakes or the snowball cookies as well as butterball cookies
Yes, we can freeze the baked Mexican wedding cookies. But do not coat them with sugar. Coat them with powdered sugar just when it is time to serve.
More festive cookies
- Vanillekipferl | Austrian Vanilla Crescent Cookies
- Sekerpare - Turkish Soft Cookies in Sugar Syrup
- Nan Khatai - Indian Shortbread Cookies
- Naan Berenji | Eggless Persian Rice Flour Cookies
Recipe
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 cup Butter Unsalted (room temp)
- ▢ 2 cups All Purpose flour
- ▢ ⅔ cup Granulated Sugar can use ½ cup if you prefer less sweeter cookies
- ▢ 2 teaspoon Vanilla
- ▢ 1 ½ cups Pecan finely chopped (can use hazelnut or walnut as well)
- ▢ ½ teaspoon Salt
- ▢ ½ cup Powdered sugar for coating (might need more or less)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line couple of baking trays with parchment and keep aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the sugar and the butter.
- Cream them until light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Now add the salt and the vanilla and mix them well.
- To the butter mixture, add the flour little by little and mix well until completely incorporated and forms dough.
- Now add the chopped nuts and mix it well.
- Make about half inch balls and place them in the prepared cookies sheet.
- Bake them for about 25 min or until slightly browned.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, roll them in powdered sugar and set aside in a cooling rack. Be extremely careful since the cookies would be really hot and very fragile. It is very important to roll them as soon as they come out of the oven to get the sugar to coat well.
- Once the cookies have cooled down entirely, roll them again, for the second time in the powdered sugar.
Notes
- It is very important to use good quality, fresh nuts as the recipe uses quite a bit of them. The cookies take up a lot of flavor from the nuts and you want them to taste the best.
- Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as they are light golden brown.
- Roll them in powdered sugar right after they come out of the oven. Using a spoon helps as the sugar melts quite a bit when handling with fingers.
- It is essential that we roll them again in powdered sugar once the cookies cool down entirely.
Nutrition
More Cookies
- Crunchy Coconut Sesame Cookies
- Cream Cheese Spirals | Cinnamon Nut Filled Cookies
- Sweet Maida Biscuit | Baked Shakarpara
- Easy Eggless Coconut Macaroons
Mexican Wedding Cookies | Hazelnut Butter Balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter Unsalted (room temp)
- 2 cups All Purpose flour
- ⅔ cup Granulated Sugar can use ½ cup if you prefer less sweeter cookies
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 ½ cups Pecan finely chopped (can use hazelnut or walnut as well)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Powdered sugar for coating (might need more or less)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line couple of baking trays with parchment and keep aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the sugar and the butter.
- Cream them until light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Now add the salt and the vanilla and mix them well.
- To the butter mixture, add the flour little by little and mix well until completely incorporated and forms dough.
- Now add the chopped nuts and mix it well.
- Make about half inch balls and place them in the prepared cookies sheet.
- Bake them for about 25 min or until slightly browned.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, roll them in powdered sugar and set aside in a cooling rack. Be extremely careful since the cookies would be really hot and very fragile. It is very important to roll them as soon as they come out of the oven to get the sugar to coat well.
- Once the cookies have cooled down entirely, roll them again, for the second time in the powdered sugar.
Notes
- It is very important to use good quality, fresh nuts as the recipe uses quite a bit of them. The cookies take up a lot of flavor from the nuts and you want them to taste the best.
- Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as they are light golden brown.
- Roll them in powdered sugar right after they come out of the oven. Using a spoon helps as the sugar melts quite a bit when handling with fingers.
- It is essential that we roll them again in powdered sugar once the cookies cool down entirely.
