White Chocolate Pecan Snowball Cookies
When Liz invited me to be a part of the Christmas Cookie Exchange, I knew right away I wanted to try this new recipe for White Chocolate Pecan Snowball Cookies. Awhile back, I pulled down a stack of cookbooks from my shelf and started pouring over them, looking for something I had never baked before and that’s where I found a recipe that inspired me!
Not surprisingly, it was in the Taste of Home Christmas Cookies & Candy book. As I flipped through the pages, I came across a recipe for Cherry Snowballs. I’ve eaten Snowball Cookies a handful of times in my life (als0 called Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes), but I had never made them.
I know, I know… how have I gone 37 years of my life without baking these super easy, amazing, and very popular Christmas cookies?? Yeah, I have no idea either.
So I immediately knew I wanted to make Snowball Cookies… but not with cherries (as shown in the book). I’ve never had them with cherries and truthfully, cherries are just not my most favorite thing. So… if I couldn’t stuff my cookie with cherries… what could I stuff it with?
And then it came to me… white chocolate!! White chocolate just sounded like a perfect compliment to the Snowball Cookies!
If this recipe was anything like the ones I had in the past, I knew they’d be light and not too sweet and I just knew the added white chocolate in the center would be perfect!
Guess what? I was right!! So, these are very traditional Snowball Cookies, except they have a white chocolate filling in the center.
Also, the recipe in the book did not call for nuts, but I knew I had had Mexican Wedding Cookies with pecans in the past, so I made them with chopped pecans (although you could skip that if you have a nut thing)…. and my White Chocolate Pecan Snowball Cookies were born!
The verdict? I love the added texture and flavor of the chopped pecans so I have to say, the white chocolate filled with pecans is my favorite!! But they’re also perfectly delicious without the nuts. It just depends on what floats your boat 😉
Here’s the printable recipe:
White Chocolate Snowball Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 23 minutes
- Yield: 36 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup (or 2 sticks or 8 oz.) salted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar, divided
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour just until it comes together. If you’re adding nuts, gently mix them in now.
- Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for one hour.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a knife, cut off small chunks of the dough (approximately 1 tablespoon) and roll the dough between your hands until you can flatten it into a small circle. Place 3-4 white chocolate chips in the center of the circle and shape the dough into a ball around the chips.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the balls on the lined cookie sheet, approximately 1 inch apart, Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes or until the bottoms are browned.
- While the cookies are warm dust them with powdered sugar. I love using what I call my “sugar shaker” to do this! Don’t try rolling them at this point… they’ll just crumble apart.
- If you’re feeling adventurous, let them cool completely and then you can roll them in powdered sugar to get them completely white 😉 .
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Cook Time: 13 mins
Inspired by the Taste of Home Christmas Cookies & Candy book.
These are such pretty cookies!
Thank you Danielle!
I love this cookie, but have never had them with the choc chips…sounds yummy! They melt in your mouth!
I really love them with the chocolate chips… I hope you will too!
They look delicious.
Thank you Cheryl!
I am definitely making these for our Christmas party. Also I checked the recipes and cannot find a recipe for Christmas Coconut Cake. Maybe I have overlooked it but seem it is not there. Everyone is requesting a good Christmas Coconut Cake for our huge Christmas Party. I thought if there ever was a good Christmas Coconut Cake Rose would have it published in her recipes but I cannot find it there.
I have a recipe but it’s not published. I’ll try to make it and get it posted asap!
I have not tried these with the white chocolate chips but I am definitely going to try them. I love these snowball cookies, especially warm. I could eat a whole batch. Thank you. And I am interested in a good coconut cake recipe.
I have a Coconut Poke Cake here, a Coconut Bundt Cake here and a classic 3 Day Coconut Cake here (it’s amazing!!)!
These look delicious…and I’ll be trying today!
Awesome – I hope you love them as much as we do!
Simply delicious! They freeze well too. Sometimes i add colorful sprinkles with the white chips for a birthday party look!
Hi! I’m looking forward to making these. A few questions now.
Can I double the recipe?
How thin do I make the dough, before putting in white chocolate chips?
I do admit to being intimidated by this recipe. I usually stick to making cakes or cupcakes, but I the thought of this cookie makes my mouth water.
Hugs and Happy Baking,
Debbie
I’m so sorry I overlooked your questions before – I hope you were able to successfully make these!