These Mexican Wedding Cookies (also known as “snowballs”, Mexican Polvorones cookies, Russian Tea Cookies, or Pecan Sandies) offer a buttery pecan shortbread cookie ball that’s coated in sweetly soft powdered sugar – resembling powder-soft early snowfall, officially welcoming the Christmas season!
These sweet buttery shortbread snowballs make the best melt-in-your-mouth wedding cookies!
While the name in itself reveals this cookie to be one traditionally reserved for special occasions, they are also enjoyed as sophisticated yet simple treats to be served alongside a mug of hot chocolate.
Serve these beautiful and scrumptious Mexican Wedding Cookies at your holiday parties or gift them in pretty paper boxes to friends and family.
These little cookies are a must for any holiday baking list and are a family favorite, like our Molasses Crinkle Cookies and Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies, which are among our Christmas Recipes.
Table of Contents
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Giftable treats: These Christmas Snowball Cookies make special and sophisticated home-baked gifts for friends and family over the festive season. Just prior to handing them out, place your snowballs in paper gift boxes with decorative ribbon and gift tags. They’re also perfect for Christmas day party favors or holiday cookie exchanges!
- Simplicity: These cookies are fairly straightforward and simple to assemble. They’re essentially shortbread with chopped nuts, rolled in confectioners sugar.
- Quick to make: You can make 3 dozen snowballs in about 30 minutes from start to finish! They can also easily be made a couple of days ahead of Christmas by storing in the refrigerator or reducing the recipe time by making the cookie dough a month in advance to store in the freezer!
- Versatile: Adapt your Pecan Snowball Cookies with additional ingredient add-ins or ingredient swaps to better suit your taste preferences.
- They’re Festive: These Mexican Wedding Cookies look like little snowballs with their confectioners sugar coating – perfect for Christmas or other holiday occasions.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- These snowball cookies have been a family-favorite for many years in my house – tried and tested in my kitchen, allowing me to guide you through the process effortlessly with the aid of simple recipe instructions and step-by-step recipe images.
- Frequently asked questions and pro recipe tips have been included in this recipe post to ensure that your experience of making these Mexican Wedding Cookies is effortless and enjoyable.
- Recipe variations are listed below as easy and fun ways for you to offer some variety.
What You’ll Need For This Recipe
Equipment
- Sheet Pan AKA Cookie Sheet
- Stand Mixer – Anyone who does a lot of baking will love this popular stand mixer. It saves time, and wear and tear on your arms. It comes in a variety of colors so you can pick your favorite color.Hand Mixer
- Cookie Scoop – The medium cookie scooper is perfect for cookies, as well as meatball, mini cupcakes and can meet a variety of needs.
INGREDIENT NOTES
Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don’t have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.
- Butter – use unsalted and softened butter. If you opt to use salted butter then simply omit the salt listed in the recipe ingredients.
- Confectioners sugar – sifting your sugar is an important step to get a smooth and light shortbread cookie dough. You’ll also be using this to roll your baked cookies in.
- Vanilla extract – I use high quality vanilla extract in all my sweet treats for best flavor.
- Almond extract – this has a much stronger flavor than vanilla extract and is often used in combination with vanilla extract in shortbread cookies. While you could opt to omit it from the cookie dough, it will change the overall taste of these wedding cookies.
- All purpose flour – if you need these cookies to be gluten-free then I suggest using something like King Arthur gluten-free flour which is a convenient measure-for-measure substitution. Regardless, ensure that you sift your flour for a smoother cookie dough.
- Salt – A small amount of salt helps to elevate the flavor in baked goods such as these Mexican wedding cookies. If you’re using salted butter then you won’t need to add this salt in.
- Pecans/Walnuts – either of these nuts will be a good option but make sure that you chop them well. Larger pieces of nuts can cause the shortbread-like cookie dough to break apart more easily.
How To Make Snowball Cookies
- Place the room temperature butter in a stand mixer and add the powdered sugar and vanilla and almond extract. Beat till well combined.
- Sift the flour and salt into the butter.
- Beat on medium speed. It will take a minute or two to combine well as the dough will be thick. Add in the chopped pecans and mix.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place on the cookie sheet. Repeat for each cookie.
- Place the cookie sheet with the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool the baked cookies, then roll each one generously in the powdered sugar.
PRO RECIPE TIPS
- Make sure that your cookies have cooled somewhat prior to rolling them in the powdered sugar otherwise the powdered sugar will melt from the heat of the freshly baked cookies. At the same time, if your cookies are completely cooled before you coat them, there is a chance that the sugar won’t stick to the cookies properly.
- If you’re struggling to roll your raw cookie balls into smooth balls, consider chilling the dough first in the refrigerator. This will make the dough firmer which will make it easier to roll.
- I always prefer using a standing mixer when it comes to mixing thicker dough such as shortbread – it’s just that much easier. If you don’t have a standing mixer then use a handheld mixer – it will work just as well but may require a little extra arm work!
- These Mexican wedding cookies are perfect for special occasions or holidays. Consider whipping up a batch for Christmas, weddings and baby showers, parties, high tea with the girls, or as boxed gifts to friends and family!
- Using a cookie scoop is a great way to ensure that you make uniform-sized cookie balls for these wedding cookies.
RECIPE VARIATIONS
I’ve recently started to make these Mexican Wedding Cookies again with Christmas in mind although they are just as suitable for other holidays and celebrations. They add some serious class to your cookie offerings and can be adapted in the following ways:
- While I’ve used chopped pecans as my first choice, you can use walnuts, almonds or pretty much any nut that you prefer for these cookies.
- Believe it or not but you could add some festive boozy flavor to these cookies by adding in rum, frangelico, kahlua, or any favorite sipping spirits. The alcohol content will mostly burn off during the baking while you’ll be left with the flavor of the alcohol used.
- Some people use granulated sugar in place of confectioner’s sugar for the cookie dough. While that is an option, I find that the sifted confectioner’s sugar together with the sifted flour makes these cookies beautifully light.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
These sophisticated-looking cookies can be served as a standalone cookie treat on a festive decorative plate to be offered to your guests. However, If you’re already thinking about assembling a Christmas dessert charcuterie board then these wedding cookies would be an ideal addition to the board.
Serve these snowballs alongside the likes of Peanut Butter Snowballs, mini gingerbread cheesecake bites, Christmas shortbread thumbprint cookies, hot chocolate cupcakes, or whatever your heart desires.
Of course, as already mentioned, these cookies aren’t just reserved for Christmas – they are a lovely addition to any special occasion.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)
WHAT ARE MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES?
These Mexican wedding cookies can be likened to pecan sandies in confectioners sugar. They’re essentially a shortbread cookie using confectioners sugar instead of granulated for a super-light, melt-in-your-mouth cookie that’s then rolled into smooth balls and confectioner’s sugar once baked.
There is some speculation around how these cookies came to be called “Mexican Wedding Cookies”, otherwise known as “snowballs”.
There seems to be some connection to these cookies originating from Europe as popular “tea time” cookies, while others believe that these cookies first originated from Russia and were given a different name once popular in the United States for political reasons.
Russian Tea Cakes Vs Mexican Wedding Cookies
Basically, they are the same cookies, except the Mexican Wedding cookies use chopped pecans whereas the Russian Tea Cookies may vary the type of ground nuts depending on the occasion.
What Are Mexican Wedding Cookies Called In Spanish?
In Spanish, Mexican Wedding Cookies are called Polvorones.
HOW SHOULD I STORE MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES?
You can store these cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 5-7 days or at room temperature for 2-3 days.
You also have the option of freezing the cookie dough or the baked cookies themselves in the freezer for up to 3 months. Whenever storing raw cookie dough, make sure to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap.
Thaw your frozen cookie dough or frozen baked cookies overnight in the refrigerator before use or serving.
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Recipe
Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup confectioners sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
- 1 cup confectioners sugar sifted – for rolling cookies in
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the room temperature butter in a stand mixer and add the powdered sugar and vanilla and almond extract. Beat till well combined.
- Sift the flour and salt into the butter and beat on medium speed. It will take a minute or two to combine well as the dough will be thick.
- Add in the chopped pecans and mix.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place on the cookie sheet. Repeat for each cookie.
- Place the cookie sheet with the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool the baked cookies, then roll each one generously in the powdered sugar.
Video
Notes
- Make sure that your cookies have cooled somewhat prior to rolling them in the powdered sugar otherwise the powdered sugar will melt from the heat of the freshly baked cookies. At the same time, if your cookies are completely cooled before you coat them, there is a chance that the sugar won’t stick to the cookies properly.
- If you’re struggling to roll your raw cookie balls into smooth balls, consider chilling the dough first in the refrigerator. This will make the dough firmer which will make it easier to roll.
- I always prefer using a standing mixer when it comes to mixing thicker dough such as shortbread – it’s just that much easier. If you don’t have a standing mixer then use a handheld mixer – it will work just as well but may require a little extra arm work!
- These Mexican wedding cookies are perfect for special occasions or holidays. Consider whipping up a batch for Christmas, weddings and baby showers, parties, high tea with the girls, or as boxed gifts to friends and family!
- Using a cookie scoop is a great way to ensure that you make uniform-sized cookie balls for these wedding cookies.
Wanda says
Love snowball cookies! Can’t wait to try these ones!
Cyndy says
Thanks for the thorough instructions. These looked so delicious and they tasted even better. I am going to make double next time because the disappeared pretty quickly at my house!
saif says
This looks delicious. It kinda remind me the Middle eastern cookies at home where they also add powders on it.
Biana says
These look like such fun cookies, they are perfect with a cup of tea.
Gail Montero says
These cookies are a holiday favorite of mine. So more-ish, I need to exercise self-control with these! YUM!
Libby Adams says
I have been looking for a Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe every since my daughter made some in her baking class in school and brought them home. Your recipe looks pretty straight forward so will try it out. Thanks again for sharing this!
Michele says
Hi Libby,
You’re welcome. I hope you like them.
Thanks,
Michele
Kmb says
Do you measure the sugar and flour before or after sifting?
Michele says
Hi,
I measured and then sifted.
Thanks,
Michele
Kimble says
This is my 3rd time making these cookies. I made them for the Spanish speaking teachers at my sisters school. (Not trying to offend if I didn’t identify correctly). But I added a Rumchata drizzle and it kicked up the taste YUMMY!!! A great coffee cookie also. I’ll add these to my baking repertoire. Thank you for clear instructions.
Crystal says
They taste great but were more crumbly than I was hoping. Clearly, I did something different I just don’t know what. Either way, the recipe tastes wonderful. I just have to figure out why they crumbled. I will try them again.
Bea Shumey says
No need to worry about storing these ! They will be gone before you know it! I will double the batch next year. These were delicious and easy to make. I might cut down the sugar a bit as they are overall sweet, but they are melt in your mouth delicious!
I had an aunt, years ago that made these but I never knew the recipe…we were allowed one only! Took me about 50 years to get this secret! Love them!
Jackie says
Can’t wait to try. I want to make mini ones. Would I bake for the same time?
Michele says
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for your question. In general, the smaller the cookies, the faster they cook. So I would watch the cookies while they bake and check them at about 6 minutes and, if they are not ready, keep checking them until they are done. It’s hard to give a specific time when I don’t know what the specific size of the cookies will be.
Happy Baking,
Michele
Lee says
Excellent recipe! I’ve made this recipe various times. A keeper for sure!
Michele says
Hi Lee,
I’m so happy you like this recipe. Thanks for sharing your experience with this recipe.
Michele