These Unsifted Snowballs are a buttery, toasted pecan shortbread-like cookie that is the perfect bite-sized treat. Once they’re rolled in powdered sugar they look like little snowballs. They only have a few ingredients so they mix up easy and freeze beautifully to make party prep a breeze! 

Growing up my family used a similar recipe and shaped them into crescents, called Pecan Crescent Cookies.  Our tradition was to make them at Christmas-time, but there's no reason these cant be a year-round treat! My boys love these and want me to make more as soon as our freezer stash runs out.  Checkout all our variations below- you'll never get tired of these tasty treats.

Happy Unsifted Baking!
Keira

Unsifted® Snowball Cookies

**Prefer a hard copy? Checkout the beautiful professionally printed recipe card HERE ** 

PREP: 20 minutes
BAKE: 9-11 minutes
YIELD: about 30 cookies

DIRECTIONS

1.  Mill the fresh flour

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Set WonderMill® dial to “Pastry”
• Mill 1 ½ cups Dessert Blend

2.  Toast pecans + Chop

Pro Tip: Do not chop the nuts to a powder. There should be very small bits still.

• Add 1 cup pecans to dry skillet over medium-heat
• Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant (2-5 minutes)
• Transfer to cutting board and cool completely
• Use knife, food processor, or place nuts in plastic bag and smash with rolling pin until a fine consistency
• Measure 1 cup and set aside (there may be extra)

3.  Mix butter + sugar + salt

• In mixing bowl, add 1 cup softened butter
• Add ¾ cup powdered sugar
• Add ⅛ tsp salt
• Using an electric mixer, mix on high until smooth (about 1 minute)

4.  Add pecans + vanilla

• Add 1 cup prepared pecans
• Add 2 tsp vanilla
• Mix until thoroughly combined (about 30 - 60 seconds)

5.  Add cinnamon + fresh flour

• Add ½ tsp cinnamon
• Slowly add all unsifted flour (just over 2 ½ cups)
• Mix until combined

6.  Shape + Bake

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
• Shape dough into smooth balls, 1 Tbsp each
  (we use a 1 Tbsp measuring spoon to scoop)
• Place on lined baking sheet, 1” apart (do not flatten)
• Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes
• Remove from oven when set but still soft. Do not brown them (will still look a little doughy)
• Let cookies rest on hot pan about 10-15 minutes

7.  Roll in sugar + Serve

• Add 1 cup powdered sugar to a small bowl
• After rest + while warm, coat dough balls in sugar
• Once cooled, coat in sugar again

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STORAGE TIPS

Cookies may be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days or immediately frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer bag.

These cookies are best day-of or frozen. They thaw beautifully and are just as delicious making them perfect to make-ahead for events.  We even love them cold- straight from the freezer. 

CRESCENT SHAPING

Simply roll the same 1 Tbsp dough in Step 6, then shape that ball into a thick log and add a slight bend in the middle.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If making crescents or larger cookies, if you notice your cookies are spreading more than desired consider trying one or more of the following:

• In Step 1, use ¾ cup Dessert + ¾ cup Basic Blend
• After Step 5, place dough in fridge for at least 15 minutes to ensure butter is firm/cold

VARIATIONS

Hint of Almond

In Step 4, add (omit) the following:

• Add ½ tsp almond extract
• Add 1 tsp vanilla extract (total)

Orange Zest

In Step 4, add the following:

• 1 tsp orange zest

Mini-Chocolate Chip (Nut free!)

In Step 2, add (omit) the following:

• (omit) pecans

In Step 4, add the following:

• 1 cup mini-chocolate chips

Traditional

In Step 4, add (omit) the following:

• (omit) cinnamon

Walnut

In Step 1 & 4, replace pecans with walnuts