Peppermint Snowball Christmas Cookies

These Peppermint Snowball Christmas Cookies are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pecan cookies loaded with crushed peppermint, rolled twice in powdered sugar, and finished with a drizzle of milk chocolate and a sprinkle of red and green. They taste like a candy cane met a classic Mexican wedding cookie, and they're one of the easiest holiday cookies you'll make all season.

Christmas in our house is full of Christmas cookies and all kinds of baking fun. We love recipes we've found over the years, recipes we've created from scratch, and recipes that have been handed down from Grandma (like this sweet potato pie). We've cut back on the number of cookies we bake each year because life gets busy, but there are some the holidays just wouldn't be the same without.

The best Christmas cookie recipes have a history and a few memories attached, and these peppermint snowballs are one of those holiday recipes for my family. They come together with ingredients you mostly already have on hand, and our twist of milk chocolate and festive sprinkles makes them look like they came from a bakery.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

• Butter. Softened unsalted butter gives these cookies their tender, shortbread-like crumb. If you only have salted butter, use it and skip any added salt. Don't use margarine or a spread; the extra water makes the balls spread and lose their round shape.
• Peppermint extract. Just half a teaspoon of pure peppermint extract flavors the whole batch. Peppermint is strong, so measure carefully, and don't swap in mint extract, which contains spearmint and tastes more like toothpaste.
• Crushed peppermint. Store-bought crushed candy cane pieces save time, or you can crush two regular candy canes or a handful of starlight mints yourself. The little bits of candy add crunch and a pretty pink fleck inside each cookie.
• Pecans. Finely ground pecans give the dough its rich, nutty flavor. Walnuts or almonds work the same way. For a nut-free version, replace the nuts with an extra ¼ cup of flour plus ¼ cup of finely crushed vanilla wafers.
• Powdered sugar. You'll need a generous amount of powdered sugar for the double coating that gives these cookies their snowy look. Regular granulated sugar goes into the dough itself.
• Chocolate chips. We use milk chocolate Toll House chocolate chips for the drizzle because I almost never say no to chocolate. Semi-sweet or white chocolate work too, and you can skip the drizzle entirely for a classic snowball.
• Sprinkles. A pinch of red and green Christmas sprinkles on the wet chocolate makes the cookies extra festive. Red and green sanding sugar gives a similar sparkly look.

Helpful Tips

Crush the peppermint finely. Big chunks of candy cane melt in the oven and leave sticky, hollow pockets in the cookies. If you're crushing your own, unwrap the candy canes, seal them in a zip-top bag, and tap with a rolling pin until the pieces are about the size of coarse sand, or pulse them a few times in a food processor. Sift out the fine peppermint dust if you like, or stir it right into the dough for extra flavor.

Grind the pecans, but don't make pecan butter. Pulse the nuts in short bursts until they look like coarse meal. If you run the processor too long, the oils release and the dough turns greasy. Grinding the nuts is what gives these cookies their fine, sandy texture.

Roll the cookies in powdered sugar twice. This is the secret to a thick, snowy coat. Roll each cookie while it's still warm (about 5 minutes out of the oven) so the first layer melts slightly and sticks like a glaze. Once the cookies have cooled completely, roll them again. The second coat stays white and powdery because the cookies are no longer warm enough to dissolve it.

Keep the balls small and even. One-inch balls bake through without browning too much on top. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper so the bottoms don't over-brown, and space the cookies about an inch apart. They won't spread much.

Drizzle after the second sugar coat. Melt the chocolate gently in 30-second bursts so it doesn't seize, then drizzle it over the fully coated, cooled cookies with a spoon or a zip-top bag with a tiny corner snipped off. Add the sprinkles right away, before the chocolate sets.

Variations

• Chocolate peppermint snowballs. Replace ¼ cup of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder for a chocolate dough that pairs beautifully with the mint.
• White chocolate drizzle. Use white chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate, and tint half of it pink or red with a drop of oil-based food coloring for a candy-cane look.
• Almond snowballs. Swap the pecans for almonds and the peppermint extract for almond extract, and skip the crushed candy canes.
• Andes mint version. Stir ½ cup of chopped Andes mint baking chips into the dough in place of the crushed peppermint.
• Classic snowballs. Leave out the peppermint and chocolate for the traditional buttery nut cookie, finished only with powdered sugar.

Serving Ideas

These cookies are made for holiday cookie trays. Their round, snowy shape looks lovely next to flatter cookies like our spice cookies with powdered sugar and bars, and a few squares of peppermint bark fudge carry the candy-cane theme across the whole platter.

Serve them with a mug of hot cocoa, or set them out on a hot chocolate charcuterie board for a holiday party. For a grown-up dessert table, pair them with peppermint martinis. They also make great edible gifts: stack them in a cellophane bag or a cookie tin lined with parchment, next to a handful of white chocolate pretzel clusters.

Storing & Freezing

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper between layers so the chocolate drizzle doesn't smear. If the powdered sugar coat looks a little thin after a few days, give them a quick fresh roll in powdered sugar before serving.

To freeze, let the cookies cool completely after the first sugar coating, then freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm. Transfer them to a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then give them their second roll in powdered sugar and add the chocolate drizzle and sprinkles. You can also freeze the unbaked dough balls and bake them straight from the freezer, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.

More Christmas Cookies

If you love these snowball cookies, be sure to check out these other festive treats:

• 85+ Christmas Cookie Recipes
• Cherry Almond Christmas Cookies
• Chocolate Dipped Icebox Cookies
• Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
• Jumbo Snickerdoodle Cookies

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