Get holiday baking on a roll with snowballs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2025 (447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

These delightful little orbs go by many names: Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Pecan Puffs. Whatever you want to call them, these nutty, subtly sweet cookies are a family-friendly bake — with easy and potentially cathartic steps (crush your holiday angst while crushing pecans) for kids of all ages.

Would pair well with a tall glass of milk on Christmas Eve.

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe comes from Free Press copy editor David Fuller and is an adaptation from an older edition of Joy of Cooking. This recipe makes about 30 small cookies.

Snowballs

Free Press Favourite submitted by David Fuller

125 ml (1/2 cup) butter

30 ml (2 tbsp) icing sugar, plus 250 ml (1 cup) icing sugar in reserve

5 m (1 tsp) vanilla

250 ml (1 cup) pecans

250 ml (1 cup) cake flour or white flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Beat the butter until soft, then add 30 ml (2 tbsp) icing sugar and blend until creamy. Add the vanilla.

Measure and crush the pecans. (Can use a large plastic bag and a mortar to avoid making a mess.) Sift the flour into a bowl.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom.

Sign up for Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

Stir the crushed pecans and the flour into the butter mixture — it may be easier to do this with your hands.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter, and place on a lined or greased baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Place remaining 250 ml (1 cup) of icing sugar in a resealable plastic bag or container. After the cookies are out of the oven and have cooled a bit (but are still warm) place them in batches in the icing sugar and roll them around until they are coated.

Allow to cool completely. For best coating, roll them again gently in the icing sugar a second time when they have fully cooled. The bag or container of icing sugar can be saved for coating additional batches, if desired. This recipe can be doubled.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Eva Wasney
Arts Reporter

Eva Wasney is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.

   Read full biography