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These gluten free snowball cookies, also known as Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies, are super tender butter cookies, made with chopped nuts and always covered in powdered sugar.
Table of Contents
- What makes this recipe for gluten free snowball cookies so special?
- Tips for getting these gluten free snowball cookies recipe right
- What sort of nuts work best in this recipe for gluten free snowball cookies
- Substitutions for gluten free snowball cookies ingredients
- How to make gluten free snowball cookies, step by step
- Gluten Free Snowball Cookies | they melt in your mouth! Recipe
What makes this recipe for gluten free snowball cookies so special?
Snowball cookies are somewhat fragile, compared to a classic chocolate chip cookie, for example. They tend to crumble, since they're really a type of shortbread cookie, and are meant to be delicate.
This recipe is special because it makes cookies that are properly fragile, and really do melt in your mouth with that beautiful buttery taste. But they're never dry, even with all that powdery sugar everywhere.
They're not neat and tidy cookies, but that's part of their charm. Imagine 3 of them perched on top of the pile in a holiday cookie box filled with all sorts of other colors and styles of cookies.
A dream holiday cookie box for me would have a handful of these gluten free Russian tea cakes/snowball cookies, just 2 gluten free gingerbread men (or women!), some of our other best gluten free cookies, but at least one gorgeous gluten free rainbow cookie. So beautiful right next to the snowballs!
Tips for getting these gluten free snowball cookies recipe right
Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about these amazing buttery delight gluten free snowball cookies! Much like the whipped shortbread cookies that we made the other week, these incredibly simple cookies are a mixture of butter, flour/starch, and sugar, but this time we're adding finely chopped nuts to the mix.
They still melt in your mouth, though, since the nuts should be very finely chopped. I chop mine in a miniature food processor or a blender.
Be sure not to continue grinding until you have a flour, as you want the nuts to provide a bit of texture and not to completely disappear into the batter.
What sort of nuts work best in this recipe for gluten free snowball cookies
When I use mostly raw pecans to make these snowball cookies (a.k.a. Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes), I grind the nuts a little more coarsely since pecans are such a soft nut. When I use almonds, I grind them more finely.
You don't want the cookies to have any noisy crunch, which would all but ruin the overall silky smooth texture. So it's really best to use nuts that are tender, even when raw.
Substitutions for gluten free snowball cookies ingredients
As always, unless I specifically state otherwise, I haven’t tested these cookies with any substitutions. These are just my best-educated guesses:
Gluten free dairy free snowball cookies
I haven’t tried it, but I bet these cookies would work just fine with butter-flavored Spectrum non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening in place of the butter.
Gluten free corn free snowball cookies
I recommend trying potato starch as a substitute for cornstarch in the recipe. Since most confectioners’ sugar is made using cornstarch, you’ll also have to source a corn-free version of that ingredient.
A fellow reader has mentioned in the past that Trader Joe's has a corn-free confectioners' sugar, but I haven't investigated that personally. It's worth a look, though!
If you use a gluten free flour blend that is already high in starch, like Cup4Cup, replace the cornstarch gram for gram with more Cup4Cup.
What about making these gluten free snowball cookies without nuts?
If you can't have/won't have/don't want to have nuts, instead of these snowball cookies, I recommend my meltaway cookies. Or my whipped shortbread cookies.
They're both very similar in taste and texture, but naturally nut-free! The nuts provide a depth of flavor to these cookies, but the other cookies of course have their own merits. You really can't lose.
How to make gluten free snowball cookies, step by step
Gluten Free Snowball Cookies | they melt in your mouth!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups 210 g all purpose gluten free flour (I like Better Batter here)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your flour blend already contains it
- 10 tablespoons 90 g cornstarch
- 1 cup 115 g confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon, 90 g finely chopped raw pecans and/or almonds
- 16 tablespoons 224 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Lukewarm water, by the teaspoonful as necessary
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (77 g) and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the finely chopped nuts and whisk again to combine.
- Add the butter and vanilla, and mix until well-combined. I find that pressing down on the butter with the back of a spoon helps to distribute it throughout the dough.
- The cookie dough will look somewhat sandy, and will clump in places. Add water by the teaspoonful, mixing after each addition, and mix to combine until the dough holds together when scoop or squeezed.
- Scoop the dough by the heaping tablespoon (an overfull #70 ice cream scoop is ideal here, but two spoons work well, too) onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2-inches between pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a round gently between the palms of your hands. Don’t pack the dough; just shape it.
- Place the remaining 1/3 cup (38 g) confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and place the balls of dough, one at a time, in the sugar. Toss to coat completely in the sugar and return to the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 5 minutes or until the cookie dough is firm.
- Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookies are set in the center and firm to the touch (they will be fragile, but shouldn’t be wet), about 12 minutes.
- Sometime between 10 and 12 minutes, the cookies will take on a slightly crackled appearance on top. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool completely before rolling in more confectioners’ sugar (optional) and serving.
- These cookies can be stored for at least 3 days in a sealed glass container at room temperature. For longer storage, seal tightly in a freezer-safe container and place in the freezer.
- For best results, don’t toss in extra confectioners’ sugar before freezing. Defrost completely at room temperature before tossing in sugar a final time.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow, I may or may not read the blog on a recipe I want but I now know what I won’t be doing. I won’t be pining this recipe or buying any of your cookbooks for sure. That was an unbelievably snark bit of self-affirmation.
I see you’ve gone out of your way to make sure that no one knows who you are, No1uno, leaving an email address of none@none.com. That’s a shame.
I used a similar recipe (pre gluten free days) to make a crust for strawberry pie that had fresh uncooked strawberries. It was so GOOD!
Do you think it would be ok for use with pecan pie too?
I’m afraid I don’t understand your comment in the context of this recipe. Did you perhaps mean to leave it on a different recipe, Carol? This cookie recipe definitely wouldn’t work as a crust.
Where is yr Pinterest button?
Penny, there are sharing buttons at the top and bottom of every post. Just click where it says “SHARE” on the ribbon and it’ll bring up all the buttons, including Pinterest. Here’s a pin for these cookies, if that helps: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/11329436546711908/
Never will I ever go to Allrecipes for gluten free! No thank you! I am happy to come here and also buy your books (I do have them all). As far as I am concerned, and my family too, you are the Gluten Free Guru! I absolutely love these cookies and cannot wait to make them! Thank you for all you do for us! Your daughter is adorable!
Aw, Mare, you’re the best!
Hi Nicole,
I’ve been making these for years. My mom used to make them (of course not gluten free) when I was a kid. My made up recipe is not the same as yours. They end up a bit dry. I will be trying your recipe this year.
And by the way – I love our conversations. I don’t skip to the end because you always have useful and often times funny things to pass on. Like I’ve said before, it’s like sitting in your kitchen having coffee while you pass on your wonderful knowledge.
Thank you! :-)
~ MIchelle
You have indeed said that before, Michelle, and it’s always super gratifying since that is absolutely the spirit in which it’s offered. Thank you for your kindness, and for reading along! :)
Hi Nicole;
Thank you, I love these, as well as a Greek Cookie called Kourembietes – butter cookies, that have no nuts, but some put them in there just like these. I had a friend in Greece, studying to be a Pastry Chef help me with a GF option. I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll share once I do.
Question, I have 2 bags of Nut.com Tapioca Flour/Starch that I need to use up before they expire (I bought (4-5 of them at once….thinking I’d use them faster) , do you have any uses for it other than using it IN the flour blends??? Appreciate any help!
Definitely, Doris. You should try my Paleo bagels, Paleo pizza, soft tapioca wraps… Just use the search function. There’s plenty here!
No Xanthan gum in the video’s list of ingredients. Is there a reason why it’s listed on your recipe and is there a need for it?
It’s part of the flour blend in the video, Mindi. And yes, it’s necessary. I just realized that I hadn’t included a note in the recipe to eliminated the xanthan gum as an ingredient if your gluten free flour blend already contains it. I’ve typed that so many hundreds of times over the years; I can’t believe I left it out!
Thank you for sharing this recipe, my husband’s family is Greek and this is similar to Kourabiethes. I look forward to making these for Christmas. Also, thanks for the lesson above, I’m a skimmer and don’t always take the time to do more than look at a recipe but, I’ll be more careful to do so in the future. We are all spoiled with how much information is on the internet these days but, don’t take the time to be thankful to those that put it there.
That’s really kind of you to say, Tracy. I just figured I might as well explain the idea behind it all, since if you’re not a blogger, too, it most likely wouldn’t even occur to you. ?
“But for now, if you’re looking for just the recipe and that’s all, you should go to Allrecipes. I’ve checked out their gluten free recipes, and frankly, they’re really lacking unless you’re looking for naturally gluten free content. But it’s there for you, if that suits your needs better.”
BETTER YET…..just buy Nicole’s books….no ads and BEST of the best GF recipes!
Haha thanks, El!!
I agree! Your books are awesome! Kindle edition makes it easy to reference when I’m in the kitchen. Thanks!
Hi. I am using Cup 4 Cup flour and was wondering if I still needed to add the Xanthan gum. Also, I didn’t quite understand the cornstarch instructions.
Thanks,
Lisa
Cup4Cup has xanthan gum already in it, Lisa, so no you don’t need to add more. You just replace the cornstarch in the recipe with an equal amount of additional Cup4Cup, as that blend is already very, very high in cornstarch.