Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies are buttery, light, and flaky. They’re stuffed with miniature chocolate chips and coated in powdered sugar.
author’s note
Warning: You’ll Eat 5 Of These Before They Even Cool!
There are a handful of cookies that instantly take me back to childhood, and snowball cookies are one of them. My mom made a version every holiday season and I remember sneaking them off the counter before they even had a chance to cool. Years later, when I started baking on my own, I became obsessed with finding a snowball cookie that was light and flaky but still gave me that melty bite I remembered.
One December, I had a giant bowl of Mexican Wedding Cookies cooling on the counter when my boys walked in asking if we could “add chocolate next time.” Their solution for everything is chocolate, so I gave it a try. And let me tell you, this twist stuck.
These Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies taste like the classic cookie I grew up with but with little pockets of melty chocolate in every bite.
Here’s What You Need
Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies are so simple to make and require few ingredients.
| Ingredient | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Butter | Use real butter, not margarine. Since butter is the base, choose a good-quality one. |
| Powdered Sugar | Half goes in the dough, the other half is for rolling the baked cookies. |
| Salt | Balances the sweetness. |
| Vanilla | Quality vanilla adds big flavor here. |
| Flour | Spoon and level so you don’t pack in too much. |
| Cornstarch | Key to the melt-in-your-mouth texture. |
| Pecans | Toast for more flavor, then pulse for fine, even pieces. |
| Mini Chocolate Chips | Use miniature chips; regular ones are too large for these cookies. |
How To Make Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
- Butter and sugar: Beat the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Dry ingredients: Mix in vanilla, salt, cornstarch, pecans, flour, and chocolate chips until a soft dough forms.
- Chill: Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the cookies stay round and tender.
- Shape and bake: Roll into small balls and bake until the bottoms are lightly set.
- Powdered sugar: Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar, cool slightly, roll again.
Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies Tips
- Keep the butter cold. Soft or melted butter will make the cookies spread.
- Don’t skip the chill. The dough needs to be fully cold before baking to prevent burning or spreading and to deepen the flavor.
- Pulse the pecans. Use a mini processor for tiny, even pieces. Watch closely so they don’t turn into pecan butter.
- Use a Silpat. These cookies bake best on a Silpat liner. Parchment browned the bottoms and greasing the pan made them spread.
- Double-dip in powdered sugar. Roll warm cookies once, let them cool slightly, then roll again for the prettiest and best flavor.
Storage
These cookies freeze great, but freezing the unbaked dough gives the best results.
- Unbaked dough: Roll dough into balls, freeze on a sheet pan, then move to airtight freezer bags. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake. Add 1–2 extra minutes if needed.
- Baked cookies: Roll warm chocolate chip snowball cookies in powdered sugar, cool fully, then freeze on a sheet pan. Transfer to freezer bags. Freeze for up to 1-2 months.
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Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Sheet pan (15″ x 10″) lined
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2-1/4 cups powdered sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1-3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the pecans in an even layer on a sheet pan. Bake for 5–7 minutes or until they smell fragrant. Watch carefully—you don’t want to burn them. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool before transferring them to a mini food processor or cutting board. Pulse on the “chop” setting or finely chop. You want very small pieces but avoid over-pulsing in the food processor or you’ll end up with pecan butter.
- In a stand mixer bowl with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the butter and 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Cream together until smooth and creamy, about 3–4 minutes. Add the vanilla, salt, cornstarch, and chopped pecans, then beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour and mix slowly until smooth. Finally, incorporate the chocolate chips; the mixture may appear sandy and crumbly at first, but keep mixing until it comes together. Avoid overmixing once combined.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, closer to 12 hours preferred.
- After being chilled, measure out cookie dough into 1-tablespoon balls. If the dough gets too warm from being rolled or sitting in a warm kitchen, put it in the freezer for 10–15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a light-colored sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (see note 1). Bake for 7–11 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand on tray for 3–5 minutes, and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Let cool for 2–3 minutes.
- Add 1 cup powdered sugar to a bowl and add more as needed. Roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar, then return to the wire cooling rack. Let cool a few more minutes, then roll in the powdered sugar again.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Bake at ?
For how long?
Instructions were missing from your recipe. Looked up at other instructions at top but baking heat and time were missing. Please add
So sorry Mary, not sure where the instructions went, but they’re all in now; must have been some kind of glitch with my recipe card!
Can I use gf flour in the chocolate chip snow ball cookies ?
I’m sorry I don’t have a whole lot of experience with GF flour so can’t give you a recommendation or say how it would work. Wish I could be of more help!