Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies
User Reviews
5
Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies
Description
Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies combine salted butter, icing sugar, vanilla, and toasted nuts — typically hazelnuts or walnuts — into a dough that is chilled thoroughly before baking. This chilling step is key to achieving the characteristic firm texture and crumbly bite. The dough is shaped into small balls, baked briefly to lightly brown the bottoms, and then dusted generously with icing sugar while still warm. Double-dusting after cooling creates the traditional snowy coating and sweet finish.
The cookies are essentially a form of shortbread, drying out rather than rising during baking, resulting in their distinctive melt-in-your-mouth feel. The nuts provide texture and a mildly roasted flavor. These treats are best served once completely cooled to preserve the contrast of buttery crumb and sugary exterior.
Snowball Cookies are commonly made ahead and stored well, making them suitable for holiday baking. Their delicate balance of rich butter and light sweetness complements tea or coffee, and their compact size makes them easy to serve as finger food for gatherings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter salted
- 1/4 cup icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup hazelnuts toasted is best, or walnuts
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup icing sugar for dusting the baked product
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Cream together the icing sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Add the nuts to the butter mixture and combine thoroughly.
- Add in the flour and mix until combined.
- Shape the dough into a ball and refrigerate at least an hour. The secret to snowballs is to use extremely hard dough, cold from the fridge.
- Shape them into 1 inch balls, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes, then check the bottoms to see if they are browned. You are, in essence, like shortbread, drying these out rather than cooking. There is nothing to cook, they are butter, sugar, vanilla and nuts. You do not want to overbake these.
- When they come out, let them rest a minute, then roll in your first layer of icing sugar. When they are cooler and have that first layer on, roll again. Place on a baking rack to cool completely, then transfer to a sealed container.
Notes
- Chill the dough for at least an hour to achieve the proper firm texture needed for shaping and baking.
- Use toasted hazelnuts or walnuts to enhance the nutty flavor in the cookies.
- Roll the cookies twice in icing sugar—once immediately after baking and again after cooling—to create the signature snowy coating.
- Store in an airtight container; these cookies freeze well for up to three months, making them ideal for preparing in advance.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 36Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 97 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 97kcal | 5% |
| Carbohydrates | 9g | 3% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 13mg | 4% |
| Sodium | 45mg | 2% |
| Potassium | 24mg | 1% |
| Sugar | 3g | 6% |
| Vitamin A | 160IU | 3% |
| Vitamin C | 0.2mg | 0% |
| Calcium | 5mg | 1% |
| Iron | 0.4mg | 2% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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