The Best Snowball Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make the best snowball? ›

Once you've found the perfect snow, it's time to start making snowballs! Cup your hands and then dip them into the ground to pick up a handful of snow in each hand. Bring your hands together while rotating them. This motion is what will help to fuse the ice crystals together to form a solid snowball.

Too much flour causes the dough to become dry and crumbly, which prevents it from flattening out during baking. As a result, your cookies will stay in their original shape instead of spreading out into nice circles.

Why do my snowball cookies go flat? These snowball cookies should not flatten. If they do it's likely the dough wasn't chilled long enough and the ingredients were too warm to begin with so they spread. It's also possible you accidentally measured the ingredients incorrectly!

To help cookies keep their shape, freeze them! I freeze each batch of cut-out cookies for 5 to 10 minutes before baking. They rise just slightly higher and keep their shape better. This really helps when using an intricate cookie cutter, but I do this even when baking circles.

Adjust Salt

Next, if you're swapping unsalted for salted butter, reduce the amount of salt listed in the recipe to adjust for the salt in the butter. Take ¼ teaspoon of salt away for every stick of butter used*. Do the opposite if you're swapping salted for unsalted butter.

Snowball cookies will last up to 3 days at room temperature, in a sealed container, or up to 2 weeks if stored in the refrigerator. Add them to your Christmas Dessert Charcuterie Board when ready to enjoy!

Increase the Flour: Adding more flour to the recipe will help create a thicker and denser cookie. Gradually add a little extra flour to the dough, about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Be cautious not to add too much flour, as it can make the cookies dry and crumbly.

Over-mixing the dough can cause the cookies to become dense and flat. Box mixes often come with specific instructions on how to properly mix the dough to achieve the desired texture. Butter temperature: The temperature of the butter used in the recipe can also affect the texture of the cookies.

How long to chill cookie dough before baking? ›

As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes).

When you think cookies, you likely think of sweet ingredients, but salt is essential. It balances the flavor of caramelized sugars. We even love sprinkling a little extra flake salt on our cookies to awaken the tongue and complement the sweetness.

One strategy in a snowball fight is to throw a snowball at a high angle over level ground. While your opponent is watching that snowball, you throw a second one at a low angle timed to arrive before or at the same time as the first one.

Heavier and wetter snow is also stickier, making it perfect for snowballs and building a snowman.

Snow that holds more water can be packed together into a snowball more easily than snow that holds less water. Dry snow can blow out of your hands with a little breeze, and it doesn't pack into a snowball.

Liquid water between the ice crystals allows them to 'stick together' – when you compact snow with your hands you warm it slightly and cause the snow crystals to fuse together as the liquid water freezes. Without those lose water molecules, the snow won't stick.