Soft, buttery Italian Wedding Cookies that melt in your mouth! Made with finely ground nuts and rolled in powdered sugar, these classic snowball cookies are perfect for Christmas baking, holiday cookie trays, and gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1 /2 cups butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar (plus extra for coating the cookies when finished)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground walnuts (or pecans or almonds see note*)
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
For the icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons of milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter and the powdered sugar together using a stand mixer (you can also use a hand held electric mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined.
- Mix in the salt, walnuts and the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour in batches and mix until combined.
- Form the dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball (about 2 tablespoons). Place on an un-greased cookie sheet, spaced apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes until very lightly golden brown.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 15 minutes before decorating. Dust the cookies with powdered sugar and/or ice the cookies and top with sprinkles if desired.
To make the icing:
- Add the powdered sugar to a bowl along with 1 tablespoon of milk and the extract. Whisk until smooth, adding more milk if needed.
Recipe Notes
For the walnuts, I purchased a 6 ounce bag of walnuts (halves and pieces) and that equalled approximately 1 1/2 cups of finely ground walnuts. Add the whole bag to a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American / Italian
