Vegan Swedish Heirloom Snowball Cookies ❄️ These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth traditional holiday cookies are so easy to make. With just 5 basic ingredients and and a few minutes, you can have a batch of these irresistibly delicious sweet treats ready to enjoy!
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Families often have beloved seasonal recipes that are passed down through the generations. In our home, it just isn't Christmas without a batch of my mother-in-law's Homemade Vegan Fudge, my Scandinavian great-grandmother's Vegan Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies, and her wintery wonderful Vegan Swedish Heirloom Snowball Cookies.
These classic snowball cookies are similar to shortbread, made with butter (vegan of course!), flour, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. They're known by many names like Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Sandies, Snowball Cookies, or as we call them in my family, Swedish Heirloom Cookies. The delicate ball-shaped cookies are rolled in powdered sugar while warm from the oven, giving them a festive snowball appearance and a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
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Why we love this cookie recipe so much
- They're simply scrumptious!
- So easy to make
- Only 5 basic ingredients
- No eggs and non-dairy
- Perfect for parties, cookie exchanges, and gifts
Ingredients
Basic snowball cookie dough
- Flour - all purpose (sifted)
- Butter - vegan/non-dairy (room temperature)
- Powdered sugar - vegan (sifted)
- Salt - fine
- Vanilla extract
Variations & add-ins
- Chopped nuts - walnuts, pecans or almonds (In this recipe I used pecans)
- Almond extract
- Cardamom, cinnamon or nutmeg (ground)
🥕See the printable recipe card below for complete details.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉
In a mixing bowl, cream together vegan butter, powdered sugar, and salt.
Gradually mix in flour and vanilla. Add nuts or other optional ingredients.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a tablespoon or scoop, create rounded balls of dough by rolling them in your hands. Try to keep the cookies uniform in size.
Place dough balls on cookie sheet.
Bake at 350℉ for 12-15 minutes until bottom of cookies are lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully place cookies onto cooling rack.
Pour additional powdered sugar into a bowl. While still warm, place the cookies directly in the bowl (a few at a time) and spoon sugar over the top or you can use a sifter or tea strainer to dust them with powdered sugar.
Arrange cookies on a plate or tray and enjoy!
🥕Baking tips
- Keep a close eye on the cookies after 10 minutes of baking. Oven temperatures can vary and you don't want these to over-bake or become dry. Perfectly baked vegan snowball cookies will be firm to the touch and just lightly golden on the bottom (not over-all).
- As with most baking recipes, accurate measurements can be the difference between a hit or a miss. There are good reasons for using dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and liquid measuring cups for wet ingredients. A food scale can be a home cook's best friend, particularly with baking. They can be very inexpensive and well worth having.
Equipment
- Electric stand or hand mixer
- Large mixing bowl
- Sifter
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Silicone spatula/scraper
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
🥕FAQ's
Do I need to use parchment paper if I have a non-stick pan?
Here’s the scoop: Parchment paper may not be necessary, but there are some very useful reasons for using it.
It can help keep cookie dough from spreading too much while baking. The surface texture or “tooth” of the paper helps hold the dough in place.
A layer of parchment helps provide even baking by creating air space between the baking sheet & paper which can regulate the overall temperature of the baking surface. Ever notice how some pans get hot spots?
Parchment also keeps cookies from sticking to the pan, which can be an issue particularly with chocolate chip cookies (if the chips burn onto the pan).
I always use a layer of parchment whenever I use aluminum foil or an aluminum baking pan. I don’t like aluminum to come into contact with my food.
Finally, using parchment keeps your pans looking new and makes clean-up a whole lot easier.
Why should I use a sifter? Isn't flour and powdered sugar pre-sifted?
Yes, many flours and sugar are pre-sifted, however they can develop lumps after packaging and settling, particularly in areas with high humidity. While some recipes don't need perfectly lump-free flour or sugar, I find theses cookies turn out best with a finer crumb, which is aided by sifting the flour and sugar prior to mixing. Is it essential? No, but it's helpful.
How should I store these cookies?
I find snowball cookies are best consumed within 2-3 days. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerated. You might find after a day or two, the powdered sugar coating has "melted" into the cookies a bit, due to the high butter content in the dough. If so, you can lightly dust them with more powdered sugar before serving. Don't add too much or you might end up with gooey cookies.
What is the difference between Snowball Cookies, Swedish Heirloom Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, and Pecan Sandies? Aren't they all the same thing?
Kinda sorta. All share the same basic ingredients - flour, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla - but there are variations between recipes. What I find interesting is the differences in ingredients are not consistent with the specific names of the recipes. Some Mexican Wedding Cookie recipes include cinnamon, others don't. I've also seen recipes that use granulated or brown sugar. Some use nuts, some don't. Same with Russian Tea Cakes. Pecan Sandies, of course, always include pecans. Some recipes for Swedish Heirloom Cookies might include ground almonds, almond flour or almond extract. Ours doesn't.
Just as I have modified my family recipes over the years, using all plant-based ingredients, I'm sure others have tweaked their family recipes, adjusting them to their tastes. Recipes evolve over time.
If you love this recipe for Vegan Swedish Heirloom Snowball Cookies, you might like to try these family favorites:
- Vegan Old-Fashioned Applesauce Cake
- Mom's Easy Vegan Apple Pie
- Vegan Devil's Food Cake
- World's Best Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie
- Mom's Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe
very vegan 🌱 very good
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please rate it in the comments below. Sharing your experience helps others decide if they should give it a try too. Thanks a bunch!🥕
Recipe
Vegan Swedish Heirloom Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Electric stand or hand mixer
- Large mixing bowl
- Sifter
- Silicone spatula/scraper
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour all purpose (sifted preferably)
- 1 cup vegan butter room temperature
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt fine
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans (chopped) - optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- In a mixing bowl, cream together vegan butter, ½ cup powdered sugar (reserve rest for dusting cookies), and salt.
- Gradually mix in flour and vanilla. Add nuts or other optional ingredients. The dough will be fairly stiff.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a tablespoon or scoop, create rounded balls of dough. With clean hands, roll dough into balls in uniform size.
- Place dough balls on cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350℉ for 12-15 minutes until bottom of cookies are lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully place cookies onto cooling rack.
- Pour additional powdered sugar into a bowl. While still warm, place the cookies directly in the bowl (a few at a time) and spoon sugar over the top or you can use a sifter or tea strainer to dust them with powdered sugar.
- Arrange cookies on a plate or tray and serve!
Notes
🥕Variations & Add-Ins
- Chopped nuts – walnuts, pecans or almonds (chopped)
- Almond extract - no more than 1 teaspoon
- Cardamom, cinnamon or nutmeg (ground) a little bit goes a long way
🥕Baking Tips
- Keep a close eye on the cookies after 10 minutes of baking. Oven temperatures can vary and you don’t want these to over-bake or become dry. Perfectly baked vegan snowball cookies will be firm to the touch and just lightly golden on the bottom (not over-all).
- As with most baking recipes, accurate measurements can be the difference between a hit or a miss. There are good reasons for using dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and liquid measuring cups for wet ingredients. A food scale can be a home cook’s best friend, particularly with baking. They’re very inexpensive and well worth having.
Nutrition
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please rate it in the comments below. Sharing your experience helps others decide if they should give it a try too. Thanks a bunch!🥕
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Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don’t leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
Diana Zinser
They were FANTASTIC! Everyone loved them at our small family gathering. There were 5 balls left at the end of the night and the hostess asked me to leave them so she could enjoy them with coffee on Christmas morning. They were festive to look at; texture was amazing....crunchy on the outside, soft inside, perfect amount of sweetness. Thanks for sharing this recipe!♥️
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Thank you Diana for your wonderful comments! I’m so happy the snowballs ❄️ were such a hit!
Andrea White
these cookies are the absolute best! so so good!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Andrea - I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks a bunch!💚🥕
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady
I love making these snowball cookies. They are always a hit during the holidays!
Hennessy
this is such a lovely treat for the holidays, and vegan too!
Can't wait to try it!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
If you bake only one holiday cookie recipe this season, this is the one to make. These delicate, melt-in-your-mouth snowball cookies are everything you want in a winter-themed treat. So easy to make and even easier to enjoy!