Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Forget making snowballs outside!
Stay inside and make a batch of these Chocolate Snowball Cookies instead!
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Growing up in Charleston, SC, we didn’t see much snow. There was one Christmas where we awoke to something like 8″ of snow, though. That’s a legit amount of snow (especially in the South). But the general lack of snow didn’t prevent the usual Christmas shenanigans that come with 9 and 10-year-old boys.
I can’t remember the exact year, but I believe it was Christmas 1988 or Christmas 1989. Christmas was over, but we still had another week or so off from school. So we did what any group of boys would do and started roaming the winding, cobblestone streets of Charleston looking for something fun to do. And then we discovered the old Christmas trees.
Folks began putting their old Christmas trees out on the side of the road for the city to collect. Well, it turns out that a group of boys on bikes is a lot faster than the city…and we began collecting those trees. (Bonus points for the trees that still had sparkly garland on them!) For several days, we collected those trees and brought them to an empty lot right there along the Battery in downtown Charleston. We collected trees from blocks and blocks, and I think we ended up with somewhere around 70-80 trees.
So what did we do with all those trees? Well, we built a fort obviously. We had a long, narrow entryway and several rooms inside that Christmas tree fort. Our efforts even landed us a photo on the front page of the local newspaper! I’m not really sure what we did once we got that fort built, though…I think most of the fun was just building the darn thing!
Since we didn’t see much snow in Charleston, we had to resort to other snow references…like these Chocolate Snowball Cookies. These are a family favorite, and they’re incredibly easy to make. Plus, rolling cookie dough in a bowl of powdered sugar is a great job for the kids…trust me!
This cookie dough is more like brownie batter than dough, but trust me that it works. Just dip your fingers in a bit of water (or powdered sugar) as you roll each ball of dough. With Saint Nick set to shuffle down your chimney in just a couple of days now, you need to make sure you’ve got some delicious cookies on hand for him. And these Chocolate Snowflake Cookies most definitely qualify! Enjoy!
Have you ever built a Christmas tree fort?
Do you think Santa would like these Chocolate Snowflake Cookies?
Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup + 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Using a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set bowl aside.
- Using a countertop mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes on medium speed).
- Add eggs and vanilla; mix on medium-low speed until well combined.
- Add cocoa powder; mix on medium-low speed until well combined.
- Add flour mixture; mix on medium-low speed until well combined.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Note: This dough can be refrigerated overnight, too.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll dough into 1” balls.
- Roll each ball in powdered sugar until well coated. Place dough 2” apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Place cookie sheet in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350°F. Let cookies cool before removing from pan.
Looking for more tasty holiday cookie recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Cookies
Gingerbread Snowball Cookies
Salted Caramel Oreo Cookie Balls
I have a feeling that Santa would like these cookies, because I am pretty sure that I would, and he and I have similar tastes. Santa isn’t crazy about milk, though, unless it has a couple shots of espresso – he loves a good latte. Leave one of those with, oh, maybe six of these cookies and I bet you’ll find an extra present or two under the tree.
So you have similar tastes as Santa? Have you ever met Santa? Wait…do you have a big white beard? And does your belly shake like a bowlful of jelly? That’s it. You’re Santa. I’m calling you out on this one, Jeff!
I’ve never built a Christmas tree fort but I sure would have loved to have seen that story in your newspaper! that’s so fun and that’s what childhood is all about. . making memories!! love that story! Happy holidays, David and LOVE these cookies!!!
I actually went back looking in the online archives to see if I could find the story…but no luck! Oh well. 🙂 I hope you and your family are having an excellent holiday season, Alice! 🙂
There is not much chance of us seeing snow in the UK this Christmas as it is unseasonably warm. So, I will have to make these instead, which is totally fine with me as they look AMAZING!
Have a great Christmas David 🙂
Yeah, it’s crazy warm here, too, Dannii. Remember back this summer when we kept talking about how warm it was? Well, it looks like it stuck around. Usually we’ve had at least one big snow, but there is still no snow on the ground…and none in the forecast either. (Not that I’m complaining!) But I can still make snowball cookies! 🙂 Hope you and Dave have a very Merry Christmas over there!
There’s nothing better than a snow day! I love your story about all those Christmas trees! What a fun memory. I love baking a variety of cookies so there are plenty to sample. Yours look great!
Oh man, snow days were the best back when we were kids! Now snow just means snow shovels, snow blowers and heavy jackets. Haha! Here’s to a delicious tray of assorted Christmas cookies! Yum! 🙂
Ha! I remember that big snow storm. I think it was in 1988. I remember it because my cousin was born a few weeks later in January.
Making these cookies has been on my list this year but I never got around to making them. I love how festive they look!
Oh my gosh…I think it was 1988, Tamara. You have an incredible memory! Hey, you still have 3 days until Christmas. Plenty of time to put your baker’s hat on! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
YUM! These look amazing! …and I used to love snow (until we got WAY too much last year! hahaha). I just loved looking outside at night when it was supposed to be dark, but everything had a slight glow to it because of the beautiful snow! SO lovely! One of my favorite things ever! 🙂
Yeah, tell me about it, Cailee! I always loved seeing snow when I was a kid…but then we moved up north, and now I see WAY more snow than I ever care to see. But there is still something magical about that first snow each year. 🙂
What I see David, is just outrageous! And you know why? Because my next post is going to be about the similar cookies. Besides, I’m planning on sharing some Christmas memories as well. Now, could you please explain such a coincidence? Haha, just kid. There’s no such a thing like too many chocolate snowball cookies. Even though I grew up in the area where we had enough snow, I would definitely have prefered these cookies to real snowballs (If I had known this recipe). Well done!
Say what? Same cookies? Well, here’s why that happened: I snuck down your chimney the other day and I saw you making these cookies. I thought, well that’s a great idea. So I shimmied back up, ran home and baked a batch up right away. Oh, and I gave Santa a high-five as I was coming back up the chimney! 🙂
Snow days are the best! I am oddly missing the snow with all the weird warm weather we have been having. I have been wanting to make these cookies for awhile and now I really need to get around to it because these look awesome.
Yeah, it’s so strange, Rachel. I’m enjoying the lack of shoveling and snow-blowing, but I kinda miss the snow, too. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of it soon enough, though. Now put that baker’s hat on and get in the kitchen. Santa needs some more cookies! 🙂
Hi David! Another keeper – simple, but oh so good! You had a wonderful memory filled childhood as I am sure Robbie will! Enjoy every moment my friend! 🙂
Thank you so much, Dorothy! These cookies reminded us of those Snackwell cookies from years ago. Do you remember those? They came in a green box I think, and I remember my Mom buying them quite often. Anyways, thanks so much! 🙂
I would love to see that fort, how cool. My first thought was you guys had a MAJOR bonfire, but that’s probably what I would have done 🙂
I make some lemnon cookies similar to these and is is fun to roll them in the powdered sugar. I love how they turn our, just like this all crackled and the white powdered sugar coating eachcookie top. These are great. #WolfPackFortBuilder
Haha…yeah, I don’t know why we didn’t turn those into a bonfire. We probably would have gotten in trouble for that move though. Ooo…I’m digging some lemon crinkle cookies. Maybe we should team up and make some lemon-chocolate crinkle cookies? 🙂
I would love to see that fort, how cool. My first thought was you guys had a MAJOR bonfire, but that’s probably what I would have done 🙂
I make some lemon cookies similar to these and is is fun to roll them in the powdered sugar. I love how they turn our, just like this all crackled and the white powdered sugar coating each cookie top. These are great. #WolfPackFortBuilder
I have never built a Christmas tree fort! Why didn’t I ever think of that? I can’t imagine how long it took you to move all those trees! I definitely think that Santa will love those chocolate snowball cookies! Enjoy your first Christmas with baby Robbie!
Oh my gosh, that Christmas tree fort was definitely days in the making. We had at least 8-10 of us working all day to build it. We had some heading out on bikes to collect trees while others stayed back and built the fort. It was kinda like Lord of the Flies, but without the conch. Or Piggy. 🙂
YES – I think Santa would definitely love these snowball cookies way over the plain ones – because – C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E.
And haha – wow – that Christmas tree fort must have been a sight indeed – it must have been huge with 70-80 trees making it up – bet y’all could have gone for a couple of these cookies with a hot chocolate – eh?!
BTW Merry, Merry Christmas to you and your family, David!
Well, obviously! I mean Santa loves him some chocolate. How do I know this? Because I love chocolate, and Santa and I have similar tastes. I also have Santa’s outfit in a bag in our basement. I keep it safe for him all year long. 🙂 Thanks so much, Shashi! Merry Christmas to you and Lil Shashi, too!
These look incredible David!
Thank you so much, Lucie! Happy baking! 🙂
That’s a major community effort, building that fort! I always think that if kids put as much effort into doing stuff grown-ups want them to do as they do their own projects, they could take over the world at a much younger age. But it’s better to let them be kids!
Besides, building a fort like that probably takes a ton of energy that can be recovered by eating these. If only you’d had them back in the day! They look great!
I couldn’t agree with you more, Mir! That was one heck of an awesome Christmas tree fort…but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if the adults had suggested building it. 🙂 Thank you so much, and happy holidays!
Wow these snowball cookies look absolutely amazing. Love these festive treats. Thanks for the recipe.
Rae | Love from Berlin
Thanks so much, Rae! Nothing beats a good holiday cookie, right? 🙂
Dude, these photos are amazing- Like…I want to eat my screen amazing.
Now can we talk about the fort? What a pimp of a fort using that many trees! And also, let’s say 1988 was the year because an epic kid was born then 😉
Wait, I wasn’t born in 1988…I’m confused! 🙂 But that fort was epic!!
My Grandma always had these cookies in her cookie tin underneath the kitchen counter top. I am hoping these bring back those yummy memories!
Hey Gayle! Isn’t it funny how recipes bring back memories like that? I totally know the feeling! These cookies are quite delicious, and I hope they bring back more memories once you make a batch. Enjoy! 🙂