Gingerbread Snowball Cookies
These Gingerbread Snowball Cookies are what happens when you throw snowballs at gingerbread cookies. They’re a delicious combination of two favorite holiday cookies!
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I’m going to apologize in advance for this recipe. Nope – it’s not because it’s a hard recipe to make. (It’s actually pretty straightforward.) I’m going to apologize in advance because you can’t sneak one of these Gingerbread Snowball Cookies without the entire house knowing. I love snowball cookies, but the powdered sugar goes everywhere! I can’t even gently pick one up and pop the whole thing in my mouth…there’s still a trail of powdered sugar dust across the counter. Oh well. I say embrace your love of snowball cookies and just own it! (Either that or carefully clean the countertop each time you sneak a cookie.)
Growing up, snowball cookies were a holiday staple in our house. My Mom would fill a huge glass jar (think apothecary jar) with snowball cookies and leave it on the kitchen counter. There was a second apothecary jar of mini-chocolate chip cookies, too. Let’s just say those jars had to get refilled a couple times throughout the holiday season!
My Mom knows how much I love snowball cookies, so whenever I make my way down to Nashville to visit, I can count on finding a jar full of cookies on the kitchen counter. And it doesn’t take long before there is a tell-tale path of powdered sugar across the countertop. There also might be a tell-tale handprint of powdered sugar on my shorts, too. Oops. I guess my career as an undercover operative was short-lived.
Gingerbread Snowball Cookies
Gingerbread Snowball CookiesThis year, I decided to give those snowball cookies a facelift. These Gingerbread Snowball Cookies are what happens when you throw snowball cookies at a batch of gingerbread men. (Just kidding. Don’t actually try that stunt. It wouldn’t work out too well.) Seriously, though, snowball cookies and gingerbread cookies are two of my favorite holiday treats…so I decided to combine them into one!
For these cookies, I took my snowball cookie recipe and added all of the spices and seasonings that we associate with gingerbread. There was a bit of molasses in there, so I increased the powdered sugar just slightly to help soak up the extra liquid. I wasn’t quite sure if this concept would work. Would the molasses and extra powdered sugar cause problems while baking? Would these snowball cookies still taste like gingerbread?
I’m happy to report that these cookies are freakin’ delicious! There is a noticeable gingerbread flavor, but the overall texture is still wonderfully crumbly and sugary – just like a snowball cookie should be! Robbie helped me make this batch of cookies – he even rolled out the balls of dough with me. And then, of course, he helped me eat them, too. If you thought adults make a mess eating snowball cookies, then you should see what happens when a 5-year old eats a snowball cookie! Cheers, and happy baking!
Did you make a batch of these Gingerbread Snowball Cookies at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version!
Gingerbread Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1¾ cups powdered sugar divided
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Using an electric mixer, mix together the melted butter and ¾ cup of powdered sugar until well combined.
- Add molasses, flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, vanilla, salt; mix on medium speed until well combined.
- Add chopped pecans; mix on medium speed until well combined.
- Shape the cookies into ¾”-1” balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, and then roll cookies in the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Looking for more delicious holiday cookie recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Gluten Free Vanilla Pecan Snowball Cookies
David, you brought back some memories with this one. A holiday favorite for me was a pecan snowball cookie. But now your gone and combined gingerbread, my favorite holiday treat with powder sugar. Brilliant, my friend. Do you remember bourbon snowballs? My mom made them every year, but not for kids. Little did she know.
Those pecan snowball cookies are an absolute holiday favorite for me, too, Ron. Like the OG breadsticks, I could eat my weight in those things! You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bourbon snowball – I’m intrigued. My mom has a recipe in her recipe box called ‘bourbon balls.’ Now I need to go back and see what those actually are. I suspect I will really like them now – along with a good glass of bourbon, too!
Actually, you’ve given me a great holiday idea. Boxes of gingerbread snowball cookies for all my nieces and nephews!
You forgot about making an extra box for yourself, Jeff. And your husband. And the dog next door – who probably can’t eat these, so you should save it and eat it for him. 🙂
David, you’re moving on to the Christmas recipes too – how exciting! Powdered sugar? Don’t even mention. If powdered sugar goes everywhere in your case, imagine what’s happening in our house (hint: this word is a part of my name lol.) Pure Andrew, this time is a truly stressful period for him and not cause of shopping or errands – cause of my holiday baking / cooking. But wait, don’t you have a thing for the bigfoot? In this case, you have a solid reason to bake MORE of snowball cookies. Because it’s totally ok to dust the entire kitchen, particularly, the floors with the powdered sugar so you will know if the bigfoot has visited your house 🙂 And needles to say, these cookies look and sound fabulous; an excellent marriage of two delicious recipes!
I am indeed hitting the Christmas recipes, Ben! It’s time! (After all, everything happens early in the blogosphere, right?)
Wow, you have a great memory, my friend. I have always dreamed of catching Bigfoot! And I think your idea of dusting the entire kitchen in powdered sugar would be a sure-fire way to catch him. Of course, I don’t actually need to dust the kitchen intentionally. I just need to eat a batch of these snowball cookies! Watch out, Bigfoot! (And Santa…)
I love that you can’t sneak one of these cookies, David. So funny! I’d be in big trouble because they sound so delicious. I love gingerbread! I bet Santa would like them too. 😉 ~Valentina
At some point, you just have to throw caution to the wind and go all in. Get yourself covered in powdered sugar. Get the countertop covered in powdered sugar. At least you’ll have a happy belly! (And, yes, I do think Santa would really like these cookies!)
I love snowball cookies, but have never had a gingerbread version. These are going on my holiday baking list, David. Thank you!
These cookies were a fun creation, Marissa! I was a little worried about adding the molasses as the liquid might’ve changed the whole balance of ingredients – but it worked out quite well. These just scream holidays to me!!
These looks so snowy, and a sure holiday treat winner! Amazing idea to combine snowball cookies and gingerbread cookies, like 2 in 1 flavor. I’m just imagining the fun way my kids would eat these powdered coated cookie, surely they would get caught if they sneak in, haha. Thank you for sharing these cuties!
These cookies are snowy indeed, Aarthi – to the point that you can’t sneak one without someone catching the bits of “snow” on the countertop – haha! These would indeed be perfect for kids, too. Not only for the holiday flavor, but also because there’s no one to sneak one! 🙂
In the Christmas mood already, eh? Make me think of our kuih makmur aka snowballs. They’re actually ghee cookies, melt in the mouth. Maybe you can give it a try:
https://www.mykeuken.com/2015/07/kuih-makmur-ghee-cookies.html
I am definitely in the Christmas mood over here! American Thanksgiving is next week, and as far as I’m concerned that the time when the Christmas season begins! 🙂 And thanks for sharing the ghee cookies idea. I love trying new recipes, and that one definitely looks similar to snowball cookies. Yum!
Nothing like a good snowball fight – especially when it ends in deliciousness! Anything with powdered sugar is impossible to sneak! There’s always a bit of evidence somewhere – on your face, your shirt, your fingers.
Haha! Let’s have a snowball cookie fight – the only problem is I have to somehow manage to avoid eating all of the cookies first! 🙂
What a fun spin on snowball cookies! Love it! Snowball cookies are super popular around here so I know this flavoured version would be a hit! All I need now is about 3 cups of coffee to go with 😉 Yay for Friday, right??
You know, Fridays are good for 3 cups of coffee…and so are Mondays! 🙂 I’m thinking a batch of these cookies plus a whole pot of coffee might help me get through the day. Thanks, Dawn!
What a great idea to change up a snowball cookie recipe and give it a ginger hit David, I love that. I’ve been dabbling in my kitchen in the last few weeks with some Christmas baking so I’m glad to see you’ve started yours off too! I would probably demolish a whole batch of these in one sitting. Delicious!
We’ve definitely started the holiday baking over here, Neil – I love holiday flavors! Gingerbread is one of my favorites and so are snowball cookies – combining these into one was definitely a good idea (and a dangerous one…haha). Happy holidays, my friend!
I will try hard to sneak this one in so I can be naughty and not share them
Haha – I highly recommend that strategy, Raymund! If no-one sees them, then it’s not rude if you don’t share. 🙂
oh my these look so cute david. but yes icing sugar is a dead giveaway when you eat one I bet!
How long will these stay fresh for and can you freeze them ?
Hey Donna! Snowball cookies hold up quite well actually. Stored at room temperature in an airtight container, they will last at least 4-5 days. (They never last that long in our house…hah!) They will hold ~1.5-2 weeks in the refrigerator and 3-4 months in the freezer. I hope this helps – happy baking!