Walnut Snowball Cookies
Recipe from Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom
© 2023 Olson Food Concepts Inc. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. All rights reserved.
NOTES: The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups (170 g) untoasted walnut halves
- 1⅔ cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (65 g) icing sugar, plus extra for rolling the cookies
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp fine salt
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Pulse the walnuts with ⅔ cup (100 g) flour in a food processor or mini chopper until the nuts are finely ground. Set aside.
Step 2
Beat the butter and sugar. Using beaters or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for a minute to fluff it up. Add the icing sugar, beating well on medium-high speed until fluffy again, scraping the bowl often. Beat in the vanilla.
Step 3
Add the dry ingredients. Add the nut mixture, remaining 1 cup (150 g) flour and the salt and mix on low speed until the dough comes together.
Step 4
Portion the cookies. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, knead into a ball and flatten it slightly. Cut the dough into four pieces and then divide each quarter into 12 little pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball between your palms and place onto a plate or tray. Chill the cookies for at least an hour before baking.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and line two large baking trays with parchment paper. Arrange the chilled cookies on the trays, leaving an inch (2.5 cm) between them.
Step 6
Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until there is just a hint of browning on the bottom of the cookies. Let the cookies cool on the baking trays on a wire rack.
Step 7
Roll in icing sugar. Place some icing sugar in a wide shallow bowl. After the cookies are completely cooled, roll them in the sugar to coat them generously.
Make sure the cookies have cooled completely before rolling them in the icing sugar, otherwise the sugar will melt and the surface of the cookies will be sticky. Do not roll the baked cookies in the sugar if you plan to freeze them. (Roll them in sugar after you’ve thawed them.)
