Description
Peppermint Snowball Cookies deliver winter’s sweetest comfort right from your kitchen. These festive treats roll pure holiday cheer into delicate, powdered sugar-coated morsels that melt delightfully on your tongue.
Ingredients
Scale
Primary Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Supporting Ingredients:
- ½ cup crushed peppermint candies
- ½ cup powdered sugar (for coating)
Finishing Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons crushed peppermint (for garnish)
Instructions
- Warm the oven to precisely 350°F (175°C) and line a standard baking sheet with parchment paper. Ensure your oven rack sits in the center position.
- Cream 1 cup (227g) softened unsalted butter with ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar using an electric mixer until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
- Pour 1 teaspoon vanilla extract into the butter mixture and blend thoroughly for 30 seconds.
- Sift 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour with ¼ teaspoon salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Gently fold ½ cup (about 10-12 crushed) peppermint candies into the dough using a silicone spatula.
- Roll dough into compact 1-inch spheres using your palms, placing each ball 1.5 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for exactly 11 minutes at 350°F, watching for light golden edges while maintaining a pale top surface.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest 5 minutes on the baking sheet. While still warm, carefully roll each cookie in ½ cup powdered sugar.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once cooled, roll again in powdered sugar for a second coating.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons crushed peppermint over the cookies as a festive garnish just before serving.
Notes
- Use room temperature butter for the smoothest, creamiest cookie texture that blends effortlessly with powdered sugar.
- Crush peppermint candies finely to distribute flavor evenly and prevent large hard chunks in your cookies.
- For a gluten-free version, swap wheat flour with a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend to maintain the delicate cookie structure.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes before shaping if your kitchen is warm, helping the cookies hold their perfect round shape during baking.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 189 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg