This post may contain affiliate links.
Snowball Cookies are the first thing to vanish from our Christmas cookie tray every single year, soft cream cheese dough hiding mini chocolate chips and festive candies under a double coat of powdered sugar, and Maddie and Lizzie fight over rolling duty every December. If you are building a holiday baking list, our soft and chewy sugar cookies should be right behind these.
Cream cheese in the dough keeps them tender for days while the powdered sugar coat gives them that fresh snow look.
Snowball Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 28 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 126kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery vanilla with pops of chocolate and candy under sweet powdered sugar
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our easy butterfinger cookies
Quick Answer
Cream butter and cream cheese together, then mix in powdered sugar, an egg, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Slowly add flour, fold in mini chocolate chips and holiday candies, and chill the dough for one hour. Roll into 1 inch balls, coat in powdered sugar, flatten slightly, and bake at 375F for 10 to 12 minutes. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar again for that classic snowball finish.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Cream cheese makes them melt in your mouth. Swapping part of the butter for cream cheese adds tang and keeps the crumb soft and tender for days after baking.
- Powdered sugar sweetens the dough gently. Using powdered sugar instead of granulated inside the dough keeps the texture fine and delicate, no gritty bite.
- Chilling firms the dough for rolling. One hour in the fridge stops the rich dough from spreading flat and makes it easy to roll into neat balls.
- The double sugar roll is the secret. Coating before baking gives a crackly shell, and rolling again while warm builds that thick snowy layer that makes a snowball cookie.
- A gentle press bakes them evenly. Slightly flattening each ball helps the centers bake through in the same 10 minutes as the edges.
- They puff, they do not brown. Pulling them when they are just set keeps the cookies pale and soft, golden brown means overbaked here.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cream cheese dough is softer and richer than the classic butter only version.
- Chocolate chips and holiday candies in every bite make them instant kid favorites.
- They round out a cookie tray perfectly next to our chocolate dipped shortbread cookies.
Key Ingredients
A soft cream cheese dough plus festive mix ins.
- Cream cheese: The secret to the tender, melt in your mouth crumb. Let it soften fully before mixing.
- Unsalted butter: One softened stick creams with the cream cheese to build the rich base.
- Powdered sugar: It sweetens the dough and coats the outside twice, once before baking and once after.
- Mini chocolate chips: Minis spread through the small cookies better than full size chips.
- Holiday candies: Red and green candy coated chocolates make them festive. Swap the colors for any occasion.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Dress these up for any holiday.
- Swap the red and green candies for pastels at Easter or orange at Halloween.
- Add a half cup of finely chopped toasted pecans for the classic nutty version.
- Stir in a quarter teaspoon of almond extract with the vanilla for a bakery style flavor.
- More of a chocolate house? Serve them beside a bowl of our Christmas puppy chow for a full holiday snack board.
How to Make Snowball Cookies
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Slowly add 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar until combined.
- Add the egg, baking powder, vanilla, and salt and mix to combine. Add the flour slowly until fully incorporated, scraping the sides as needed.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips and candies by hand, then chill the dough in the fridge for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, coat each in the remaining powdered sugar, and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet. Press the tops down slightly.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes until just set, the cookies will puff but should not brown. Cool on the sheet 10 minutes, then roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar again and cool completely on a wire rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Soften the butter and cream cheese fully so the dough creams smooth with no lumps.
- Do not skip the one hour chill. Warm dough spreads and you lose the signature snowball shape.
- Use a cookie scoop for even balls, about 2 teaspoons of dough each, so they all bake in the same window.
- Pull them before they brown. Snowball cookies should stay pale, they finish setting on the hot tray.
- Roll in sugar while still warm. The second coat sticks to warm cookies and builds the snowy layer.
- Save the leftover coating sugar for a final dusting right before serving if the tray sits out a while.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Pile these snowball cookies high on the Christmas cookie tray, their powdery white coats look like fresh snow next to colorful frosted cookies.
For a full holiday spread, set them out with our Reeses peanut butter cup cookies and a batch of soft chocolate chip cookie bars.
They also make a sweet edible gift, stack them in a cellophane bag with a ribbon alongside a jar of our edible chocolate cookie dough.
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days with a little extra powdered sugar sprinkled between layers, or freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months and recoat after thawing.
Snowball Cookies FAQs
Snowball cookies get their name from the thick powdered sugar coating that makes each round cookie look like a little snowball. The same style of cookie shows up as Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, and butterballs, usually made with nuts, this version uses chocolate chips and candies instead.
The dough was probably too warm. This cream cheese dough must chill a full hour before rolling, and the balls should go onto a cool baking sheet. If your kitchen is warm, chill the shaped balls for 10 extra minutes before baking.
Roll the cookies twice. The first coat goes on the raw dough balls before baking, and the second coat goes on while the cookies are still warm, the slight heat melts the sugar just enough to grip. A final dusting once cool makes them extra snowy.
Yes, snowball cookies freeze beautifully. Freeze the baked, cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months, the sugar coating gets absorbed a little in the freezer, so give them a fresh roll in powdered sugar after thawing.
Absolutely, this recipe is already nut free. The mini chocolate chips and candy coated chocolates replace the traditional chopped pecans, which makes these snowball cookies safe for nut free classrooms and parties.
The dough keeps in the fridge for 2 days or in the freezer for a month, and baked cookies stay fresh in an airtight container for 4 days. For the best look, bake up to 2 days ahead and refresh the powdered sugar coat the day you serve them.
Made these Snowball Cookies? I would love to hear how they turned out, leave a comment and a star rating below!
Serve them with mugs of cocoa made from our DIY hot cocoa bombs.
For birthdays, swap the powdered sugar look for our colorful sprinkle cookies.
Add our soft white chocolate cranberry cookies to the same holiday cookie tray.
On the savory side of the holiday table, our Christmas tree pull apart bread steals the show.
Add our glazed gingerbread muffins to the Christmas morning table too.
Add a tray of my grinch cupcakes to the cookie table and watch the kids light up.
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
- 3 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar divided
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup holiday m&ms
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Slowly add 1 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar until combined. Add egg, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Mix to combine. Add flour in slowly until fully incorporated, scraping the sides as needed. Fold in the chocolate chips and m&ms by hand. Place in fridge for one hour to rest.
- Preheat oven to 375°F degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch sized balls, about 2 teaspoons worth of dough. Roll in the remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Slightly press down the tops of the cookies so they are flattened.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just set. Do not overbake, it is hard to tell when these cookies are ready, they will puff up but won’t get golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Roll warm cookies in leftover powdered sugar, or use more if needed.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Notes
- These need to be refrigerated before baking, do not forget that step!
- Easily double of halve this recipe depending on how many people you are serving.
- You can freeze these cookies, see my tips above on how to store.
- You can substitute vanilla bean paste 1:1 with vanilla extract.
- Make sure you cream your butter and cream cheese together really well to prevent any lumps.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
Follow @ThisSillyGirlsKitchen on Instagram and @danadevolk on Pinterest for more!
Hi, Sandy, the recipe says 28 servings, so one cookie per serving, this recipe makes 28 cookies, thanks!
Look and sound wonderful. The recipe indicates “serving”. Is one cookie equal to one serving? I’m baking for a cookie exchange and need to know the quantity. Thank you.
Snowball cookies are such a classic, can’t wait to try this version for the holidays!
These cookies are SO cute, my entire family would love these!
Love that you added M&M’s to these! I already love snowball cookies, but with the extra chocolate I think I could get my husband to try a few as well 😀