Easy Peppermint Snowball Cookies Recipe
These Peppermint Snowball Cookies feature crushed candy canes, buttery dough, and a snowy powdered sugar coating. Perfect festive holiday cookies that melt in your mouth with every bite!
Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar also called powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup crushed candy canes about 3–4 regular-size canes
For rolling the cookies:
- 1 ¼ cups confectioner's sugar for coating
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth and creamy, about a minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low until it starts to come together, then turn the mixer up and beat until creamy. Scrape the bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla and peppermint extract until everything is combined.1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- Add the flour and salt and mix on low. The dough will look dry at first, but keep mixing. Once all the flour is worked in, turn the mixer to high and the dough will come together. Mix in the crushed candy canes.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, ⅛ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup crushed candy canes
- Cover the dough tightly and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. If it’s been chilling for several hours or longer, let it sit at room temperature for 20–30 minutes so it’s easier to scoop.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Add the powdered sugar to a shallow bowl. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie, roll into balls, and place them a couple inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden and the tops look just barely set.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then gently roll each one in the confectioners’ sugar to coat. Move them to a wire rack to cool completely. The first coating will melt a little and get sticky—this is normal. Once the cookies are fully cool, roll them in the sugar again for that classic snowy finish.1 ¼ cups confectioner's sugar
Notes
- Texture: Ohhh these are so fun. They are that nice tender fall apart texture with a little crisp to them AND they have that yummy powdered sugar outside and crispy little bits of candy cane inside. They are SO delightful.
- Extra Minty: If you are really into mint and want a big pop, you can increase the mint extract to 1 teaspoon. I was happy with the 1/2 teaspoon in my recipes testing and felt like it was a balanced flavor but if you'd like a real minty delight you can increase the amount.
- Candy Options: You can use peppermint candies, candy canes, pre-crushed candy pieces, they all work great. You'll need roughly 1/4 cup of crushed peppermint candies. I just added my candies to a ziplock bag and used a rolling pin to crush them.
- Make-Ahead: If you are making these ahead of time, you can roll them in powdered sugar once and then let them cool fully. Store in a ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to serve you can let them thaw at room temperature for a few hours and then reroll them in powdered sugar before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 158IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.4mg
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