Crisp, sweet, and spiced. These Snowball Cookies, flavored with coffee and cardamom, are lovely for dessert or to give as a gift.
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In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: Melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies are infused with the cozy warmth of cardamom and strong coffee. A coating of fluffy powdered sugar makes them look like they just rolled down a snowy Vermont mountain!
- You'll love this part: The cookies are a tasty sweet treat to share on a chilly afternoon or as part of a Christmastime cookie tray.
- How it's made: Mix up the coffee-spiked, spiced dough, let it chill, then roll into bite-sized balls. Bake them and give them a double coating of confectioners' sugar.
Jump to:
One thing that I love about my Simple Butter Cookies is all the ways there are to change them up. They can be frosted, sandwiched with fillings like Nutella, or they can hold flavors like dried fruit, bright extracts, and citrus zest. (Like in these Lime Cookies!)
This variation, Snowball Cookies with Coffee and Cardamom holds a delectable blend of cardamom and strong coffee. Rolled in powdered sugar, the snowballs are melty, sweet without being overly sweet, and have lovely hints of the spice and java inside.
What are snowball cookies?
You can see in the photos how these cookies came to be called snowballs! The round shape and thick coating of confectioners' sugar makes them look like they rolled down from the top of a sugar-frosted mountain. This snowy resemblance makes snowball cookies a winter and holiday favorite in Vermont and the rest of New England.
Underneath that sugar coating is a butter or shortbread cookie that can be flavored with extracts, spices, and chocolate, and may include chopped or ground nuts. They're a favorite cookie to make for the Christmas holiday or any time of year to enjoy with tea or coffee.
As for the Snowball Cookies origin, there are similar cookies in other cultures, going by different names. There are Mexican wedding cookies, also called polvorónes, Russian tea cakes, Swedish tea cakes, and the Mexican sandwich cookies called besos or yoyos.
Why you'll love these Snowball Cookies with Coffee and Spice
This Snowball Cookie recipe is fun to make, and the treats look so pretty piled on a plate. Make them as part of your Christmas cookies recipes, as a food gift, or to bring to a bake sale. We really like these cookies with a cup of coffee (just can't get enough coffee, I guess,) or for a light dessert.
A 7-ingredient recipe, the cookie dough is easy to pull together; since it needs to be chilled you can make the dough in advance if you want. The cardamom cookies are made with strong brewed coffee or espresso. Little scoops of dough get rolled up and baked, and then coated in powdered sugar.
Another caffeinated treat!
Homemade Coffee Syrup
It's delicious as a dessert topping or to make coffee milk.
🔪 How to make Snowball Cookies with Coffee and Cardamom
Ingredients:
- Butter: Use a good quality butter like Cabot or Kerrygold for the best flavor in these cookies.
- Confectioners' Sugar: Also known as powdered sugar, it's used to sweeten snowball cookies inside and out.
- Coffee: Use strong, brewed coffee or espresso.
- All-Purpose Flour: King Arthur Baking is my go-to brand of flour.
- Cardamom: If your ground cardamom has been lying around awhile, pick up a new jar for the best flavor—or grind it fresh from cardamom pods.
- Salt: Just a pinch helps enhance the flavor of these cookies.
Make the dough
Mix together butter, sugar, and coffee, then add in the flour and spice to make a soft cookie dough. Chill it for 30 minutes.
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Make the cookie balls and bake
Scoop and roll one-inch cookie dough balls, then bake them.
Roll in sugar
As soon as the cookies come out, roll them in confectioners' sugar and place them on a cooling rack.
Roll in sugar again!
Once the cookies are cool, roll them in a second coating of confectioner's sugar. They're ready to eat and store well for up to 5 days!
Snowball Cookies FAQs
Seal the cooled Snowball Cookies in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. They will last for up to five days.
Yes, the cookies can be frozen so you can quickly serve a batch when you need them. For the best results, shape the unbaked cookie dough balls and freeze them in a single layer. Wait to bake the cookies and coat them in powdered sugar until the day you want to enjoy them. Let the cookie dough thaw in the fridge overnight.
If your snowball cookies spread during baking, it's likely because the dough was too warm. Chill the dough after mixing it; when shaping the first half of the dough, hold the rest in the fridge. If the dough seems very soft after rolling, chill the dough balls for 15 to 30 minutes before baking them.
Tips:
- Remember to allow at least 30 minutes for the cookie dough to chill. This helps the cookies keep their shape when baking, and prevents the butter from melting out of the dough.
As you take a bite of these melt-in-your-mouth, powdered sugar cookies, be prepared for a shower of sugar—that's okay, it's all part of the tasty experience!
And if you're sharing the snowball cookies (this recipe makes a bunch, so you really SHOULD share!) then you won't be alone—everyone will be licking their fingers and laughing as they brush sugar off their shirts.
Ready to give these sweet, old-fashioned Snowball Cookies a try? Yeah, you are!
The recipe for Snowballs with Coffee and Cardamom is below. Here are more unique treats to try:
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Snowball Cookies—with Coffee and Cardamom
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons strong, brewed coffee (let it cool to room temperature)
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon salt
To coat cookies:
- 2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Make cookie dough:
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the butter into chunks. Place the butter and the 1 cup of confectioner's sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the ingredients together on high speed for three minutes.
- Add in the strong coffee to the bowl and mix it in.
- Add in the flour, cardamom, and salt: mix them in on low speed, scraping once or twice, and continue only until the dough just comes together.
- Remove the dough and squeeze it together a few times by hand. Flatten the dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Make the cookie balls:
- Place the 2-3 cups of confectioner's sugar in a bowl and hold it aside—you'll use this to coat the cookies when they come out of the oven. Have a cooling rack ready as well.
- Use a teaspoon: scoop a teaspoon of dough and roll it between your hands into a ball about 1 inch in diameter. Place it on the lined cookie sheet. Continue until you fill the baking sheet, leaving about 1½ inches between dough balls.
- Bake the cookies for 18 minutes: they should be lightly browned on the bottom. Remove the pan from the oven.
- Roll each baked cookie in confectioner's sugar, then place it on a cooling rack.
- Continue making cookie balls, baking them, and coating them in sugar until they're all done.
Coat them in sugar - again:
- Once the cookies are cool (15-20 minutes) roll each one a second time in confectioner's sugar.
- Store the double-coated, cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Makes about 75 cookies.
Notes
- Remember to allow at least 30 minutes for the cookie dough to chill. This helps the cookies keep their shape when baking, and prevents the butter from melting out of the dough.
Nutrition
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