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Gluten-Free Snowball Cookies are a buttery shortbread cookie filled with nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. They are also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Teacakes. They are an easy holiday dessert!
Easy Recipe for Gluten-Free Snowball Cookies
Snowball cookies are a classic Christmas cookie. They also are known by the name Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, and Italian Wedding Cookies.
They are the perfect addition to your gluten-free Christmas cookie line-up. They are super easy to make and only take a few ingredients!
These snowball cookies are easily customizable by using your favorite nuts in the recipe like pecans, almonds, or walnuts.
Gluten-Free Snowball Cookies In A Few Easy Steps
- Preheat oven to 400°
- In a large bowl, cream butter, pure vanilla extract, and powdered sugar together. (photo 1)
- Add the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum (leave out if your flour already has it), salt, and nuts (I used pecans) and mix until fully combined and the dough starts to hold together. I like nuts chopped really small, so I used my Ninja Food Processor. (photo 2 & 3)
- Shape into 1 inch balls with a tablespoon or cookie scoop. (I used a tablespoon cookie scoop). It’s important not to make these cookies too big.
- Place 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until set but not turning brown. Please watch your oven because all ovens are different.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-5 minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and roll the cookies in the powdered sugar while they are still warm.
- Allow the cookies to cool again for another 3-5 and roll them, for a second time, in the powdered sugar. Enjoy!
- Store in an air-tight container.
Pro Tip For Baking Gluten-Free Cookies
- Always use a cookie scoop. I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. It was a game-changer for me!
- I also like to use Reynolds Kitchens Cookie Baking Sheets. It has a smart grid that makes it super easy to line up your cookies on your baking sheet. I buy it at Walmart.
Gluten-Free Flour
These gluten-free snowball cookies are made with a rice flour cup for cup blend. A cup for cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend is one that already has xanthan gum it.
Most gluten-free all-purpose flour blends have xanthan gum already in them. The xanthan gum helps replace the elasticity and texture of gluten.
Make sure to check to see if the brand of gluten-free flour you are using has xanthan gum in it. If it does, do not add extra xanthan gum to the recipe or you will get gummy cookies!
I like Pillsbury gluten-free flour. Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. You may experience different baking results depending on the gluten-free flour blend you choose.
Tip For Measuring Gluten-Free Flour
Gluten-free flour is different than traditional wheat flour. The best way to measure gluten-free flour is the “spoon & level” method.
I use a spoon to scoop the flour out of the bag and into the measuring cup. Then I use the back of a knife to level off the top of the measuring cup.
Please do not scoop the flour out of the bag with your measuring cup. If you do, you could end up with more flour than is called for in the recipe.
Dairy-Free Baking
I have also included a dairy-free option to the gluten-free snowball cookie recipe. My husband, myself and youngest son are all dairy-free as well. I used Smart Balance butter for the dairy-free option.
These cookies are also made egg-free, so if you use your favorite brand of Vegan butter you would have Vegan snowball cookies.
So, now you too can enjoy a gluten-free and dairy-free snowball cookie. I promise that it is just as delicious dairy-free butter.
Some of my favorite dairy-free alternatives that I like to bake with are almond, cashew or coconut milk. I also like baking with coconut oil or Smart Balance butter.
These gluten-free snowball cookies are now one of my family’s favorite Christmas cookies. They are the perfect addition to any Chrismas cookie tray. I love that they look just like little snowballs!
More Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies For You To Try!
- Almond Spritz Cookies {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}
- Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
- Gluten-Free Cut Out Sugar Cookies {Dairy-Free Option}
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Recipe adapted from Russian Teacakes from Betty Crocker’s 40th Anniversary Cookbook.
Gluten-Free Snowball Cookies {Dairy-Free Option}
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, ,dairy-free use Smart Balance butter, Vegan use or Earth Balance (Vegan) butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, I like Pillsbury gluten-free flour. Not all gluten-free flours are created equal. You may experience different baking results depending on the gluten-free flour blend you choose.
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum , (leave out if your flour already has it)
- 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts, (I used pecans), I finely chopped the pecans in a food processor.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- In a large bowl cream butter, pure vanilla extract and powdered sugar together.
- Add the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum (leave out if your flour already has it), salt, and finely chopped nuts and mix until fully combined and the dough starts to hold together.
- Shape into 1 inch balls with a tablespoon or cookie scoop. It's important not to make these cookies too big. Place 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until set but not turning brown. Please watch your oven because all ovens are different.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-5 minutes. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl and roll the cookies in the powdered sugar while they are still warm. Allow the cookies to cool again and roll them for the second time in the powdered sugar. Enjoy!
- Store in an air-tight container.
Notes
- Shape into 1 inch balls with a tablespoon or cookie scoop. (I used a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop). It's important not to make these cookies too big.
- Always use a cookie scoop. It was a game changer for me!
- I like my nuts chopped really small so I used my Ninja Food Processor
- I also like to use Reynolds Kitchens Cookie Baking Sheets. It has a smart grid that makes it super easy to line up your cookies on your baking sheet. I but it at Walmart.
- For dairy-free I used Smart Balance butter.
- For Vegan option use Earth Balance butter or your favorite Vegan butter.
- Store in an air-tight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can these be made without the nuts? Will it change how they bake?
Hi Chris, they should be fine without nuts, but you may end up with fewer cookies than expected.
Made these for my wife who has allergies to gluten and dairy. They are wonderful made with Smart Balance butter and King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour–almost as good as the traditional recipe my mother made 50 years ago. Very easy to prepare.
I made these with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour, refrigerated for an hour. Came out looking good and I just sprinkled Icing sugar on top. I placed them carefully on a plate, but when offered to guests, most of them crumbled when they picked them up. Didn’t work for me. 😢
Hi Katrina! It’s very possible that it’s the kind of gluten-free flour used. They all tend to produce such different results. I prefer to use Pillsbury’s gluten-free flour.
These taste great! However, they flattened out in the in oven and didn’t maintain their ball shape. Any advice for the next batch? Thanks.
Hi Mina! Sorry to hear that. I would suggest letting them sit in the freezer a bit longer to ensure that they’re fully chilled, or refrigerating the dough over night. You might also consider checking your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. If the oven temperature is too low it can affect the shape of the cookies.
I made these last Christmas and they were great. I am wondering if I can make the dough ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge for a day or two before baking the cookies?
Hi Casey! Yes, definitely. A day or two in the fridge actually tends to help improve the texture of gluten-free cookies.
I made my own flour blend with the America’s Test Kitchen flour recipe. I’m curious if anyone has tried it.
I did have to add xanthan gum to the recipe since the ATK doesn’t have it.
Mine are cooling right now. I’ll let you know how they turned out.
Thanks for the recipe.
These are my favorite Christmas cookies. They turn out great, but seem to fall apart easily. Do you have any suggestions Audrey?
Hi Kristin! I am so happy to hear that you enjoy the cookies. Can you please tell me which brand of gluten-free flour you are using?
Thank you so much for your response!! I use Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 Baking Flour.
Hello Audrey!
I am using Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 Baking Flour. I tried to find what you use with Pillsbury and had no luck. Should I add more butter or more flour?
Hi Kristin! Other readers have had success using Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour with this recipe. No need to add extra butter or flour. Hope you enjoy!
Hello Audrey!! Making these cookies this weekend. Can you please help on how to make them stay together. My flour is Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 Baking Flour. that is all I have in my small town. I would appreciate your help
Hi Kristin! If you’re finding that your dough is too crumbly, you might try adding about 1/4 less cup of flour than the recipe calls for.
I am going to add mini chocolate chip to replace the nuts. My grandson is also allergic to nut. Thanks for a great recipe.
My FIL is gluten intolerant and I wanted so much to bake GF cookies for him that my MiL could also enjoy. Holy smokes! These are better than the originals. Melt in your mouth is an understatement. I only lost one cookie to the powdered sugar post bake, but I was more than happy to scoop it out and reward my taste buds lol Amazing recipe!
If I could give this 10 stars I would because that is what it deserves. I made a double batch of these, since it is a family favorite. I used one batch in WI and one in FL. Both were gone in 2 days. As we left Florida, my brother-in-law thanked me for bringing down the family cookies that his mom made. I told him they were different because they were gluten free. His jaw dropped and he said he would have never guessed. You passed the old family recipe test Audrey! Thanks
Hello and Thank You! My husband was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago with Celiac. Being able to make his mother’s cookies still was a lifesaver. I took these with me to the family gathering. Thank God I made a double batch because they were ALL gone at the nights end. No one knew there was a change to her recipe. Buttery, sweet, and the perfect texture when melting in your mouth. This is the new Mom’s Recipe.” Thank you!!!
Made these to go in goodie boxes for my neighbors. I should have made myself a batch too! These are so buttery and “short” in texture. Just like I remember from my childhood gluten filled cookie recipe. I used the Better Batter Artisan blend and real butter. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you so much!
I never doubted these would be scrumptious bc all of Audrey’s recipes are, but these are actually better than my old recipe w/ both gluten and dairy. I used walnuts, and I won’t look back. These are simply delicious! Thank you again, Audrey! You’re a gf and df genius!
Thank you so much Deb for the wonderful recipe review and the kind words and encouragement. It really made my day!
Love these cookies! Just like my mom used to make, but without the effects of gluten. You, my dear, are brilliant!
These were a favorite of mine prior to learning that gluten and dairy were a problem. SO happy to see this recipe! These will definitely be made for Christmas (and probably throughout the year! 😊).
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I baked them today using Simple Nature, Simply organic All- purpose gluten free flour and my go to margarine, Earth Balance dairy and soy free. They came out great! I can’t stop eating them!
These Snowball cookies taste just like the original wheat flour version. No one even knew I used Gluten-free flour. I used Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten free flour and added 1/4 tsp of xanthum gum. They came out perfect.
thanks for sharing that’s what I have on hand
hello, you still added the xanthum gum even though the Bob mills flour has it as part of its ingredients?
Hi Monica! You do not need to add extra xanthan gum to the recipe if your gluten-free flour already contains it. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 Baking flour and substituted Lakanto powdered Monkfruit for the sugar, and they came out awesome! Also I couldn’t chill them before baking and they still look like snowballs!
Made these great gluten free snowball cookies once again, they are the best , I forgot to make them last year and a few weeks back my husband said I need to make snowball cookies or as I was growing up we called them sandes ,
Just made these…delicious! Mine were a little fragile…I used a blend from glutenfreerecipebox. Perhaps it needed a little more xanthan gum?
Hi Rebecca! I am so happy that you enjoyed the cookies. I have not tried that blend, so I am not sure if it needs more xanthan gum. I bake with Pillsbury gluten-free flour. I buy or order it from Walmart.
Made these last night and they taste exactly like the original. I used Bob’s Red Hill 1-1 flour and they taste exactly like the original recipe!! No even guessed they were gluten free and dairy free!
These are AMAZING!!i only had 1/4 cup of pecans in the house and these were made on a whim so I subbed in semi sweet chocolate chips and only dusted them lightly in powdered sugar once after they came out of oven! I left them in oven for about 28 minutes because I have never made shortbread before I was waiting for them to go slightly golden… next time I will definitely take them out a couple minutes earlier because they dried out slightly. They still tasted soooooooo yummy though – saving this one for the annual Christmas cookie baking!
This is the second time I have made these and they are o-mazing! So delicious and melt in the mouth. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Thank you so much Ruth for the awesome 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies (again). You are so welcome, I love sharing the recipes I make for my family. Thanks again!
I made this for Christmas for my sister and family using the dairy free option. These cookies are so very good!!
Thank you so much Joyce for the awesome 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that your family enjoyed the cookies for Christmas. Thanks again!
We made these today. I halved the recipe because we made other Christmas cookies too. They are delicious. So glad I can introduce my GF son to my favorite cookie. The hardest part was finding room for them in the freezer. For other readers to have options I used King Arthur cup for cup flour blend. It worked great. Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much April for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies. Thank you for sharing which brand of gluten-free flour you used, as I know it will help others. You are so welcome, I love sharing what I make for my family. You are so welcome, I love sharing what I make for my family. Thanks again!
These actually taste good!!! I have tried so many gluten-free recipes that were not too good..probably the cook..lol
I used Bob’s Old Mill gluten free flour, it has the xanthum gum added in.
And I used ghee instead of regular butter! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much Jan for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies. Thank you for sharing what you used the Bob’s gluten-free flour, as I know it will help others. You are so welcome, I love sharing what I make for my family. Thank you again!
Love this recipe!
Thank you so much Ellen! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies.
I have always loved Russian Tea Cakes and was delighted to find your gluten-free version. They turned out wonderful. I served them last night at our Christmas party and they disappeared quickly. People were surprised at how good the gluten free version tasted. Love your new cookbook too.
Thank you so much Rebecca for the wonderful 5-star recipe review, it really made my night! I am so happy that everyone enjoyed the snowball cookies (Russian Tea Cakes) and that you love my new cookbook. Thank you again!
I made these today and they are delicious! I cut the recipe in half……..big mistake! They are going way too fast! This is a keeper. Thanks Audrey for ANOTHER good recipe.
Thank you so much Susan for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies. You are so welcome, I love sharing what I make for my family and helping others. Thanks again!
I’ve always known these to be called Italian wedding cookies not Mexican wedding cookies but they are delicious!
Thank you so much Chris for the wonderful recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the snowball cookies. Yes these sweet little snowball cookies are known as Italian Wedding Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and Russian Tea Cakes. I love that they are enjoyed across many cultures. Thank you again!
I made these a few days ago and they turned out fantastic! Even at high altitude they worked great.
Thank you so much for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the snowball cookies and they worked great in high altitude. Thank you again!