Yes they are beautiful, but these tender, buttery snow ball cookies burst with crunchy and flavorful roasted pecans – gluten and grain free recipe

Written by on in cooking with littles, Dessert
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Snow Balls, Russian Tea Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies. Whatever you call them I always thought of them as the dry powdered sugary cookies you make just because they look pretty on a Christmas cookie platter. You don’t actually want to eat them. Well toasted pecans and my cassava almond sugar cookie dough change all that. Also, I use organic powdered sugar. Baking goddess Stella Parks explains that is less gritty because of the use of tapioca instead of cornstarch in its conventional counterpart.

Yes, these cookies are pretty on the plate. A double dose of powdered sugar guarantees that. But to max out your flavor toast up your pecans and chop them well before mixing into the basic dough Then some fun little snow ball shaping with the kids and hopefully no snow ball fights. I like to keep these to about 3/4 inch diameter for easy baking without crumbling.

Try some of my other favorite holiday cookie recipes too:

Sugar Cookie Cut Outs

Jam Drops

Russian Tea Cookies

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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1⅔ cups cassava flour 8 oz , I use Otto's Naturals
  • ½ cup almond flour 2.5 oz.
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 7 oz
  • 1 cup salted butter softened at room temperature, coconut oil works too
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ cup toasted pecans or walnuts chopped fine 2.5 oz

To finish:

  • 2 cups organic powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • Cream butter until fluffy (I usually do this in mixer but the food processor works too).
  • Add eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. Scrape down and mix again.
  • Add flours and nuts and mix, scraping down the bowl once mid mix.
  • Shape into small balls (¾ inch diameter).
  • Bake until light golden brown on parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Let cool slightly (about 10 minutes) to firm up and toss in powdered sugar.
  • Let cool completely then toss again in powdered sugar.

Notes

To toast nuts – heat oven to 250 and put on a baking sheet, they should toast in about 20 minutes.  I stir about every 5 minutes.  It’s best to toast the whole nuts then chop them.