These Russian Tea Cakes are also known as snowballs because of their white, round and fluffy appearance. These cookies are light, nutty and buttery and they get their snowball appearance because they are covered in powdered sugar! The perfect cookies to make at Christmas.
To make this one of my favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes, start by making cookie dough and adding chopped nuts. Shape the dough into around 40 balls and chill in the refrigerator before placing on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven and once cooked, remove and allow to cool until you can handle them. Add powdered sugar to a small bowl and roll each cookie in it until well coated. The sugar will melt a little bit but don’t worry, that will help it to stick to the cookies. Once the cookies are completely cool, re-roll them in powdered sugar. These will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
To make Russian Tea Cakes-Snowballs, you will need the following ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 375 °F and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer, cream 1 cup of butter and ½ a cup of the powdered sugar together in a large bowl until smooth.
Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Add 2 ¼ cups of flour and ½ a teaspoon of salt and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together. Add ¾ cup of chopped nuts and stir until combined.
Shape tablespoon sized scoops of the dough into a ball. Chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Once chilled, place on the prepared cookie sheet about 1-2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for about 7-10 minutes until the bottoms are light golden brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and leave until the cookies are cool enough to handle.
Place the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl. Roll each cookie in the sugar until well coated. Leave to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cool, roll the cookies again in powdered sugar.
Serve warm with a cup of strong coffee or tea.
Russian Tea Cakes-Snowballs are a delicious powdery cookie treat for Christmas! If you make them, I’d love to hear how you get on. Come back and leave a comment below!
