These Butterball Cookies (or Snowball Cookies / Russian Tea Cakes) are easy to makeand taste amazing. A given for Christmas, they taste just as delicious year round. With chopped hazelnutsfor a crunchy touch.
In a large bowl, combine the softened butter with the confectioners sugar. Mix well.
1 cup salted butter, ½ cup confectioners sugar
In another bowl, mix the vanilla sugar with the flour. Then sift this into the butter and sugar mixture. Add salt. Mix well, until everything is combined. You will need to use your hands for this.
2 teaspoon vanilla sugar, 2¼ cups flour, ½ teaspoon fine table salt
Add chopped hazelnuts. Mix, using your hands, until you can shape the whole dough into a large ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
¾ cups hazelnuts
Preheat oven for 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Bring out the refrigerated dough, and roll into 40 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls. Place on the lined baking sheet and bake in the middle of the over for 10 minutes, until cooked through and just slightly browned.
Bring out the cookies from the oven and let them cool down for 1-2 minutes. As soon as they are cool enough to touch, roll them in confectioners sugar and set aside for now.
1 cup confectioners sugar
When the cookies have cooled down completely, roll them in confectioners sugar once again.
1 cup confectioners sugar
Video
Notes
Ingredients notes & substitutions
Butter: I used salted butter, if you use unsalted butter add an extra pinch of salt
Confectioners sugar is not the exact same as powdered sugar (confectioners sugar has a little bit of added cornstarch to avooid caking), but for this recipe you can use either
Vanilla sugar can be swapped for vanilla extract or vanilla powder
Tips & tricks
Chop the nuts - don't be tempted to grind them, or the balls can end up dry
Choose your size for the nuts or mix sizes, to keep it interesting
Roll the cookies twice in powdered sugar - the first layer melts, and the second layer sits on top giving them that cute snowball look
Prep ahead by making the dough the day before and refrigerating it over night
Cook time can vary with your oven - they can take anything from 8-12 minutes
Store butterball cookies in an air tight container for up to 1 week
Freeze butterball cookies to keep them for up to 3 months