Perfect Buttery Snowball Cookies

My mother, the queen of Christmas cookies (even years after her death), made dozens and dozens of varieties every year. To enjoy Christmas, most people bought electronic devices on Black Friday; my mother, for her part, bought butter, sugar and nuts. Some of my earliest cookie memories were of her Christmas snowballs. Buttery, nutty and tender, they were delicious! What really intrigued me was the creamy-sweet frosting hidden beneath the powdery dusting of icing sugar that gave them their name. It seemed inexplicable how carefully and evenly each cookie was glazed, at least until my mother shared the secret. She rolled the warm cookies in powdered sugar, which melted into a glaze from the residual heat. Then, to get that classic snowball look, she rolled them again once they cooled. His were pretty awesome, so it was a reasonable starting point for me to dig deep.

What I loved about it was the buttery almond flavor and the creamy frosting. What I wanted to improve was texture, and I approached it in three specific ways: baking time, dough handling, and ingredients.

Test different methods

Regarding cooking time, Mom’s recipe (and several others I came across) advised against overcooking, saying 15 minutes was enough. The texture at this point was a bit mushy and lacked crunch, so I increased it to 22 minutes, which was a step in the right direction, but not quite enough to do the trick.

As for the dough, I thought the cookies would spread and flatten if they were too soft. I chilled the dough after mixing it, but found that this made it brittle and difficult to form into balls: they kept falling apart in my hands. So I scooped out level tablespoons of softened dough, gently rolled them into balls, and froze them for 10 minutes before baking. This helped control the spread.

I also tried using a tablespoon-sized ice cream scoop (inherited from my mother) without rolling it, thinking that rolling would compact the dough and make the cookies dense and hard, but it turned out that it didn’t affect the texture significantly. I kept the rolling step to give the cookies a prettier shape.

Types of nuts

As for the ingredients, nuts in particular, the original recipe called for raw almonds, which I found made the cookies a little gummy. So I toasted the almonds, which not only enhanced the flavor but also added a nice crunch. Toasting evaporated some of the water, allowing the fat to crisp the nuts, but the texture was still dense and doughy.

Next test: I used a fattier nut, one with a higher ratio of fat to protein, thinking that the extra fat (and less water) in the pecans would make the cookies light and crisp. I also toasted the pecans for an enhanced nutty flavor. They were delicious and less mushy, but since almonds are traditional, I still wanted to find a way to make them work. (I used almonds here, but you could use toasted pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts, of course!)

Improve texture and flavor

Remembering my go-to recipe for dense, doughy gingerbread men (and other cookies, cakes, quick breads, and cookies), I added a little baking soda. This gives lightness and crispness, which is exactly what I wanted in these cookies. Half a teaspoon was enough to give them a little punch and lightness, without changing the nature of these classic cookies (baking powder would have made them doughy). Texture solved!

Finally, I added a pinch of salt. This may sound like nitpicking, but adding a little salt gives balance and leaves an interesting little sting on your tongue. That’s what I always look for in something sweet.

My mom may still be posthumously the Christmas cookie queen, but I might consider trying my hand at the crown one day.

December 2015