These easy Pecan Balls are buttery, tender cookies filled with chopped pecans and finished with a generous coating of icing sugar. They are made with simple ingredients and, best of all, the dough does not need to be chilled.
I have always called these cookies Pecan Balls, although you may know them by other names, including Pecan Snowball Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, or Butter Ball Cookies with Pecans. Whatever you call them, they are simple to make and delicious with a cup of coffee or tea. Pecan Balls are also a wonderful addition to a Christmas cookie platter and are easy to make when you are preparing several cookies for the festive season.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THESE PECAN BALLS
- No chilling required: The dough can be shaped and baked straight away, making this a quick and easy cookie recipe.
- Buttery and nutty: Salted butter and chopped pecans give these cookies plenty of flavour.
- Easy to make: There are only a few simple steps from mixing the dough to shaping the cookies.
- Uniform cookies: Forming the dough into logs and slicing it before rolling each piece into a ball helps keep the cookies a similar size.
- A generous coating of icing sugar: The cookies are dusted while hot and rolled in icing sugar again once cool for their classic snowy finish.
There is something satisfying about having a cookie recipe that comes together without needing to chill the dough. I also like that they can be made ahead and kept ready for serving when friends or family visit.
Recipes like this often have different names from one family to another. For me, they will always be Pecan Balls.
Pecan Balls
Ingredients
- 250 g salted butter (1 cup + 1 tbsp / 8.8 oz),cold
- 110 g sugar (½ cup + 1 tbsp / 3.9 oz)
- 250 g flour (2 cups / 8.8 oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 120 g chopped pecan nuts (1 cup / 4.2 oz)
- Icing sugar for dusting and rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper or baking paper.
- Roughly chop the pecan nuts and set them aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until well combined.
- Add the flour and mix until a dough starts to form.
- Add the vanilla essence and chopped pecans and mix until everything is evenly combined.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions.
- Roll each portion into a log using clear plastic wrap.
- Cut each log into approximately 1 cm slices.
- Roll each slice between your hands to form a ball.
- Place the balls onto the prepared baking trays, leaving a little space between each one.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle them with a litlle icing sugar while they are still hot.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray.
- Once cool, roll each Pecan Ball in icing sugar again to give them their classic snowy coating.
Notes
Helpful Tools for Pecan Balls
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Description: Handy for cutting the chilled dough into portions. |
Description: Makes weighing ingredients accurate and easy. |
Description: Makes mixing the Pecan Balls dough quick and easy. |
Description: Ideal for mixing the buttery Pecan Balls dough. |
Handy for cutting the chilled dough into portions.
Makes weighing ingredients accurate and easy.
Makes mixing the Pecan Balls dough quick and easy.
Ideal for mixing the buttery Pecan Balls dough.
German Christmas Cookies
if you are putting together a selection of Christmas cookies, try some of my traditional German favourites:
Zimtsterne – Almond and cinnamon cookies topped with a crisp meringue glaze.
Syrupkuchen – Thin, crisp German cookies made with syrup, spices and lemon.
Pfefferkuchen – A festive German bake packed with nuts, spices and mixed peel.
Frequently asked questions
They are part of a family of buttery, nut-based cookies with a long history. Similar cookies are thought to have roots in the Middle East, with related recipes spreading through Europe and later becoming established in places such as Spain, Mexico and the United States.
They are known by several names, depending on where you are from. You may also know them as Pecan Snowball Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes or Pecan Butter Balls. They are all part of the same family of small, buttery, nut-filled cookies coated in icing sugar.
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