Pistachio Snowball Cookies
Snowball cookies have always been a classic Christmas cookie for me. Though they are typically made with walnuts or pecans, I’ve always wanted to try them with pistachios. When I was at the grocery store the other day, I found a bag of “pistachio nutmeats,” which was basically a bag of shelled pistachios. What a dream come true!!! I seriously used to sit in front of the TV and peel pistachios whenever I wanted to make something that required a lot of the nut. This is so much easier.
I found the pistachio swap for this classic to be quite lovely! If you’re a fan of pistachios, I think you’ll love these cookies. They are so simple, and the flavor of the pistachios really shines through. And if you don’t want to use pistachios, use whatever nut you’d like. The photo at the top is a batch I made with sliced almonds. You can do whatever you want!
First chop up the pistachios very finely (the best tool for this is a food processor, if you have one):
Combine the pistachios with flour and sugar:
Add softened butter and vanilla paste (or extract):
Mix that together with a hand mixer until the dough is combined:
Form little balls from the dough, and place on a sheet tray:
Bake the cookies for 25 minutes until they are cooked through:
Then they’re ready to be rolled in tons of powdered sugar. Then the snowball transformation is complete!
I made a video for you, and the full recipe is below. Happy holidays!
Pistachio Snowball Cookies
Ingredients:
- 10 oz all-purpose flour (2 cups)
- 2 cups finely chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a large bowl whisk to combine the flour, pistachios, and sugar. Add the butter and vanilla, and mix with a hand mixer until it comes together as a cohesive dough.
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls, and place on a silicone mat lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, until fully cooked through in the center. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes, then roll the cookies in confectioner’s sugar until generously coated. Enjoy!
Adapted from Land O’Lakes.
All images and text ©.
Snowballs are one of my favorites as well and I love that you used pistachios in this recipe. Pinning now! Shelled pistachios are the greatest thing ever. There is nothing worse than having to shell pistachios for a recipe! Also, I loved your video! What camera and editing software do you use and do you shoot in artificial or natural light?
Hi Christina, I use the same camera as my blog here, a Nikon D600, with Corel, and natural light =)
Love these! Pistachios are one of my favorite snacks, so I’m sure I’d love this version of the snowball cookie 😉
Oh yes, I totally in love with these cookies already and I do adore pistachios. Yum!!!
Snowballs are such a great classic Christmas cookie! I can’t wait to try your version!
You do video SO WELL! Your bite makes me want a bite. Or two or three!
How scrumptious does that look! I’m so making this one. Thank you for the recipe.
You look great Joanne, glad you’re better and back to your cooking 🙂 Love this recipe and can’t wait to try it….we love these cookies…and this is the most simple recipe I have seen….thank you for posting it….have a great Christmas and stay well 🙂
These are very good. I liked the swap of pistachios instead of walnuts.
Thank you for this post.
Just made these! Thank you and blessings for 2015!
I have a question! On your blog it says 2 cups (10 ounces) for this recipe; however, for your video tutorial you’re only using 5 ounces. Was there a mistake? I’m making this recipe right now and it’s way to powdery with the 10 ounces 🙁 the recipe looks and sounds fantastic though!
Hi Layla, everything in the video is halved, because there I only make one dozen (in this post the recipe is for 2 dozen). They are exactly the same proportions for both and the same recipe, just one is halved.
I tried this recipe.
One word.. PERFECTION. Everybody liked them, they thought I bought them :). Super easy and super delicious.
They have similar to those were I live but since it’s an Arabic country they add cardamom and make them plain.
One advice though: Try to incorporate everything by hand. I tried to use the hand mixer but the flour was all over the place. Hands are safer and cleaner!!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe.. it’s an all time keeper, I have already shared it with couple of my friends.
YAY, very happy to hear that!!!