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These are Pistachio Cranberry Snowballs – a new version of snowball cookies. Instead of pecans or walnuts I added pistachios and dried cranberries for the perfect holiday cookie recipe.
I have been making snowball cookies (AKA Russian Tea Cookies, Wedding Cookies, or Butter Balls) for over 30 years. They’re one of our family favorite Christmas cookies and I love them so much. They have just 5 main ingredients, are done fast, and melt in your mouth when you eat them.
I’ve tested and shared so many different snowball recipes over the years (like gingerbread snowballs, Christmas snowballs, and even lemon snowball cookies) and these hold their own against the most popular ones. If you love dried cranberries and pistachios, these little cookies are perfect.
How to make Pistachio Cranberry Snowball Cookies
- Start with unsalted butter that’s been softened. If you use salted butter, reduce added salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly, using a kitchen scale or spoon and level it. Otherwise you’ll add too much and the cookie dough will be too stiff.
- Same goes for the powdered sugar – don’t pack it.
- Pistachios and dried cranberries (Craisins) – be sure to chop them small. These are small cookies and if they’re whole they’ll be too big.
- I recommend making these 1 tablespoon size, or even using a smaller 1 tsp cookie scoop for a single bite sized cookie.
- Snowballs are baked at 375°F so they cook all the way through. This will take less than 11 minutes depending on size. You know snowball cookies are done when they’re light golden on the bottoms.
- Once they’re done baking and cool to handle, you’ll roll them in powdered sugar to coat.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.
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Dorothy’s Expert Tips
The biggest issue people have when making snowballs is that the dough is hard to come together. The dough WILL mix but there are some things you can do and know to help:
- Make sure to measure your flour and powdered sugar correctly (a kitchen scale is recommended).
- A stand mixer is the best and easiest (and fastest) way to mix up this dough.
- You can use a hand mixer but know it will take a lot longer. Older hand mixers might need a little help from your actual hands. Once the dough starts to get crumbly, turn up the speed so it can come together.
Cranberry Pistachio Snowball Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¼ cups (279g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (72g) chopped pistachios (chopped small)
- ½ cup (66g) dried cranberries (coarsely chopped)
- Powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Stir in the nuts and cranberries. Note: the dough takes a long time to mix together. Just keep mixing and see tips below.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon balls of dough and place on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes until bottoms are just slightly brown. Remove from oven andcool for just a minute, until you can handle them. Fill a small bowl with powdered sugar and roll each cookie in the sugar until coated. Place on a rack to cool.
- You can freeze these cookies or make them up to 4 days ahead of serving and store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
Recipe Nutrition
Pistachio Cranberry Snowball Cookies step-by-step
- Add softened butter, salt, powdered sugar, vanilla, and all-purpose flour to a large bowl. Mix until smooth. The dough will come together!
- Add chopped nuts and cranberries. Stir.
- Scoop balls of dough, roll between your palms, and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Bake until light golden, then roll in powdered sugar once they’re cool enough to handle.
FAQs
Snowballs can stay at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
Yes you can – that’s the best part about my snowball cookie recipe. Freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Snowball cookies fall apart when the dough is not mixed enough. Make sure to measure your flour and powdered sugar correctly and just keep mixing. Don’t scoop and bake the dough until it is cohesive.
