My Gluten-Free Pecan Snowball Cookies are the best, most tender, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth cookie that you will ever eat. Not only are they incredibly easy to make, but they also are difficult to resist. Serve them at morning tea, after dinner with a cup of coffee or as a great sweet treat at any time.
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Why we love this recipe:
Cookies, similar to these, are also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Teacakes, Kourabiedes or Pecan Puffs. However, this cookie, by any other name is delicious. These light-as-a-cloud, buttery shortbreads, which are given their texture and flavour by the addition of ground pecans, literally melt in your mouth!
These cookies are a perfect example of how combining a few simple ingredients can produce a delicious outcome. They are proof that recipes need not be complicated. I love their light-as-air texture and their not-too-sweet flavour. It does, however, make them difficult to resist and easy to eat!
This is a recipe that my Grandma taught my Mum to make, and it is a family favourite!
You will love this recipe because:
- The Gluten-Free Pecan Snowball Cookies are so easy to make. I use a food processor to grind the pecans and then process with the remaining ingredients to form a dough. So simple!
- These small, sweet treats are wonderful for any celebration, such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, or Easter. Or, bake them at any time and celebrate for no particular reason.
- They are ideal to take to a potluck or popular at any shared meal, be it a picnic or barbecue. No matter where you serve them, your plate will be emptied. As well, they make great gifts. Place them on a small plate or into a tissue-paper lined box, wrap with cellophane and tie with a pretty ribbon.
- My Pecan Snowball Cookies are gluten-free and egg-free making them suitable for people with special dietary requirements.
Ingredients in this recipe:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
Pecans - which have been shelled. We use whole pecans which we grind ourselves.
Butter – I use good quality unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in the cookie. If you only have salted, just omit the addition of salt.
Salt – I prefer to use coarse kitchen salt. Do not use table or iodised salt.
Caster sugar - also known as superfine sugar.
Vanilla extract – use good quality vanilla extract which is naturally extracted from vanilla beans. For the best flavour, do not use vanilla which is synthetically produced.
Gluten-free plain/all-purpose flour - our gluten-free flour blends contain either xanthan or guar gum to stabilise and provide structure to our recipes. If your flour blend already contains either of these gums, there is no need to add more. If you do not require the recipe to be gluten-free, you can use regular flour.
Icing sugar/powdered sugar – I use pure icing sugar as some icing blends contain gluten. Always check the label.
Step by step instructions:
- To begin, add the pecans to a food processor and grind to a coarse powder.
- Then, add the butter, salt, caster/superfine sugar and vanilla extract and pulse a few times to briefly combine the ingredients.
- Finally, add the flour to the food processor and blend until the ingredients just come together. Do not overwork the dough.
- Turn the dough onto cling wrap and bring it together to form a disc. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the dough firms up.
- Next, roll the dough into small balls and place them onto a prepared baking tray. Bake in a pre-heated oven 25-30 minutes or until light golden on the edges.
- Remove the Cookies from the oven and leave them to cool slightly on the tray for about 3 minutes. Then, sift the icing/powdered sugar onto a plate, roll the cookies in the sugar then return them to the baking tray and back to the oven for 2-3 minutes to set the sugar. Cool for 5 minutes before very carefully removing them to a rack to cool completely.
Tips for success and FAQs:
It is important to not grind the pecans too fine. If you take them too far you will end up with pecan butter. A coarse grind is preferred as it also provides a little texture to the cookies.
Use good quality butter as it is a key ingredient. It is important to have the butter at cool room temperature as this will ensure that the ingredients combine easily.
After mixing the dough, chill it for at least 30 minutes. This will help the dough firm up making it easier to roll into balls. Finally, the step of rolling the baked Pecan Snowball Cookies in icing/powdered sugar is an important one. It helps the sugar to adhere to the cookie.
If you’re making them on a day when your kitchen is warm, I recommend that after you roll the dough into balls you place the baking tray into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
The cookies are best enjoyed within 3 days of baking.
I have made the Pecan Snowball Cookies, with great success, using ground almonds in place of the crushed pecans. I prefer to grind my own almonds, as I find the texture of almond meal/flour to be too fine.
More delicious recipes for to you to try:
We just love to bake cookies! Here are some more of our favourite gluten-free recipes for you to try:
You will love these Gluten-Free Pecan Snowball Cookies. Their ease of preparation and fantastic taste is sure to become your next favourite. Be sure to let me know in the comments below when you have given them a try.
Alex xx
This post was originally published in March 2019. It has been updated with new photos and more information. The recipe remains the same.
Gluten-Free Pecan Snowball Cookies
Please note:
For accuracy, when weights are provided, we recommend weighing your ingredients. This will produce the best results. All oven temperatures listed are for fan forced.
Ingredients
- 110 g (4 oz) pecans - shelled See Note 1
- 110 g (4 oz) unsalted butter - at cool room temperature See Note 2
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon caster sugar/superfine See Note 3
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract See Note 4
- 150 g (1 cup) gluten free plain/all-purpose flour See Note 5
- 45 g (⅓ cup) pure icing/powdered sugar See Note 6
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 150 Degrees C (300 F).Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
- Add the pecans to a food processor and grind to a coarse powder.
- Add the butter, salt, sugar and vanilla extract and pulse a few times to briefly combine.
- Add the flour to the food processor.Process the ingredients until they just come together. Do not overwork the dough.
- Turn the dough onto some cling wrap.
- Bring the dough together and form a disc. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the dough is firm enough to roll into small balls.
- Take about 1 ½ teaspoons of mixture and roll into balls, about 2 ½ cm (1 inch) diameter. Place the balls on the prepared baking tray, leaving a gap between each one.
- Bake about 25-30 minutes until light golden on the edges.Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits to cool slightly on the tray for about 3 minutes. Keep the oven on.
- Sift the icing/powdered sugar onto a plate. Roll the cookies in the sugar then gently place them on the baking tray.
- Return the tray to the oven for 2-3 minutes to set the icing/powdered sugar.Cool the cookies for 5 minutes before carefully removing them to a rack to cool completely. (They are fragile at this stage.)
- Store in an airtight container.To serve, dust with a little extra icing/powdered sugar.
Notes
- This is the prepared weight of the shelled pecans.
- The butter should be soft enough to work with, but still holding its shape. If it is a hot day, use the softened butter as soon as possible.
- In Australia, the tablespoon is 20 ml or 4 teaspoons. In many other countries, the tablespoon is 15 ml or 3 teaspoons. Please adjust the measurement if necessary.
- Use vanilla naturally extracted from vanilla beans, not synthetically flavoured essence.
- Our gluten-free flour blends contain either xanthan or guar gum to stabilise and provide structure to our recipes. If your flour blend already contains either of these gums, there is no need to add more. If you do not require the recipe to be gluten-free, you can use regular flour.
- Pure icing/powdered sugar is naturally gluten-free. If you use an icing mixture ensure that it is gluten-free.
- Please note, the nutritional information is based on one cookie. The nutritional information is an estimate only.
Nutrition Estimate:
Nutritional Disclaimer:
The nutritional information is an estimate only, and is derived from online calculators. For accurate results, we recommend calculating the nutritional information based on the ingredients and brands you use.
Steveshooman says
These were quite fiddly to make - even more fragile than the pecan crescents I usually make that have to be handled very gingerly. The feedback from the party I took them to (teenagers and adults who are used to eating gluten-free foods) was that they were very dry and not quite sweet enough. Everyone said you could not just pop a whole one in your mouth because they were so dry. I might try them again with a bit more sugar to address the dryness problem. I did make sure my GF flour had xanthan in it, so I don't think that was the issue.
Alexandra Cook says
Hello Steve,
Thank you for giving the recipe a try!
A couple of suggestions -
Firstly, did you see the note regarding the tablespoon for the sugar? I am in Australia, and our tablespoons are 20 ml. (Just thought it was worth mentioning, in case that was why you didn't find them sweet enough.)
What brand of GF flour did you use? Brands vary so greatly - I'd be happy to suggest a couple depending on your location. We have tested this recipe with about 7-8 brands over the years, and our favourites are Orgran and Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1.
Lastly, did you weigh your ingredients for the best accuracy?
Please reach out any time with any questions 🙂
Alex xo
ardea says
can you use walnuts instead o pecans
Alexandra Cook says
Hi Ardea,
I haven't tried using walnuts with this recipe before, but I do have a delicious walnut cookie recipe coming soon - hopefully over the next few days.
Keep an eye on the blog, or feel free to send me an email and I'll happily send you an advanced copy of the recipe 🙂
Otherwise, if you do try this with walnuts, let me know how you get on!
Alex xo
Sarah says
My daughter and I baked these over the weekend - and my husband said they’re the best cookies he’s ever had! They really do melt in the mouth.
Merry Christmas 🎄
Alexandra Cook says
Hello Sarah,
Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Alex xo
Lauren says
I just made these and they are delicious but mine fall apart to the point where they can barely be handled or bitten into. I’ve made these my whole life but never gluten free so I’m wondering if it’s the flour or if perhaps I should have mixed more? Any tips?
I have to make them for my daughters school so hoping I can find a way to make them work.
Alexandra Cook says
Hey Lauren!
Absolutely happy to help. They are a delicate, melt in the mouth cookie, but definitely shouldn't be falling apart like that.
Here are some thoughts:
- yes, it could be the flour. What brand are you using? Brands do vary in quality. Happy to offer some suggestions depending on your location.
- on the topic of flour, does the flour you're using contain xanthan or guar gum? This is very important (See Note 5) as it acts as the binder, helping to replace the gluten. If your blend doesn't contain it, this will need to be added.
- are you weighing your ingredients for the best accuracy?
- was the dough chilled for long enough?
Without being with you in the kitchen, it is hard to say if you should have mixed them more - but, this is a recipe where it is important to not overwork the dough, so I don't think this would be the issue.
Please feel free to reach out with any more queries, and let me know how you get on 🙂
Thanks, Alex
Claire says
Followed the directions by weighing everything, but the oven set at 300F was way too low to bake the cookies in that time, they were still sticky at 35 minutes. my oven thermometer corroborated the temp and I'm wondering what else it could have been.
Alexandra Cook says
Hi Claire,
The oven temperature is correct, but it might just be that they needed to be baked for a little longer in this instance. How were the cookies once they had cooled completely?
Also, I was wondering what brand of gluten-free flour do you use, and does it contain xanthan gum? Some brands don't work as well as others, so this is the only other thing I could think it would be.
Please feel free to reach out with any queries!
Thanks, Alex
Gail Hernalsteen says
Have you ever made these gluten free dairy free? I use country crock plant butter made from olive oil for my other baking recipes.
Alexandra Cook says
Hi Gail,
I haven't tried these dairy free, but I'd love to hear how you get on if you give them a try! 🙂 Thanks, Alex
Krystin L says
Made these gluten and dairy free with the Country Crock avacado oil butter sticks 1:1 to real butter in baking recipes and it came out great!
Alexandra Cook says
So happy to hear this, Krystin!
Thank you for sharing! Alex xo
Sanna says
Easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Alexandra says
Thank you, Sanna!
Gwenette Clark says
I have made these cookies for years and my mom (98 yrs old) made them for years before me. This will be my first time trying to make them gluten free. Would you please tell me, when you say gluten free plain flour what kind of flour is it? Is there a brand to look for or will it just say plain flour? I live in Tampa, Florida, so I am not sure we will have the same brands that you do. Also when we make these we do not grind the pecans, we just chop them by hand to a fine chop. Thank you for any help. Gwen
Alexandra says
Hi Gwen!
Thank you for stopping by the blog.
This was one of the first recipes we posted, and we will be updating it shortly with some more information.
Plain flour is our version of all-purpose flour. Our gluten-free flour blends contain either xanthan or guar gum to stabilise and provide structure to our recipes. If your flour blend already contains either of these gums, there is no need to add more.
I hope that helps! Please feel free to reach out anytime with any questions.
I hope you enjoy the pecan puffs!
Kind regards, Alex
KH says
Hi Gwen,
There are several interesting links worth reading in the link below. But the best news is that 'Bob's Red Mill' makes it. I'm sure other companies do as well, but Bob's is so mainstream now, hopefully you can find it your local store.
what is gluten free plain flour
maren says
delicious
Alexandra says
Thank you, Maren!
Joy says
I just made these Alex - they are so beautiful and melt-in-your-mouth ❤️ Thank you!
Alexandra says
I am so thrilled to hear that, Joy! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Lyanna Soria says
That are absolutely delish and easy to make too.
Alexandra says
I am so pleased that you like the recipe Lyanna.
Kylie says
I've recently transitioned to a gluten free diet so I tried these over the weekend - they were absolutely incredible! There is hope that GF can be delicious! 🙂 x
Alexandra says
Kylie, I am so pleased that you enjoyed the Pecan Puffs. We have a number of gluten-free recipes and they are all delicious. I do hope that you try them. 🙂
Alina says
My grandmother used to cook something very similar, so it truly brings out sweet childhood memories for me!
Alexandra says
That is so beautiful, Alina!!