Lemon

Lemony with subtle almond notes, these melt-in-your-mouth snowball cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. Made with cold butter, the dough comes together in seconds in the food processor, and the recipe yields at least 30, making it perfect for gifting all season long.

A few weeks ago, I set out to make Viennese crescents, a buttery, almondy, powdered-sugar-dusted cookie my mother made often at the holidays when I was young.

Upon looking at the recipe, which called for softened butter and a mixer, I wondered if I could use melted butter instead and mix by hand or cold butter and my food processor. A Google search led me to this Stella Parks recipe for Mexican wedding cookies, which were nearly identical in makeup to the crescents, and which I learned go by many other names: Russian tea cakes, snowballs, butterballs.

But what I found most interesting about the article was this: Stella writes that the use of “powdered sugar gives the dough an especially light texture without the need for any creaming—a technique that’s meant to aerate doughs made dense by granulated sugar.” As such, she uses cold butter and a food processor — boom!

I made the crescents immediately using Stella’s method and, for simplicity, I rolled them into balls. They turned out beautifully, not unlike shortbread with that buttery, melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

After a few experiments, I swapped in almond flour for the freshly toasted and ground almonds, which made the process even faster without sacrificing any flavor, and I found the addition of lemon zest — and a lot of it — made them even more irresistible.

This dough comes together shockingly quickly and yields at least 30 cookies, which places it squarely into that low-effort, high-yield category of holiday cookie recipes we all could use a little more of in our lives this time of year.

How to Make Snowball Cookies, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients: flour, butter, confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest.

If you wish, measure out your ingredients.

Place the butter, almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse 10 to 15 times at 1-second intervals until you have a crumbly mixture.

Add the flour and purée…

… until the mass comes together around the blade.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Use a scoop to portion the dough into roughly 30 balls or use a scale (my preferred method) to divide the dough into 20-gram portions.

It’s a little tedious using a scale, but it ensures the portions are uniform, which ensures the cookies bake evenly.

Ball up the portions by rolling them between your palms.

Place 12 balls on a sheet pan and bake @ 350ºF for 14-15 minutes.

The cookies will be mostly pale with light brown bottoms.

Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the sheet pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the top.

Repeat until you’ve baked off all of the cookies.

Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container or…

… serve immediately.

Description

Lemony with subtle almond notes, these melt-in-your-mouth snowball cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. Made with cold butter, the dough comes together in seconds in the food processor, and the recipe yields at least 30, making it perfect for gifting all season long.

Adapted from several recipes, namely this Stella Parks recipe .

Notes:

For best results, use a scale to measure . It’s the only way to measure accurately.

Salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you are using Morton or fine sea salt, use 1/4 teaspoon.

• 16 tablespoons ( 226 grams ) cold, cubed salted butter (unsalted is fine if it’s all you have)
• 3/4 cup ( 90 grams ) confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
• zest of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, see notes above
• a scant 3/4 cup ( 75 grams ) almond flour
• 1 3/4 cups ( 226 grams ) all-purpose flour

1. Place the butter, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, salt, and almond flour in a food processor. Process 10 to 15 times at 1-second intervals until the butter is in small pieces and the mixture looks crumbly.
2. Add the flour, and purée until the mixture comes together forming a mass around the blade.
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. ( Note: Do not use a dark-colored sheet pan, which potentially will cause the bottoms of the cookies to brown too quickly. )
4. Use a scoop to portion the dough into roughly 30 small balls. Alternatively (and preferably), use a scale to divide the dough into 20-gram portions. Ball up each portion. At this point, if necessary, the dough balls can be chilled in an airtight vessel.
5. Place 12 cookie dough balls on a sheet pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes. The cookies will be very pale with browned bottoms.
6. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the pan; then transfer to a cooling rack. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the top immediately. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
7. Let the cookies cool completely before storing them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15
• Category: Cookies
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: Amerian

Description

Lemony with subtle almond notes, these melt-in-your-mouth snowball cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. Made with cold butter, the dough comes together in seconds in the food processor, and the recipe yields at least 30, making it perfect for gifting all season long.

Adapted from several recipes, namely this Stella Parks recipe .

Notes:

For best results, use a scale to measure . It’s the only way to measure accurately.

Salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you are using Morton or fine sea salt, use 1/4 teaspoon.

• 16 tablespoons ( 226 grams ) cold, cubed salted butter (unsalted is fine if it’s all you have)
• 3/4 cup ( 90 grams ) confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
• zest of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, see notes above
• a scant 3/4 cup ( 75 grams ) almond flour
• 1 3/4 cups ( 226 grams ) all-purpose flour

1. Place the butter, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, salt, and almond flour in a food processor. Process 10 to 15 times at 1-second intervals until the butter is in small pieces and the mixture looks crumbly.
2. Add the flour, and purée until the mixture comes together forming a mass around the blade.
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. ( Note: Do not use a dark-colored sheet pan, which potentially will cause the bottoms of the cookies to brown too quickly. )
4. Use a scoop to portion the dough into roughly 30 small balls. Alternatively (and preferably), use a scale to divide the dough into 20-gram portions. Ball up each portion. At this point, if necessary, the dough balls can be chilled in an airtight vessel.
5. Place 12 cookie dough balls on a sheet pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes. The cookies will be very pale with browned bottoms.
6. Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the pan; then transfer to a cooling rack. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the top immediately. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
7. Let the cookies cool completely before storing them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15
• Category: Cookies
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: Amerian

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2023/12/09/lemon-almond-snowball-cookies/

Friends, it’s here: the season to bake bake bake. Here are 25 Christmas cookie recipes to make and gift this holiday season.

This year I’ve added two new cookies to my Christmas cookie repertoire: white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and lemon-almond snowballs , both of which I find irresistible.

In the weeks ahead I will make a batch of this classic cream cheese cutout dough, which I will set on the table along with rolling pins and cookie cutters, and I’ll let the children go to town.

As always, I could never let the holiday season pass without making Kristina’s Molasses Crinkles , Simple Classic Shortbread , and Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies .

The below selection of cookies is organized as follows:

• Classics

• Peanut Butter Cookies

• Truffles

• Chocolate Cookies

• Shortbread

• Dunkers

• Two Dorie Greenspan Favorites

• Stamped Cookies

• Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Toffee

• Linzers

• Bars

Classics

Soft and Chewy Molasses Cookies

Classic Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies

Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

4-Ingredient Peppermint Bark

Crisp and Chewy Gingersnap Cookies (One Bowl)

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Lemon-Almond Snowball Cookies

Soft and Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft and Chew Contest-Winning Peanut Butter Cookies: Sugar-crusted, soft and chewy, perfectly salty, and crinkly to boot!

Truffles

Easy, Festive (and Boozy!) Rum Balls Recipe

Grand Marnier Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls

Lemon-Coconut Date Balls

Chocolate Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Shortbread

Food Processor Rosemary Shortbread

Brown Sugar Shortbread

PS: Gluten-Free Lemon-Thyme Shortbread

Dunkers

Mandel Bread with Marzipan & Sea Salt

Vanilla-Almond Biscotti

Two Dorie Greenspan Favorites

Dorie Greenspan’s Vanilla Bean Sablés

World Peace Cookies

Stamped Cookies

Stamped Spiced Brown Butter Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze : These cookies are as beautiful as they are delicious. This is not one I would recommend making with children as the process requires a little finesse, but the effort — when you have the time and patience — is well worth the reward.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (+ Variations)

Canal House Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dark Chocolate, Coconut, Oatmeal Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

PS: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Milk (or Dark) Chocolate Toffee

Daley Toffee : A family recipe from a dear friend, this toffee is incredibly addictive. Great for gifting and having on hand around the holidays. If the idea of making toffee is intimidating, don’t let it! Watch this video:

Linzers

Linzer Cookies. I contributed this linzer cookie recipe to King Arthur Flour’s Sift a few years back. These require a little bit of work and patience, but: Is there anything more festive than a tray of confectioners’ sugar-dusted, jam-filled linzers?

Bars

Brown Butter Blondies with Sea Salt

Best-Ever Fudgy (Shiny-Topped!) Homemade Brownies

Bake Sale Winning-est Gooey Oat Bars

Hippie Crispy Treats + A Fair Trade Giveaway