Description
Gingerbread Snowballs are a delightful holiday cookie that combines the warm spices of gingerbread with the soft, buttery texture of snowball cookies. These bite-sized treats are rolled in powdered sugar for a festive, snowy appearance and offer a perfect balance of sweet and spicy flavors. Ideal for holiday gatherings or giving as a homemade gift, this recipe is easy to follow and yields a large batch of delicious cookies.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 cup Challenge Unsalted Butter (226 g), softened
- ½ cup (57 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 ¼ cups (279 g) all-purpose flour
- Powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare baking sheets. Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Mix the butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter until fluffy, about 20 seconds. Gradually add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and molasses; mix until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Add the flour and form dough. Slowly add the all-purpose flour to the wet ingredients while mixing. Continue mixing patiently until a cohesive dough forms. It may look crumbly at first, but with persistent mixing it will come together into a smooth cookie dough over a few minutes.
- Scoop the dough onto baking sheets. Use approximately 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie and place scoops onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them slightly apart.
- Bake the cookies. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are just starting to brown lightly. Remove from the oven and let them cool for about a minute, just until you can handle them.
- Roll in powdered sugar. Fill a small bowl with additional powdered sugar. Roll each warm cookie in the powdered sugar until fully coated. Place the coated cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional second rolling. Once cooled, you may re-roll the cookies in powdered sugar for an extra snowy effect and sweeter finish.
Notes
- This recipe yields around 48 cookies, perfect for sharing at holiday parties or gifting.
- Ensure the butter is softened to room temperature for easier mixing and better texture.
- If you prefer spicier cookies, you can increase the ginger or cinnamon by ¼ teaspoon.
- Rolling the cookies in powdered sugar while still warm helps the sugar stick better and gives a nice coating.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
- For a gluten-free variation, substitute the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free baking blend that measures cup-for-cup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 60 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 444 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
