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Easy Russian Tea Cakes Recipe: Buttery Snowball Cookies

Easy Russian Tea Cakes

These classic Russian tea cakes are tender, buttery shortbread cookies filled with finely chopped pecans or walnuts and coated twice in powdered sugar for a beautiful snowball appearance.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 36 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cookie Dough
  • 1 cup (226 g) Unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup (60 g) Powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups (281 g) All-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup (about 85 g) Finely chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Coating
  • about 1 cup (120 g) Powdered sugar

Method
 

Step-by-Step
  1. Heat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Beat the softened butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract.
  3. Gradually add the flour and salt, mixing only until the dough comes together. Stir in the finely chopped nuts.
  4. Shape the dough into small balls approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  5. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden while the tops remain fairly pale.
  6. Cool the cookies for a few minutes, then roll them in powdered sugar while still warm. Once completely cool, roll them in powdered sugar a second time.

Notes

Chop the nuts very finely for a delicate texture and cookies that hold together well. Optional chilling for 20–30 minutes can make the dough easier to handle, but chilling is usually not required. Do not substantially brown the cookies, since overbaking can make them dry.