Candy Cane Snowball Cookies are a must-add to your holiday cookie tray. Buttery sweet shortbread, peppermint and vanilla candy melts make for a trinity of flavor perfection.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – Cookie season, that is. Every excuse you could ever need to bake, eat, and share your favorite cookie recipes. This has long been my favorite time of year, because well, duh, baking! And girlfriend can get down on some cookies.
Especially cookies with the quintessential flavors of winter – buttery shortbread, bright peppermint, and smooth vanilla. Was there ever a trilogy of flavors that made you happier? I’m going to go ahead and guess no.
I love Snowball Cookies in general, but the addition of vanilla candy coating and peppermint makes these Candy Cane Snowball Cookies something special. There’s a little extra effort in melting the vanilla candy melts and topping them with crushed candy canes, but it is SO worth it.
Traditional Snowball Cookies feature pecans or walnuts and powdered sugar – a super simple flavor combination that people have loved for generations. You might think to skip walnuts here, because of the crunch from crushed candy canes, but I beg you not to do it. Walnuts add a warmth and depth of flavor to the shortbread that would be lacking otherwise.
This recipe makes a lot of small cookies – enough to eat and share in delicious homemade cookie boxes you can give to family and friends. Trust me, you’ll have goodies for everyone you love.
I made these cookies using my favorite butter, Challenge Butter. If you’ve never tried it, you most definitely should. It’s made with 100% real cream and nothing else – nothing artificial here! The cream comes from cows not treated with the Growth Hormone rbST. While the jury is still out on that whole situation, I prefer to err on the side of caution, especially where my daughter is concerned. So I’ll reach for that label every single time.
I can feel good about making recipes with Challenge Butter, and its quality can’t be beat. It’s the perfect butter for baking!
I’m pretty confident that these are your new favorite Christmas cookie. They certainly are at our house!
Happy holidays from mine to yours!
Servings
60 cookies
Ingredients
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2 cups (4 sticks) Challenge Unsalted Butter, room temperature -
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract -
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted -
3¼ cups all-purpose flour -
1½ cups finely chopped walnuts -
½ teaspoon salt -
1½ cups white (vanilla) candy melts -
⅔ cup crushed candy canes
Directions
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1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheets with parchment paper.
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2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat Challenge Butter, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar until smooth and creamy.
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3
Add in flour, walnuts and salt. Mixing until just combined.
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4
Using a small cookie scoop (about 2 teaspoons), measure and roll dough into balls. Place dough balls onto prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
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5
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes – taking care not to over bake. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
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6
Once cookies are completely cool, melt candy melts according to package directions. Dip or spoon melted candy coating onto the tops of each cookie and immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes.