Grain-free Snowball Cookies (nut free)

These grain-free snowball cookies are light, sugary, and delicious… everything a snowball cookie should be! I must say, even I was surprised at how good these grain-free cookies turned out. They have a sweet, sugary flavor and a light, delicate texture. The ingredients are simple and the recipe is easy to put together. They are the perfect allergy-friendly Christmas cookie that everyone will love! Whether you’re enjoying them as a holiday dessert, adding them to a Christmas cookie platter, bringing them to a cookie exchange, or gifting them away to the modern pioneers on your list who have dietary restrictions… these snowballs are good for any occasion! I hope you enjoy making these festive grain-free snowball cookies!

Modern Pioneer Recipe

I’m calling these snowball cookies a modern pioneer recipe since I’m not sure if the early pioneers would have made something so light, delicate, and sugary. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the early pioneers made some delicious, sweet desserts, but I’m guessing snowball cookies were probably not a common pioneer holiday dessert.

Also, I say these cookies are sugary, however, they are not too sugary. They are not overpoweringly sweet, instead, their have a more buttery and sweet flavor. Their flavor truly does come from the butter and sugar in them, and their light and delicate texture pairs perfectly with their flavor.

These snowball cookies are a great modern pioneer holiday dessert! Like all the modern pioneer recipes that I make, these cookies are allergy-friendly to some extent (not dairy-free) and compatible with different dietary restrictions. These snowball cookies are…

grain-free
tree nut free
gluten-free
egg free
corn free
refined sugar free

One thing that these cookies are not free of is dairy. I use organic grass-fed butter in these snowball cookies to give them a sweet, buttery flavor. I have not tried making them with any other butter substitute, so I don’t know how they would turn out. Sorry dairy-free pioneers!

If you are dairy-free, feel free to check out these two cookie recipes that can be made dairy-free: grain-free chocolate mint cookies and grain-free gingerbread men cookies

What are Snowball Cookies?

Snowballs are a round cookie that are characteristically sugary, buttery, and almost like a shortbread except in cookie form.

These snowball cookies may remind you of some other cookies… maybe Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies. When creating this recipe I realized that snowball cookies can go by many different names! These little cookies seem to be a worldwide sensation and are called by many different names, the most common being Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, and snowball cookies. I have also seen them called Swedish tea cakes and Italian butter nuts. A common trend with all these names is the fact that all of the recipes included butter, powdered sugar, and nuts.

When I went to create a snowball cookie, I had to leave out the nuts since Anna has a tree nut allergy. I feel like these grain-free snowball cookies still have the buttery, sugary taste without the slightly nutty flavor. Even my mom, who had traditionally had ones containing nuts, thought that these cookies were delicious! So even if you are a nut lover, I hope you will enjoy this nut free version of the popular holiday snowball cookies (or whatever you want to call them)!

If you really don’t think these cookies will be the same without a slight nutty flavor, and you don’t have a tree nut allergy to deal with, then go ahead and add a splash of almond extract. But honestly, I think these cookies are good enough just the way they are!

Allergy-Friendly Christmas Cookies

I love the Christmas season! It’s right up there with hunting season as far as favorite seasons go. There are a lot of different things I like about Christmas, one of them being all the special holiday desserts that I like to make. Christmas cookies are not only delicious to eat… but they are super fun to make!

Have you ever seen those images on Instagram or Pinterest of the Christmas cookie platters or holiday cookie boxes? When I see those images, they look like so much fun! I almost never have that many different kinds of Christmas cookies around all at once, but occasionally I go on a baking spree and put myself together a cookie box. Except, my cookie box contains cookies and treats that are gluten-free and grain-free!

Each year I make it a point to try making at least one new holiday treat. Thus, I have accumulated quite a few different Christmas treat recipes over the past few years. They are all favorites of mine, so it’s hard to fit them all into one month, and as I keep coming up with new ones, it gets harder and harder!

Here are some of my favorite Christmas cookies and treats:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gluten-free cookies…. if you are putting together a gluten-free cookie box this year, then you MUST check out The Pioneer Chicks Cookie Cookbook! Choose from over 40 different gluten-free cookies to make and put in your cookie box!

Tips for Making Snowball Cookies

Snowball cookie recipe trends include the fact that they are simple to make and contain minimal ingredients. These grain-free snowball cookies are no exception! I used wholesome, simple ingredients that yielded an easy to work with dough and a delicious, flavorful cookie!

Here are some baking tips for these grain-free snowball cookies:

Softened Butter– The butter for these cookies needs to be really softened but not quite melted. I would say that my butter was about 90% melted.
Powdered Sugar– The powdered coconut sugar is key for these cookies, both in them and for rolling them in. I powdered my coconut sugar using a small coffee bean/seed grinder, but you could also use a high speed blender.
Coconut Flour– I added the coconut flour in tablespoon increments so that I could achieve the workable dough that I wanted. The cookie dough needed to hold together and not be too sticky. I also didn’t want the cookies to melt down while they were in the oven.
Rolling Mixture– For the powdered sugar mixture that you roll the cookies in to make them look like snowballs, I had to use tapioca flour with the powdered coconut sugar. The tapioca flour fades out the brown color of the coconut sugar so that the snowball cookies can actually be white.

These grain-free snowball cookies are easy to make and would be a great addition to a holiday cookie platter! They are super fun and simple to make, plus they are allergy-friendly and taste fantastic! They will be the best snowballs you have ever eaten….

Grain-free Snowball Cookies (nut free)

Recipe by The Pioneer Chicks

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 20

Servings 18 cookies

Author Alexa Lehr

Ingredients

10 tblsp. organic, grass-fed butter softened
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
1/2 cup cassava flour
2 tblsp. Nutiva coconut flour
6 tblsp. powdered coconut sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 cup powdered coconut sugar rolling mixture
1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour rolling mixture

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered coconut sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
Add the 1 cup of tapioca flour and 1/2 cup of cassava flour. Stir until combined. Stir in 1 tablespoon of coconut flour. The dough should workable with your hands now. Gently fold in the last tablespoon of coconut flour.
Pinch off tablespoon size pieces of the dough and roll them into balls. You can place the balls fairly close together on the baking sheet (but not touching) since they will not spread out.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies should be browned. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 1 minute or until you can handle them.
On a small plate, use a fork to combine the 1/4 of powdered coconut sugar and 1/4 cup of tapioca flour. Once the cookies are just cool enough to handle, gently roll them in the sugar mixture. NOTE: The cookies are VERY fragile at this point so be very gentle when rolling them in the mixture.
Optional: Roll the cookies in the mixture a second time after they have cooled for longer.

Where to Find the Ingredients

Grain-free snowball cookies are a flavorful, delicate Christmas cookie that are easy to make and contain simple ingredients. I love that they are also gluten-free, nut free, egg free, and refined sugar free…. meaning I can enjoy them guilt free! These snowball cookies have become one of my favorite Christmas cookies and I hope you give them a try this holiday season. They are the perfect holiday dessert that have a wonderful buttery, sugary flavor and a delicate, light texture. They literally melt in your mouth and will be loved by modern pioneers of all ages!

Also, make sure you stay up to date on all our chuckwagon recipes and modern pioneer tips that we share this holiday season by signing up for our weekly pioneer newsletter!

ThePioneerChicks

We are graphic designers who love to bake & cook, go crazy about chickens, have a passion for photography, are naturally adventurous, each have our own crafty talent, respect nature, strive to live a sustainable lifestyle, and aren't restricted by our dietary limitations! Our goal is to become modern pioneers! Learn more about us and why we started The Pioneer Chicks on our About page.

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