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By Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD
5 from 3 votes
Nov 24, 2011, Updated Jan 02, 2023
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This chocolate snowball cookie recipe makes fudgy and chewy cookies. And they are almost too pretty to eat with the crackled, snowy tops.
Table of Contents
- Chocolate Snowball Cookies: Why You’ll Love Them
- What You Need
- A few tips for perfect chocolate snowballs
- Chocolate Snowball Cookies Recipe
Chocolate Snowball Cookies: Why You’ll Love Them
These cookies totally rocked my socks.
- They are fudgy and chewy and not tooth-achingly sweet.
- They are almost too pretty to eat with the crackled snowy tops. Almost is the operative word here, you will eat them.
What You Need
Here are a few of the ingredients worth mentioning:
- Melted good-quality dark chocolate: this can be done over a saucepan of simmering water or (my favorite way), in the microwave.
- Cocoa powder: for a double-dose of dark chocolate flavor.
- Powdered sugar: for rolling before baking. As the cookies bake and expand, the sugar topping crackles for the special effect.
- Brown sugar: this adds a deeper flavor. Only a little is used in the cookie dough itself as the icing sugar finish takes care of the sweetness.
A few tips for perfect chocolate snowballs
- CHILL the dough. I know, patience and chocolate do not belong in the same sentence. But you have to control yourself here. Unless you want runny dough and flat cookies.
- Roll the cookies really well in confectioners’ sugar. When you think you’ve got enough on there, roll ’em one more time. You’ll get that gorgeous white-on-black contrast in the finished cookie.
- Take them out of the oven when they are still slightly underdone to make sure you get that chewy-fudgy characteristic that makes these babies blissful.
Can you make chocolate snowball cookies in advance?
To make in advance, dough balls may be stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator before baking, frozen (tightly wrapped) for up to 3 weeks.
Can you freeze chocolate snowball cookies?
Yes, you can freeze them in airtight containers for up to 3 weeks. The powdered sugar effect may not be as pronounced as the sugar dissolves on the surface the longer they are stored.
What kind of chocolate should I use for chocolate snowball cookies?
I like to use 70% dark chocolate for richness and to make sure they are not too sweet once rolled in powdered sugar. Standard chocolate chips also work fine!
Looking for easy holiday goodies? Check out my collection of 15+ Delicious No-Bake Christmas Treats.
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5 from 3 votes
Chocolate Snowball Cookies
By: Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD
This chocolate snowball cookie recipe makes fudgy and chewy cookies. And they are almost too pretty to eat with the crackled, snowy tops.
Prep Time: 1 hour hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 6 ounces chopped dark chocolate or 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar also known as icing sugar/powdered sugar
Instructions
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water or in the microwave at 60% power in 30-second intervals. Stop when chocolate is 80% melted and stir to finish melting it. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speeed, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, then vanilla and chocolate. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture. Chill dough until firm.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough and roll between your palms to form smooth balls.
Place confectioners’ sugar in a shallow dish. Roll dough balls generously in the confectioners’ sugar (you want a thick coating).
Place dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake about 10 minutes, until tops are cracked and centre is almost set. Cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
To make ahead: dough may be stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator before baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 47kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 0.5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 8mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 93IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe? Leave a comment!
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12 Comments
Is it 6 oz PLUS 180 grams Of chocolate?
or 6 oz / 180 grams?Reply
It’s 6 oz / 180 grams 🙂
Reply
I think this recipe is supposed to be 1 and 3/4 cups of flour
The flour seems really off. My dough looked like buttercream.. So I added an extra cup of flour and they were perfectReply
Hi! The flour quantity is correct. It is a very soft batter which is why chilling is non-negotiable. I’m glad you’ve had good results despite adding more flour but I do hope you try as intended. So good.
Reply
Can these be frozen after baking?
Reply
Yes they can!Reply
I followed the recipe exactly and everyone loved them. I’m gonna make these every winter seasonReply
The dough was very sticky and the cookies spread out too much. No sure what happened. We froze the dough for recommended amount of time. In my experience, we should have froze for longer. Also I think the balls we rolled were too big. I assume the dough should not be sticky at all when roll the balls.
Reply
Hi Barbara,
I’m sorry your cookies spread too much! That’s disappointing. You’re right, though, the dough should not be soft and sticky when rolling. If that’s the case the dough does need more chill time. A deeper bowl or a warmer freezer would change the amount of time needed to firm up. When in doubt, I always pop ’em back in the freezer before baking.
Reply
Mine did too, but apparently this is what happens when you use cold butter… I didn’t believe something so small but I tried it a second time with room temp butter and viola!
Reply
Same for me… followed the recipe exactly and mine turned into cookies, not balls.Reply
Hi Jeff, they are indeed cookies. They don’t stay as balls. This type of snowy-crackled cookie is just called a snowball cookie.Reply