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Home » Holiday Cookies » Vegan Snowball Cookies.

Vegan Snowball Cookies.

Dec 22, 2014 · Modified: Nov 5, 2021 by Kelly Roenicke · 34 Comments

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dairy free snowball cookies

Vegan snowball cookies are light, delicious, buttery, and so festive! These wonderful holiday cookies melt in your mouth. You will love these easy to make treats!

stack of vegan snowball cookies on a white tray

We all have our favorite holiday cookie recipes, don’t we? The ones that we make year after year.

In our family, we always have to make sugar cookies, gluten free chocolate crinkles, and checkerboard cookies. These are the classic recipes that we look forward to each Christmas.

Another recipe that we all absolutely love is this recipe for snowball cookies. We love, love, LOVE these cookies so much.

These are so buttery and light, like a shortbread cookie. The powdered sugar on the outside is a sweet contrast to the rich cookie. And the bright white coating is so festive, like winter snowballs.

vegan Mexican wedding cookies on a ceramic plate

This is a great cookie recipe to try if you’re short on time and need a quick, successful, allergy friendly holiday dessert.

You may also know these as Mexican wedding cookies, and they can be made with with chopped nuts, but of course that doesn’t work if you have nut allergies. Many people add mini chocolate chips instead – and that’s the way we like these cookies. These snowball cookies without nuts are still light, sweet, and so fun for the holidays.

snowball cookies on a cookie sheet

Which flour to use

I’ve made these vegan snowball cookies a couple of different ways in the past few years. I’ve made them with a gluten free flour blend, and I’ve made them with white spelt flour. This recipe does work well both ways!

It would also work just fine with regular all-purpose flour, too. I did notice with the spelt flour, they spread out just a little tiny bit. Not flat, but not totally round.

I prefer using my gluten free flour blend for this recipe. It does not contain any xanthan gum, and that keeps these cookies nice and light. If you choose a store bought gluten free blend, I recommend finding one without any gums for the best texture.

How to make these cookies

  1. Beat the vegan buttery spread, sugar, vanilla, and applesauce until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the flour and salt.
  3. Mix until combined.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Roll the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for about 18 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool, then roll in powdered sugar.
how to make snowball cookies step by step

Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make these cookies.

Variations

  • You can leave out the chocolate chips – this would make them more like shortbread.
  • You can add chopped nuts if you are able to eat nuts.
  • You could add finely ground pumpkin seeds to the batter in place of nuts if you want a little crunch.

More vegan holiday dessert recipes

  • Vegan Hot Chocolate
  • 3 Ingredient Dairy Free Fudge
  • Vegan Peppermint Fudge
stack of gluten free snowball cookies on a white plate

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

vegan snowball cookies
5 from 3 votes
Print

Vegan Snowball Cookies.

Buttery vegan snowball cookies are like little bites of heaven! The sweet sugary coating makes these shortbread cookies look like snowballs. Such a fun treat for the holidays!

Course Dessert
Cuisine Dairy Free, gluten free, vegan.
Keyword buttery, shortbread
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 21 minutes
Total Time 31 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 121 kcal
Author Kelly Roenicke

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup vegan buttery spread
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
  • 4 Tablespoons organic cane sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups gluten free flour If you aren't gluten free, you can use all-purpose flour or white spelt flour
  • ½ cup dairy free mini chocolate chips
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put the cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

  2. Place the vegan buttery spread, vanilla extract, applesauce, salt, and cane sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.

  3. Stop the mixer, and add the gluten free flour a cup at a time, mixing until it is all incorporated. The dough will be very thick.

  4. Turn the mixer off and stir in the mini chocolate chips.

  5. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place them on the cookie sheet, with about an inch and a half in between them. I could fit 12 cookies on a cookie sheet.

  6. Bake at 325 degrees F for 18-21 minutes, until the balls are golden brown on the bottom.

  7. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before rolling in the powdered sugar.

  8. While the cookies are warm, roll them in the powdered sugar. Let the cookies cool fully, then roll in the powdered sugar again to get a nice white coating.
  9. Repeat steps 5-8 with remaining dough.

  10. Store cookies in an airtight container. They should stay fresh for about 5 days.

Recipe Notes

*I have made these with different gluten free flour blends.

Sometimes, different brands act differently – they may be too dry or crumbly once you mix this dough. IF that is the case, add a little more vegan buttery spread until the dough comes together and you can form the dough into balls.

My favorite gluten free blend for these cookies is my homemade gluten free flour.

I don’t recommend coconut flour or almond meal for this recipe.

If you aren’t gluten free, you can use all-purpose flour or white spelt flour.

Nutrition Facts
Vegan Snowball Cookies.
Amount per Serving
Calories
121
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
5
g
8
%
Saturated Fat
 
1
g
6
%
Sodium
 
72
mg
3
%
Potassium
 
1
mg
0
%
Carbohydrates
 
16
g
5
%
Fiber
 
1
g
4
%
Sugar
 
9
g
10
%
Protein
 
1
g
2
%
Vitamin A
 
280
IU
6
%
Calcium
 
11
mg
1
%
Iron
 
0.4
mg
2
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Adapted from here.

These really are one of my very favorite Christmas cookies! What are your favorite cookies to bake?

Related

« Gingerbread Spice Granola.
Spicy Red Lentil Dip. »

Filed Under: Dairy Free, Desserts, food, Gluten Free, Holiday Cookies, Nut Free, Recipes, Sweets, Vegan Tagged With: christmas cookies, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Fish Free, Garlic Free, Gluten Free, Legume Free, Nightshade Free, Onion Free, Peanut Free, Sesame Free, Shellfish Free, Soy Free, top 8 allergy free recipe, Tree Nut Free

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Kelly Roenicke
Kelly Roenicke
Mom to two boys with food allergies and sensitivities, Kelly is passionate about allergy friendly cooking and baking. She believes that you can enjoy amazing, easy recipes even when cooking for multiple food allergies.
Kelly Roenicke
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dee

    March 27, 2018 at 11:47 am

    5 stars
    These look perfect for tea time!

    Reply
  2. Lauren

    December 24, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    Could you use a non vegan butter (if you’re not vegan?) And would coconutbsugar work?

    Reply
  3. Laura

    December 21, 2017 at 10:13 am

    Is there any chance you can email me this recipe and a few others. I can’t get them to print to be able to bring them to the kitchen to try them….Because I am sure you aren’t busy :) Thanks so much!!

    Reply
  4. Madison

    December 19, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    If I didn’t want to use the chocolate chips could I add more sweetness to the cookies by using sweetened applesauce?

    Reply
    • Kelly Roenicke

      December 20, 2017 at 12:22 pm

      I don’t think you need to add anything else, they will be good without the chocolate chips. Too much applesauce will effect the texture.

      Reply
  5. Gina olson

    January 21, 2017 at 11:19 am

    I don’t see the recipe for the buttery spread. In the vegan snowball cookies. Is it just vegan butter

    Reply
  6. Giovanna

    September 26, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    Hello, I would love to make your snowball cookies but would like to substitute light olive oil instead of a vegan spread. Do you think it would work? I miss these cookies since I have been diary intolerant.

    Reply
    • Kelly Roenicke

      September 28, 2016 at 8:24 am

      I don’t know if it would work, because I have never tried that. Since coconut oil is a solid when chilled, I think I would try that before I would try olive oil. Let me know what you try!

      Reply
  7. Meg H

    December 21, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    If I were to leave out the chocolate chips, would it make a huge difference, do you think? I cannot have chocolate but these look so good!

    Reply
    • Kelly

      December 22, 2015 at 10:07 am

      Can you have nuts? I think these need a little something extra in there, because they are not too sweet. Or carob chips?

      Reply
      • Meg

        December 27, 2015 at 10:28 pm

        I cannot have nuts. I did make these without the chocolate and they were delicious!

        Reply
        • Kelly

          December 27, 2015 at 10:58 pm

          Awesome, so glad to hear it!

          Reply
  8. Claire

    December 15, 2015 at 12:29 am

    Question- I want to make these vegan, but not gluten free. Can I swap gluten free flour for regular flour with the same result?

    Reply
    • Kelly

      December 15, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      Yes you can! When I tried them that way, they did not stay quite as round, but they still tasted great!

      Reply
  9. Zia

    November 22, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    Confectioner’s sugar is not considered “vegan”, is it? I think animal bones are used in the processing.

    Reply
    • Kelly

      November 22, 2015 at 10:38 pm

      There are some brands that are vegan, this article lists some specific brands. https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2007issue4/2007_issue4_sugar.php

      Reply
    • Denise Nassetta

      December 21, 2016 at 6:53 pm

      I have made confectioners sugar by grinding regular sugar in a blender.

      Reply
      • Kelly Roenicke

        December 22, 2016 at 7:03 pm

        Good idea!

        Reply
  10. Sarah@WholeandHeavenlyOven

    December 23, 2014 at 10:01 am

    Hope your boys feel better soon! Being sick this time of year is definitely no fun!
    And these cookies look perfect! I’ve been looking for a classic snowball cookie recipe and I think these are it! :)

    Reply
  11. unexpectedlymagnificent

    December 23, 2014 at 9:48 am

    I had similar cookies last night! Now I want more of them. ;) Perfect timing with this recipe!

    Reply
  12. christinaschueler

    December 22, 2014 at 11:02 pm

    I make these every Christmas, they are one of my absolute favorites!

    Reply
  13. Julia

    December 22, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Awww sorry to hear the babes were sick! Hopefully they’re better now just in time for Christmas festivities! These balls look ah-mazing! Snowballs/Mexican wedding cakes were always my fave to bake with my mom growing up. LOVE that they’re vegan and GF! You wizzard!

    Reply
Newer Comments »

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Hi! I'm Kelly, and I believe that you can enjoy amazing, easy recipes even when cooking for multiple food allergies.

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