Description
Gingerbread Snowballs are a delightful holiday cookie that combines the warm spices of gingerbread with the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture of classic snowball cookies. These festive treats are easy to make and perfect for gifting or enjoying with a cup of tea during the holiday season.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226g), softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar (57g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (279g)
For Rolling
- Powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and promote even baking.
- Mix Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter until fluffy for about 20 seconds. Then add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and molasses. Mix until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Add Flour: Gradually add the all-purpose flour to the butter mixture. Mix continuously; the dough will appear crumbly at first but keep mixing until it comes together into a cohesive dough. This may take a few minutes of mixing.
- Shape Cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon portions of dough and place them spaced apart on the prepared cookie sheets to allow room for spreading.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are just slightly browned. Be careful not to overbake to keep them tender.
- Cool and Coat: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool just enough to handle, about a minute. Roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar until fully coated. Then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Optional Re-Rolling: Once cookies are completely cooled, optionally re-roll them in powdered sugar for an extra snowy coating.
Notes
- Ensure butter is softened to room temperature for easier mixing and better texture.
- Mixing the dough until it comes together may take several minutes; patience is key to avoid dry, crumbly cookies.
- If you don’t have all the spices listed, use a pumpkin pie spice blend as a convenient substitute.
- Molasses can be substituted with dark corn syrup in a pinch for a milder flavor.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week for best freshness.
- Rolling cookies in powdered sugar while warm allows the sugar to stick better, creating the classic snowball appearance.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 60 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 444 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
