Snowball cookies are some of the easiest Christmas cookies you could make, and these peppermint snowball cookies are no exception! Candy cane lovers will adore this festive and flavorful variation on the classic snowball cookie. The crushed candy canes in the dough are so small, that they soften up nicely as the cookies bake and cool.
One reader, Lisa, commented: “Thank you for this recipe. It was a big hit at the cookie exchange! One of the guests gushed about how good they would be with hot chocolate. I know several people who love this type of cookie, and all of them said they were delicious… ★★★★★“
Snowball cookies have been around for ages, and are called by many names around the world. There’s just something so irresistible about these sweet-snow-covered cookies. They’re uniquely buttery and dense with a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth texture similar to almond crescent cookies. I love all their many variations, and today’s peppermint version is definitely a new holiday favorite. (And these pistachio cookies are always a popular choice!)
While classic snowball cookies often include chopped nuts for added texture, today we’re replacing those with festive candy cane bits.
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Peppermint Snowball Cookies
- Buttery, dense, crumbly shortbread texture melts in your mouth
- Easy-to-make 1-bowl recipe
- Just 7 simple ingredients, and it’s an egg-free recipe
- Sweet minty flavor from crushed candy canes + peppermint extract
- Only 30 minutes of dough-chilling time
By the way, if you love peppermint you’ll want to try these peppermint meltaway cookies next.
Grab These 7 Simple Ingredients
Today’s cookies are mostly butter, flour, and confectioners’ sugar. The confectioners’ sugar not only goes into the cookie dough, but also coats the outside of the cookie for that iconic snow-dusted exterior. There are no eggs or leavening agents in these cookies.
- Butter: Creamed butter forms the base of these shortbread-style cookies.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: A little goes in the dough, and then you’ll roll the baked cookies in the rest.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor, especially if using homemade vanilla extract.
- Peppermint Extract: The cookies’ first hint of mint comes from pure peppermint extract. It’s strong, so be sure to measure carefully.
- Flour: This is the structure of the cookie.
- Salt: To balance out the sweet.
- Crushed Candy Canes (or peppermint candies): You can often find candy cane baking bits in the grocery store around the holidays, but crushing them yourself is a great way to work out some holiday stress…I mean, so I hear. 😉
How to Make Peppermint Snowball Cookies
The cookie dough comes together in just 1 bowl. It will be super thick, to the point where you think it won’t come together. Turn your mixer up and watch the buttery goodness form before your eyes.
The dough will come together, I promise:
Chill the dough for 30 minutes to help that creamed butter solidify, which helps guarantee your rounded cookies stay… well, rounded! Without chilling, your cookies will be snow puddles, and not snowballs. 😉 If you want to have a few no-chill recipes in your holiday cookie lineup as well, these shortbread cookies and spritz cookies are always popular choices.
Use a Tablespoon measure to portion the chilled dough, and then roll into balls:
Unlike lemon crinkle cookies and chocolate crinkle cookies, we bake the cookies first and then we’ll roll in confectioners’ sugar… the best part of this iconic cookie!
How Do You Make the Confectioners’ Sugar Stick?
A double-dusting of “snow” is the key to beautiful snowballs!
After the cookies bake, roll each one in confectioners’ sugar while they are still slightly warm. As the cookies cool, the confectioners’ sugar will melt into them. That’s expected. After the cookies have cooled, roll them in confectioners’ sugar one more time, and they’ll be picture-perfect peppermint snowballs, all dressed and ready for their holiday cookie tray debut.
3 Success Tips
- Use proper room temperature butter. Like when making Christmas sugar cookies or butter cookies, if your butter is too soft when you start, it won’t form a sturdy base for your cookie dough. The cookies will over-spread and taste greasy.
- Make sure you use confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar or icing sugar) in the cookie dough. Granulated sugar causes the cookies to over-spread and they’ll lose their “snowball” shape.
- Coat the cookies with confectioners’ sugar twice, once when warm and again when cool, because the first layer melts like a… well, a warm snowball!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Peppermint Snowball Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This cookie dough comes together with just 7 ingredients in 1 mixing bowl and only needs 30 minutes of refrigeration before baking. The crushed candy canes in the dough are so small that they soften up nicely as the cookies bake and cool.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (40g) crushed candy canes (about 3–4 regular-size candy canes)
Coating
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until combined and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Next, beat in the vanilla and peppermint extracts on medium-high speed until combined. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed. The dough will look dry and you may not think the flour will fully combine. Once all of the flour is incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. The dough will come together. Finally, beat in the crushed candy canes.
- Cover the cookie dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. (If chilling for 3+ hours, make sure you let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling into balls. The cookie dough will be very stiff after being in the refrigerator for that long.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Pour the confectioners’ sugar needed for the coating into a shallow bowl.
- Scoop or roll 1 Tablespoon (20g) of cookie dough per cookie. Roll into a ball and place on the baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottom edges and just barely browned on top, about 15 minutes.
- Coating: Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then very gently roll them in the confectioners’ sugar to coat completely. Place the cookies on wire racks to cool completely. The confectioners’ sugar will melt a bit and get sticky. Once the cookies have completely cooled, roll in confectioners’ sugar again. This is when the sugar coating will really stick.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Cooling Rack
Reader Comments and Reviews
These peppermint cookies are fantastic! I’m a peppermint freak. So much so, that every holiday season I stock up on peppermint ice cream, peppermint coffee and creamer, and candy canes. I’ve tried several other peppermint cookie recipes over the years but just discovered Sally’s recipes and this one was by far the best. Apparently, chilling is key. After making the dough, I refrigerated over night, then rolled them into balls then put them in the deep freeze with the cookie sheet for 10 min. They baked up just like the picture. It made 36 perfect cookies. I will be making another batch tomorrow because I’m going to eat too many of them tonight.
In regards to freezing ” Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature” is that before or after rolling them in the confectionary sugar?
Thank you!
Hi Louisa, you can roll the baked cookies in powdered sugar, and then freeze.
Sally, I made these for Christmas and they were perfectly rounded and delicious. Everyone loved them. My question is about using both vanilla extract and peppermint extract: why both? Wouldn’t it be better to use only peppermint for this cookie?
Hi Barbara, we’re so glad they were a hit! Vanilla adds a bit of flavor and helps balance out the peppermint a bit, which can be quite strong.
Why didn’t you post my review? I put a lot of time into that just for you Is it because I included some rando YouTube link? I was about to include the link to this in a comment on that YouTube video. Never mind.
Hi GoatLorde, I do not see any pending comments on this cookie recipe, nor any in the trash. Could you repost?
I thought these were just ok. I won’t be making them again because they were not worth the work, especially now that I read some people’s may have turned out flat because the peppermint pieces were not the correct size. I guess I was one of those people.
Sally has sooooo many other great (Christmas & others) cookies, so I find no need to give this one another try.
Warning: unnecessary holiday corniness incoming
Sally, I have literally been following your recipes since I was a teenager first discovering my love for baking–the baking journey is full of trial and error (so much error) but your recipes have never once steered me wrong! My massive extended family has been VERY happily devouring your recipes for years at the holidays, so they (and myself) are always grateful.
Anyways, idk why I’ve been making your recipes for a decade and never bothered to leave a review. They’re all 5 stars!! And this is no exception. I made them exactly according to the directions and they turned out perfect! I saw some other comments saying they flattened out in the oven, so I made sure not to skimp on the chilling step and they were wonderful. Thank you as always!
Hi Wesley, thank you so much for trying and trusting our recipes. We’re so glad you and your family enjoy them!
Made these this evening for our family Christmas gathering tomorrow. Don’t know if they’ll last until then. So delicious!
The taste and texture of these are amazing, just what I was hoping for. My only issue is that the cookies are flattening out when I take them out of the oven. Any idea why this might be happening?
Hi Julia, I wonder if the candy canes had something to do with it. Perhaps they were accidentally over-measured, or even over-crushed? If you both try the recipe again, adding 2-3 extra Tablespoons of flour will help the cookies hold better shape.
Hi, I am gluten free, but I wanted to make these cookies for family and friends. They were so easy to make. But best of all hey were a Huge hit. I was instantly asked for the recipe. I am passing it on
I made these tonight and was little nervous because of the comments of cookies overspreading. I followed instructions to a T other than I increased the flour by 3 T as it was suggested in comments (I weigh my ingredients). I actually rolled them out first and then chilled them in my cold garage for an hour. My cookie sheet was cold and so were already rolled cookies. I still baked them for 15 minutes and they held their shape perfectly. I was very pleased since I use organic ingredients and hate waisting expensive ingredients(especially butter).
Hey sally, I don,t understand. I followed the recipe to a teaspoon. When I mixed it all together, It was all still in pieces. I mixed the candy canes in and mushed the dough together, now it’s in the fridge. Do you know why this happened. Thank you, Sally!
Hi Theresa! Does the dough seem quite dry? How did you measure the flour and confectioners’ sugar? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Made this and it was really good.
My bottoms spread out a little with tiny feet. But that was ok.
My cookies flattened to pancakes! Followed directions so confused!
Hi Christina, the candy canes can be finicky, and we wonder if they were accidentally over-measured, or even over-crushed? If you try the recipe again, adding 2-3 extra Tablespoons of flour will help the cookies hold better shape. This post on how to prevent cookies from over spreading will also be a helpful resource. Thank you for giving them a try!
Hi! How do I get them to stay more like a ball? Mine went flatter like a drop cookie. Thank you!
Hi Lauren, I wonder if the candy canes had something to do with it. Perhaps they were accidentally over-measured, or even over-crushed? If you both try the recipe again, adding 2-3 extra Tablespoons of flour will help the cookies hold better shape.
I am a rookie baker and I followed the instructions exactly and they came out exactly like the website. It’s a Christmas miracle! Very delicious and addictive.
SALLY, How long will cookie dough last in the refrigerator. It’s about 10 days now. (I ended in the hospital).
Hi Marge, we recommend chilling cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to three days, usually.
These are so yummy and festive! I made them for a Christmas party and everyone liked them.
They aren’t exactly what I expected but they are still delicious, especially with milk! They are soft with a chewy crunch on the outside. The inside wasn’t as light as I expected but it was very soft with some crispy chewyness from the candy cane, perfectly pepperminty! I was worried it would make your mouth tingle or would taste like toothpaste but it was perfect.
My only complaint is there was no red specks from the candy cane, I used natural candy canes (no artificial colors) but i may have crushed the candy cane a little too small.
Hmm – love most recipes, but these went flat for me. Not sure what I did wrong.
I made a double batch of these tonight and they’re great tbh. I also dyed them green because I felt like it lol. I do have an oven thermometer but I think it’s a good idea to test a small amount first because the first sheet pan of them I did ended up with some of the candy canes pieces melting and oozing out – so I guess those ones will be mine. Once I set my timer for 14 minutes though, it was perfect. Really fun little cookies.
Cookies went flat and had an awful flavor will stick to the BC recipe
Hi there! Just wondering if you would freeze these with the powdered sugar already on, just the first layer, or before any powdered sugar and then roll them once thawed? I hope that makes sense haha. Thanks!
I freeze them with both layers on, but you could freeze them with only 1 layer and then add the 2nd layer after thawing.
Could these be turned into chocolate peppermint?
Hi Ruth! We haven’t tested it, but you could try swapping in some cocoa powder for flour.
I made this recipe and it yielded 30 cookies. I made them a bit too large I suppose. The peppermint candy oozed out the bottoms and caused the cookies to have a crunchy feel. I followed the recipe exactly. Maybe I would prefer with more peppermint extract and leave out the candy bits. I purchased bagged bits of peppermint candy and still used a roller on them to make smaller as some pieces were pretty chunky.
Do you measure the nuts after finely chopping or before
Hi JM, there are no nuts in this cookie recipe. Do you mean the regular snowball cookies? You would chop and then measure the chopped nuts.
Thank you for this recipe. It was a big hit at the cookie exchange! One of the guests gushed about how good it would be with hot chocolate.
I know several people who love this type of cookie and all of them said it delicious. Thank you for the recipe ❤️
These were amazing!! Great mint flavor and great texture.
YUMMO!!! Another Sally Christmas Staple! So delicious! I’ve always loved cookies with peppermint and these are legend! Thank you and Merry Christmas!
DEEEElicioius!!! Mine cookies were not round balls, they flatten out. Followed the recipe to the tee, can you let me know why it happened ? Otherwise FABULOUS recipe.
Hi, can these be made with Becel Vegan butter?
Thanks!
Hi Tia, we haven’t tested this recipe with vegan butter, so are unsure of the results. If you try it, please report back!
I made these today and they were a hit! Will definitely bake these every Christmas holiday from now on! Sally’s recipes never disappoint