Snowball Cookies (GF, DF, Vegan)
Snowball cookies are the best winter treat. They are sweet, nutty, and full of fun to eat at home with loved ones or to bring to a festive party. Most snowball cookies usually contain flour, which makes this difficult for the gluten-free people out there. But using my versatile cookie recipe, I created a snowball cookie variation that is cheery, bright, and safe for many alternative diets including gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. If you want them to have a little flare, you could splash in some rum to be a lightweight version of rum and bourbon balls. Feel free to use this recipe as a guide; of course you can always add other flavors like cinnamon butter extract or almond extract. It’s really up to your preference!
Powdered Sugar Substitutes as a Paleo Option for Snowball Cookies
If you are trying to avoid powdered sugar or sugar in any form for the outsides of the snowball cookies, you could roll these in coconut flakes (or blend up the coconut flakes into a powder). Another paleo option is to take 1 cup of coconut sugar or maple sugar and blend it with 1-2 tablespoons of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder in a high-powered blender. It will store well for a few weeks and can be used on other treats like muddy buddies and as a light dusting for sugar cookies or vanilla lavender cookies.
Alternative Flavor Combos on a Traditional Snowball Cookie
Lemon Poppyseed: add 2-3 drops edible lemon essential oil, 2-3 tsp lemon zest, 3-4 tbsp poppyseeds
Chocolate Swirl: 1/8 cup cocoa powder (may need to add a little more liquid if too dry), 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate chip: 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Cherry marzipan: 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cherries (fresh or from syrup), marzipan or chopped almonds, almond extract
Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil melted
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or cane sugar if using sugar, you may need to add a little more coconut oil or maple syrup if dry 1-3 tsp almond extract (or more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups almond flour
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted pecans hazelnuts or walnuts
- powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine wet ingredients (coconut oil, maple syrup or sugar, almond extract and vanilla extract).
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients. After combined, gently fold in the nuts. Putthe batter in the fridge for 5 min. to harden up the coconut oil/firm up the dough if necessary.
- Cover a sheet with parchment paper, and roll out dough balls with hands. Do not flatten.
- Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes. Place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then roll each cookie in the powdered sugar twice until completely covered. Enjoy!
- Keep in an airtight container for up to four days. Refrigeration not recommended.
