Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies are such a fun and festive twist on this classic! With their chocolate flavor and deep red interior, these are a fabulous addition to any Christmas cookie tray -- and are perfect for Christmas gifting-from-the-kitchen, too.

We all know and love classic Snowball cookies, right? Also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies, these confectioners' sugar-coated little bites are a favorite at holiday time and special occasions. And they're one of our family's favorites, for sure.

But thanks to my Mom's idea, our favorite snowball cookies recently got a little makeover. A little red velvet makeover, to be exact.

My Mom and I were out shopping not too long ago when Mom came across a little package of gourmet sugar-coated red velvet cookies. She immediately looked at me and said, "You could totally do that. You could totally turn these into a red velvet snowball cookie."

With their chocolate flavor and deep red interior, these are a fabulous addition to any Christmas cookie tray -- and are perfect fro Christmas gifting-from-the-kitchen, too.

And Mom was totally right. I absolutely could -- and did -- make that work. By mashing up our Classic Snowball Cookies and our favorite Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies recipes, these totally tasty, totally adorable Red Velvet Snowball Cookies were born.

For those not familiar with it, red velvet is mildly-flavored chocolate that's deep red or mahogany in color. It's a flavor that's immensely popular in the South, and is most commonly found in the form of red velvet cake. As it's grown in popularity, red velvet has extended well beyond the traditional layer cake to just about every form of baked good you can imagine.

And I'm very happy to add to the multitude of delicious red velvet confections with these very tasty Red Velvet Snowball Cookies.

The deep dark red of these cookies' interior is such a beautiful stark contrast to the bright white confectioners' sugar coating on the outside. And their dark red hue makes them just perfect for the Christmas season.

They'd be a fabulous addition to any Christmas cookie tray, for sure. And would be perfect for Christmas gifting-from-the-kitchen, too.

If you're familiar with making snowball cookies, this recipe is a snap. -- This red velvet version is made in just the same way. If you're not so familiar with making this classic, pop on over to my Classic Snowball Cookies post for tips and tricks on getting the best result.

The deep dark red of these cookies' interior is such a beautiful stark contrast to the bright white confectioners' sugar coating on the outside.

When it comes to making this Red Velvet Snowball Cookies version, the double sugar roll is crucial to getting that nice thick coating of confectioners' sugar on the outside.

The double sugar roll creates an almost shell-like sugar coating on the cookies, and brings the sweetness needed to compliment the just-slightly sweetened chocolate cookie interior.

Do the first sugar rolling while the cookies are hot. Since the cookies are hot, some of the sugar will sort of melt into the cookies, resulting in cookies that look about like this:

Then once completely cooled, roll each cookie in confectioner's sugar again.

After the second sugar roll, the cookies will have a much thicker, almost shell-like coating of confectioners' sugar that looks about like this:

When that confectioners' sugar "shell" is broken open, the beautiful deep red chocolate-y interior is revealed.

And oh, what a pretty and tasty chocolate-y interior it is.

As I talk about in detail in my Classic Snowball Cookies post, there are three keys to baking up tender-textured snowball cookies -- and they apply to these Red Velvet Snowball Cookies, just as they do to the classic version. They are:

1. Chilling of the dough - This prevents the cookies from spreading when they bake, and therefore helps keep them from drying out.

2. Amount of dough used to form each cookie - Use a full tablespoon of dough to form each cookie, which creates a good 2-bite sized cookie that bakes up nicely and not overly dry.

3. Bake time - Do not over bake these beauties. If anything, err on the side of under-baking to prevent these cookies from becoming too crumbly.

Then once they're baked up and sugar-coated, get ready to enjoy these cookies' red velvet deliciousness! They're such a fun and festive twist on the classic.

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red velvet cookies, red velvet snowball cookies, Christmas cookies, red velvet wedding cookies

Southern

Yield: about 36 cookies

Author: Tracey |

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies are such a fun and festive twist on this classic! With their chocolate flavor and deep red interior, these are a fabulous addition to any Christmas cookie tray -- and are perfect for Christmas gifting-from-the-kitchen, too.

prep time: 40 Mcook time: 9 Mtotal time: 49 M

ingredients:

1 c. butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. red food coloring
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. finely chopped pecans
additional confectioners' sugar for rolling (approximately 1/2 - 3/4 c.)

instructions:

How to cook Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

Combine butter, the 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, pure vanilla extract, and red food coloring in a mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add flour, cocoa, and salt. Mix again until ingredients come together to form a crumbly dough. Stir in chopped pecans.
Cover and chill dough for about 20 minutes.
Scoop 1-tablespoon of dough, squish in your hand 2-3 times to bring the dough together, and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake at 375℉ for 7-9 minutes, until bottoms are just barely beginning to get a little golden brown. Do not over bake.
Remove from oven and allow to stand on the pan for 2-3 minutes.
Handling the cookies gently, roll each warm cookie in confectioners' sugar until well coated. Place on a cooling rack; cool completely.
Once completely cooled, roll each cookie in confectioners' sugar again.
Store in an airtight container.

TRACEY'S NOTES:

Don't just soften the butter -- bring it to room temperature. Which means it will be very soft. This helps this rather crumbly dough come together much more easily.
Be sure to add the red food coloring in the first step when mixing the butter mixture. This helps the coloring more easily incorporate throughout all the dough.
Since the butter is so soft, chilling the dough for 20-30 minutes or so before baking firms the butter back up a bit and keeps the cookies from spreading when they bake.
I use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to measure and prepare the cookie balls. This keeps them all the same size and makes prepping the cookie balls so easy!
These cookies just puff a little bit when baking, so you can put a lot on the pan at once -- they only need a little space between them. I've been known to get an entire batch of 36 cookies onto one pan!
Handle the cookies very gently when doing the first sugar roll while they're hot -- I occasionally have one or two crumble on me.
Keep your fingers very dry when rolling the cookies in confectioners' sugar so you don't have a sticky mess and get fingerprints all over the finished cookies.
You can use chopped walnuts or almonds in place of the pecans, if you'd like.
These cookies freeze very well. I freeze mine in sealable plastic containers with waxed paper between the layers of cookies. And I try not to stack more than 2 or 3 layers together to reduce the chance of crumbling.