Southern Pecan Butterballs

Name: Southern Pecan Butterballs
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening ((Crisco)); 1 cup powdered sugar, (plus more for coating); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

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Southern Pecan Butterballs are known by many names: Snowball Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes and Danish Wedding Cookies! Whatever you call it, they are delicious!

SNOWBALLS, WEDDING COOKIES, TEA CAKES

These little cookies are near and dear to my heart. They are a cookie that my Mom and I just love. They are a buttery, crumbly cookie that are similar to shortbread in texture and covered with powdered sugar. These Southern Pecan Butterballs are always a hit at holiday parties and cookie exchanges! And they are so easy to make!

snowball cookies piled up on a plate with one cookie split open to show the middle.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Do I have to use butter shortening?

No, however I think butter shortening actually tastes better than butter in these (I've done blind taste tests with many people and the butter shortening always won!) It also keeps them shelf stable for longer so you don't have to worry about refrigeration. However, you could certainly substitute with butter if you insist.

Do you have to add pecans?

While pecans are traditional to the recipe, you could leave them out or substitute with walnuts if you prefer those. How

Can this recipe be doubled?

Absolutely! This recipe is easily doubled or tripled!

My dough seems too crumbly, what do I do?

It should still roll into a ball when you roll it in the heat of your hands. If not, pop the bowl of dough (in a microwave safe bowl of course) into the microwave for a few seconds at a time until the shortening starts to soften up some making the dough a bit easier to handle.

How do you store these cookies?

Because of the shortening, these cookies are shelf stable. Therefore you can keep them stored in an airtight container where they will last for up to 10 days or refrigerate them and they'll be good for a month. This does not apply to the cookies if you made them with butter. The cookies can also be frozen! Place cookies in a freezer safe container or bag and they will keep for up to 3 months.

Powdered sugar covered cookies piled on a white plate with one cookie open to show the inside.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

butter flavored vegetable shortening (Crisco)
powdered sugar
vanilla extract
all-purpose flour
baking soda
salt
chopped pecans

ingredients needed: butter flavored vegetable shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, chopped pecans.

HOW TO MAKE SOUTHERN PECAN BUTTERBALLS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Note: I wouldn't use nonstick cooking spray on the baking pans for these cookies. It will cause the cookies to get a bit too brown on the bottoms. If you don't have parchment paper, just use an ungreased baking sheet. In a medium bowl, combine shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla. You'll want to use your stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer for this. Start on a low setting so the powdered sugar doesn't fly up.

powdered sugar, butter shortening and vanilla extract in a clear mixing bowl

Mix until smooth.

butter shortening, powdered sugar mixed until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

flour, baking soda and salt in a white bowl.

Give it all a stir with a large fork.

flour mixture shown being stirred with a fork.

Then gently begin adding the flour mixture to the shortening mixture. Add just a little at a time so the flour doesn't fly everywhere. Stir until combined. For those of you with a stand mixer, remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl so all of your ingredients get evenly incorporated.

pouring flour mixture into butter shortening mixture in a bowl.

Stir pecans into batter. If you've never worked with this kind of batter before, it's not going to look like your typical cookie batter. It'll be kinda loose. But don't worry, it comes together nicely!

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls. I think this is easiest if using a spring loaded cookie scooper. Then roll them in your hands to get a nice circle. The heat from your hands will also help them come together. Place them about 1 ½ inches apart on the cookie sheet.

rolled cookies (before baking) on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for about 15 minutes until the edges just begin to brown slightly. Note: If you have a conventional oven, it really is best to only bake one cookie sheet, in the middle rack, at a time. Baking more than one at a time will often cause uneven baking.

fully baked mexican wedding cookies on a baking tray.

While the cookies are baking, get a bowl of powdered sugar ready for dipping. Let cookies cool for just a couple of minutes. After baking, roll the cookies in the powdered sugar.

a spoon rolling the baked cookie around in powdered sugar.

Place them on a platter (or just roll out a sheet of wax paper) and let cookies finish cooling.

fully covered in powdered sugar, cookies shown laid out on baking sheet.

Once they are cool, roll cookies a second time into the powdered sugar. The second dipping ensures even and smooth coating.

closeup photo of a stack of pecan butterballs with one cookie open to show the center.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!

Southern Pecan Butterballs

Southern Pecan Butterballs are known by many names: Snowball Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes and Danish Wedding Cookies!

5 from 21 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: mexican wedding cookies, snowball cookies, southern pecan butterballs

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 180kcal

Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening (Crisco)
▢ 1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for coating
▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour
▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 ½ cups chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, combine shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Give it all a stir with a large fork.
Then gently begin adding the flour mixture to the shortening mixture. Add just a little at a time so the flour doesn't fly everywhere. Stir until combined.
Stir pecan chips into batter.
With clean hands, roll dough into walnut-sized balls. The heat from your hands will also help them come together. Place them about 1 ½ inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake in the center oven rack for about 15 minutes until the edges just begin to brown slightly. Bake only one cookie sheet at a time.
While the cookies are baking, get a bowl of powdered sugar ready for dipping.
Let cookies cool for just a couple of minutes. While still warm, roll the cookies in the powdered sugar. Place them on a platter or some parchment paper and let cookies finish cooling.
Once they are cool, roll cookies a second time into the powdered sugar. The second dipping ensures even and smooth coating. Then serve!

Notes

A spring loaded cookie scoop makes it much easier and faster to roll the dough balls.
These cookies can be frozen (see above on how to do that and storage recommendations.)

Nutrition

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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Originally published: December 2012
Updated and republished: December 2022

Southern Pecan Butterballs

SNOWBALLS, WEDDING COOKIES, TEA CAKES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)