What could be more festive this holiday season than a cookie that looks like a snowball? These coconut and pecan snowball cookies are so similar to that which they’re emulating that one often doesn’t know whether to eat them or throw them. Dusted with a powdered sugar, these unctuous and toasty spheres of shortbread bliss are a special melt-in-your-mouth kind of delicious, as well as a spectacular centerpiece for the holidays. Forget all about snowball fights this winter; you’ll be fighting over these coconut and pecan snowball cookies instead!
“When we make the choice to care, we set into motion a snowball effect that touches many people, most of whom we will never know about…never underestimate the importance of a kind act.”
– Alan Cohen
Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies
Maybe you know these coconut and pecan snowball cookies by another name: Mexican wedding cake cookies.
Indeed, these pecan snowball cookies, A.K.A. Mexican wedding cake cookies, would be an amazing touch of white Christmas in places where snow is next to nonexistent.
So to all the southerner hemisphere dwellers (it’s summer there, right?), people in warm climates, and/or Chionophobic (fear of snow – yes, that exists!), let the powdered sugar and these delectable shortbread cookies upon which it falls be your first snowfall of winter instead.
“There’s been this controversy over whether comets are dirty snowballs or icy dirtballs.”
– Tom Duxbury
Coconut Pecan Snowball Cookies: A How-To Recipe Video!
“The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball — the further I am rolled the more I gain.”
– Susan B. Anthony
Understanding Shortbread: A Brief History of the Crumbliest of Cookies
No, shortbread isn’t just bread with a Napoleon complex; it’s called “short” because it tends to be very crumbly and crumby, instead of your stretchier and therefore “longer” gluten-elasticated breads.
Shortbread hails from Scotland, and it’s typically a very simple biscuit made from a ratio of one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour. This coconut and pecan snowball cookie almost upholds that traditional ratio of ingredients: 1/4 cup (brown) sugar, 1/2 cup vegan butter, 1 all-purpose cup flour (or a gluten-free flour mix like this one).
Notably, unlike most other baked goods, shortbread does not contain a leavening agent like baking powder or soda. So if you’ve never baked a shortbread before, don’t gasp in exasperation when they don’t rise; they’re supposed to be pretty much the same shape coming out of the oven as they were going in to it.
“Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.”
– Warren Buffett
Cookies: The Ultimate Bonding Experience
Cookies are undoubtedly one of my favorite baked goodies to create: they’re often quite easy to make, simple to “Veganize,” and always tasty.
Moreover, the process of making a cookie is and has always been a stupendous bonding experience with other people, specifically for kiddos. A wonderful hands-on activity like rolling pecan snowball cookies and powdering them with powdered sugar is a great way for kids to have fun baking, whilst simultaneously building their confidence in the kitchen and learning how to express their creativity through food.
Also, baking these pecan snowball cookies is the best way to make a mess, an exploded powdered sugar bag-like mess. But I believe that if you haven’t made some kind of jumbled wreck of your kitchen after baking, then you’re doing it wrong – wrong, I tell you. A mess is part of baking; embrace it.
So if you’re looking for more vegan cookie recipes to make, then check out these recipes!
“A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.”
– Markus Zusak
Coconut & Pecan Snowball Cookies
If you’re a cookie enthusiast with a particular penchant for seasonally thematic baked goodies, then this is the vegan cookie for you. And even if you aren’t that specific archetype of human being (they’re a rare bunch), then trust me – this cookie is still for you. Plus, even the gluten-intolerant can enjoy this; it works with gluten-free flour (I tested it) – hallelujah!
The combination of coconut and pecan yields a fantastic shortbread that is as incredibly fragrant as they are mouth-watering tasty. The toasted coconut and pecan wafting through the air – it’s the smell of home-baked holiday goodness manifest. Truly, this is more than just comforting, munch-able cookie, people. It’s a cookie that’ll fill your home with all the smells of a splendiferous cozy bakery, whilst also beautifully decorating a table as magnificently as any shiny ornament or bauble.
“A snowball looks like a cake. It is not out of place on a plate full of cakes. A snowball has the mouth feel of a cake.”
– Judge Anne Scott
Did you enjoy these coconut and pecan snowball cookies (a.k.a. Mexican wedding cake cookies)? Then consider leaving a comment and recipe rating before you go.
Coconut-Pecan Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Silicon Baking Mat or Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour mix, sifted
- 1 cup pecans, finely ground
- ½ cup coconut flakes or shreds, pulsed to make smaller if need be
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ~ ½ – ¾ cup powdered sugar, for dusting the cookies after they're baked
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, finely ground pecans, coconut flakes or shreds, and salt.Helpful tip: ensure the coconut flakes or shreds are not too bulky by pulsing them in a food processor or hand-held blender a couple times. A smaller shred or flake will help the cookies keep their shape.
- Then, in another large bowl, beat together the vegan butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract with a whisk until very smooth.
- After that's finished, combine the dry ingredients with the beaten butter and sugar mixture, and fold the two until it forms a dough that sticks together into a ball without crumbling apart.
- Roll the dough into pingpong-sized balls, and place on the baking sheet. You should have anywhere from 15 – 18 circular cookies. Bake for 15 minutes, until the cookies are slightly firm to touch and only just turning color.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 – 15 minutes, and then use a fine-meshed sieve to dust them with about a cup of powdered sugar. Turn the cookies over, and dust them again. You may need to do this several times to ensure all of the cookie is covered in a fine layer of powdered sugar so that it resembles a snowball.
Video
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
Pecans definitely belong in holiday treats. Thank you for an inspiring, nostalgia-inducing holiday recipe. I love how addictive these minimal-ingredient treats are.