Cinnamon Sugar Snowball Cookies from MMM Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Snowball Cookies - made dough December 2, 2025 from MMM Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for coating

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup nuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped, optional

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

extra cinnamon and powdered sugar for rolling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon and salt. Add to butter mixture in 2 additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. Add nuts if using, mixing on low speed until evenly disbursed.
3. Portion dough into 1-inch balls, cover and chill for 30 minutes.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. 
5. Evenly space dough balls on baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are brown and cookies are lightly set. Remove from oven. While warm, roll cookies in sugar-cinnamon mixture, coating completely. Once cookies are cool, roll again.

I didn't love this cookie. I wanted to as the pictures from the original blog made the cookie look so soft and fluffy. Mine didn't turn out that way. They were a little dense and never achieved fluffy stage. Maybe I didn't bake them long enough? I also misread the directions for the first batch and rolled the first dozen cookies in the cinnamon-powdered sugar cookie mixture before baking rather than after. So...user error. Which isn't the recipe's fault but mine.

I liked the idea of finding a good snowball cookie recipe that didn't have nuts, in case I was giving something to people with nut allergies. Alas, I belatedly realized the best thing I like about snowball cookies aka Mexican Wedding Cakes aka Russian Tea Balls are...the nuts. The flavor and texture they add to a snowball cookie are what makes the cookie. So this one was a miss for me. Next time, I'm adding toasted pecans.