These double chocolate snowball cookies are one of our favorite holiday recipes. Essentially, they are a festive adaptation of Russian teacakes.
If you love chocolate, you will love these double chocolate snowballs. You won’t want to miss out on this deep chocolate flavor.
They have a sweet taste that’s sure to be a hit with the entire family. So without further ado, here’s our double chocolate snowball cookies recipe!
What Are Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies?
Snowballs are made to look like their namesake. This look is achieved by rolling them in powdered sugar. As you can imagine, this suits the Christmas season perfectly.
They are a form of Russian teacakes. These cookies contain double chocolate in the form of cocoa powder and chocolate chips, which is sure to satisfy chocolate lovers.
If you like to bake cookies, you will adore this recipe. Plus, the minimal prep time means that they shouldn’t take too long to make.
Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
If you are eager to make this sweet recipe, all you will need is the following ingredients on your shopping list:
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar, plus more powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
Now that you know what you need to make these delicious chocolate snowballs, let’s get into the method:
- Line a baking tray with non-stick parchment paper. If you are using a small baking tray, you may need to use two, as this recipe will make quite a lot of chocolate snowballs.
- In a large bowl, mix the vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and butter. To make things easier, you may want to use an electric whisk. The butter should combine with the powdered sugar to create a light and fluffy mixture.
- Next, add flour to the mixture. Add the flour gradually to make it easier to combine.
- Pour the cocoa powder and salt into the mixture and continue whisking. Then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Once the flour mixture has been combined, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it to cool completely in the fridge for approximately 1 hour. Once this time has passed, take the dough out of the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Icing an ice cream scoop or spoon, portion the dough. Using your hands, sculpt the mixture to create dough balls.
- Place the dough on the previously prepared cookie sheet. Ensure that these balls of dough are roughly 2 inches apart.
- Put the dough in the oven and bake for between 10 and 15 minutes. By this point, the balls will be no longer glossy but they will have a deep brown color.
- Leave these double chocolate snowballs to cool at room temperature on a wire rack. This should take around 15 minutes.
- Cover a small bowl with the additional powdered sugar. Roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Then, leave them to cool fully. Then, roll the balls in powdered sugar for a second time to ensure that they have a consistent white coating. This second roll will make these cookies look more like adorable snowballs.
Equipment
To complete the above steps, you will require the following pieces of equipment:
- Weighing equipment, such as weighing scales or measuring spoons
- A large baking tray or 2 cookie sheets
- Non-stick parchment paper
- A large bowl
- A whisk, electric mixer, or wooden spoon
- Plastic wrap
- A small bowl
- A wire rack
Recipe Variations
If you want to experiment with this recipe or personalize it to suit your own tastes, here are some of the best variations that you can try:
- Try different types of mini chocolate chips. Whether you are using white, dark, or milk chocolate chips will affect the flavor of these double chocolate cookies. Our favorite version is white chocolate chips!
- For a minty twist, consider substituting the vanilla extract with mint extract. Mint chunks will also taste delicious. This flavor works particularly well over the winter. Plus, mint tends to be a much stronger flavor than vanilla.
- If you don’t want these cookies to look like snowballs, you can roll them in cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar. This is a great option if you want to make them outside of the Christmas period.
- Though this recipe is nut-free, you can consider adding nuts if you desire. Chopped pecans work particularly well from our experience. Of course, feel free to experiment with different types of nuts.
- Chopped peanut butter cups can also be used as a substitute for chocolate chips.
- You don’t have to roll these cookies into snowballs. Instead, you can experiment with different shapes. We especially like rolling them into crescents so that they look like the moon.
- Add a little bit (approximately 1 teaspoon) of brown sugar to the mix. This will give your snowballs a sweeter taste that’s close to caramel.
How Should You Store Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies?
To keep your snowball cookies fresh for as long as possible, it’s important to store them properly.
They should be kept at room temperature in an airtight container. Your cookies should stay fresh for up to 5 days, though from our experience they are certain to be eaten before this! After 5 days, these snowballs will start to taste rather stale.
Yet, if you don’t want to eat your snowball cookies straight away, you can extend their shelf life by freezing them. In an airtight container, your cookies can be kept for as long as 3 months. Use wax paper to divide these cookies. Be sure to thaw them before serving.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a fun recipe to make over the festive season, you will love these double chocolate snowballs! Yet, they are also a tasty sweet treat all year round. We particularly enjoy making these double chocolate snowballs as a family. So why not give them a try?!
