These Keto Snowball Cookies are sure to make your holidays merry and bright! With crushed walnuts and a hint of cardamom or cinnamon, they are the perfect sugar-free holiday cookies for you and all of your loved ones.
This recipe for Keto Snowball Cookies was originally posted in 2013. Seven years ago! It was time to give this classic recipe a much needed update. Now they are even more tender and sweet, with fewer carbs and with a new how-to recipe video. You won’t believe how easy they are to make.
I got a very early jump on my Christmas baking this year. I seem to start a little earlier every year, because keto Christmas cookies are one of my favorite things in the world to bake.
I used to make myself wait until after Thanksgiving, lest I get sick of all Christmas baking before the big day rolls around. It’s my favorite holiday by far, and I never want to risk being bored by it all before Santa and his reindeer have a chance to fire up the sleigh and take off from the North Pole. Now that would be a real tragedy.
But on the other hand, why deny myself the pleasure of such an enjoyable pastime? Cookies like these keto snowballs do so well in the freezer, and then I have a wonderful assortment to give away to friends and family.
Keto Snowball Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes?
Or… Mexican wedding cakes? What do you call these tasty ball-shaped cookies rolled in powdered sweetener? I do love the name snowballs, since that’s exactly what they look like when they’re finished.
I received so many requests for Keto Snowball Cookies, being a standard holiday favourite for many families. Some people call them Russian Tea Cakes, others know them as Mexican Wedding Cakes.
Whatever you call them, they amount to the same thing…a tender, shortbread-like cookie in a round ball, sprinkled with copious amounts of powdered sugar.
Since I managed to nail a low carb version of my father’s favorite cookie, the Keto Pecan Crescent Cookies, I knew that making low carb snowballs would be a cinch. And I added some chopped walnuts and some cardamom for a burst of flavor.
Updated Low Carb Snowballs Recipe
I know that this is a much loved recipe and some of you are probably fearful hearing that I changed things up a bit. Never fear, my sweet keto friends! The recipe is much the same, with a few minor changes.
For one thing I reduced the almond flour a touch to make them more tender and melt-in-your-mouth. I also ditched the stevia extract, as many people prefer not to use it and my son appears to have a mild reaction to it.
When I first made these keto snowball cookies 7 years ago, I had a little difficulty getting them to roll properly in the powdered sweetener. It simply didn’t stick to the cookies as much as I had hoped. But somewhere over the years, Swerve changed their formula a bit and it’s much more like real powdered sugar.
So now they look and taste just like the snowball cookies your mum/grandma/cousin/aunt used to make!
How to make keto snowball cookies
These might just be some of the easiest keto Christmas cookies you will ever make. Here are my tips for the most tender, tastiest keto snowball cookies:
- Use a good fine almond flour like Bob’s Red Mill. That’s my top choice but some others like Wellbee and Honeyville are good too. I recently had a disappointing experience with the 365 brand from Whole Foods, as my dough for some other cookies came out very grainy.
- The walnuts should be quite finely chopped for a more cohesive dough. I recommend pulsing them in a food processor until they resemble coarse crumbs with a few bigger bits and pieces. You could also do pecans if you prefer.
- Don’t leave out the coconut flour, as it helps give these snowballs a good consistency so that they don’t lose their ball shape during baking.
- Not a fan of cardamom? Try some ground cinnamon instead. Use only 1/2 teaspoon as cinnamon is stronger than cardamom.
- Make sure that butter is well softened! You need to cream it well with the sweetener and you can’t do that with hard butter.
- Roll the dough as round as you can between your palms. The cookies will rise a tiny bit during baking so any lumps or bumps will even out.
- Let them cool completely and then roll them in powdered sweetener such as Swerve Confectioners. You can use other sweeteners but I am not sure how well those will coat and stick.
Can you make Keto Snowball Cookies ahead?
You sure can and in fact, I have some in my freezer at this very moment. You can roll them in sweetener first and then freeze or wait to roll them after they thaw.
As with all keto cookie recipes, you want to store them carefully in an airtight container. These are pretty sturdy cookies, though, so once frozen, they won’t crumble or break apart. And they can last up to two months.
To thaw, take them out of the container and spread them out so that they don’t touch each other. This helps keep the cookies from getting soggy.
More delicious keto walnut recipes
- Keto Maple Walnut Biscotti
- Keto Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake
- Keto Chocolate Walnut Torte
- Keto Maple Walnut Ice Cream
- Keto Walnut Fudge
- Keto Walnut Pie Crust
Keto Snowball Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (180 g) almond flour
- 1 cup (117 g) walnut pieces, finely chopped (almost ground)
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 - 1 tsp ground cardamom, (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (91 g) erythritol sweetener, (granular or powdered)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (91 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
Instructions
- For the cookies, preheat oven to 325F and line 2 baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, chopped walnuts, coconut flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, and vanilla extract. Beat in the almond flour mixture until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake 16 to 18 minutes, or until just lightly golden brown. Remove and let cool on the pan.
- Place the powdered sweetener in a small shallow bowl. Roll each cookie until completely coated in the powdered sweetener.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Thank you, Carolyn, for another traditional recipe that I’ve missed. It’s wonderful to be able to make them again. As for the name, my husband always refers to them simply as “little white balls” LOL. Happy Holidays!
This is marvellous! I have never had these cookies before, but Indian sweets often use cardamom, and I love the flavour (if not the excessive sweetness!) of those, so I figured this would be a winner. I only had regular (not super fine) almond flour at hand so I had to use that, but they still came out great and tasted delicious. Mine flattened a bit more than yours (oven temperature perhaps? I have a fan forced oven and can’t switch the fan off unfortunately. Or was it the texture of the almond flour?) but they still looked perfectly charming. Thank you for sharing another foolproof, delicious recipe 🙂
Sorry but these do not taste like traditional snowball cookies. Is it just me and my family or is it hard to get over the cooling sensation of erythritol?! Any tips would be appreciated. My kids wouldn’t even finish their cookie. I’m forcing myself to eat because I can’t stand to waste all of these ingredients.
Okay so it is you… sort of. Some people experience that, some don’t. I get it with plain erythritol but not at all with Swerve. You can try these with another sweetener, if you prefer.
Try Allulose,. Total game changer.
Just made them! Half with cinnamon and half with cardamom and they are both fantastic. I don’t do dairy so I subbed with spectrum palm shortening and for the sweetener I used a mix of xylitol & lakanto monkfruit. I dusted with sukrin icing sugar. Seriously amazing tea cookies wow! So soft and chewy. My new fave!
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for all your recipes. I have enjoyed so many of them and find I like all that I have tried. Right now I’m in need of only coconut flour cookie recipes as several of my grand kids are allergic to almonds and are trying to avoid gluten also. Others of the family are diabetic and try to avoid wheat and sugar. Do you have any just coconut flour recipes? I will have to search!. Thanks for what you do!1
I have tons! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/?s=coconut+flour
Personally, I don’t think coconut flour by itself makes great cookies. But you can always make these with sunflower seed flour.
I must be blind but I can’t find the video.
It’s supposed to come up under “My Latest Videos”. I may have to embed it in the recipe card instead, if it’s not showing up.
iT’S NOT COMING UP ON YOUR latest videos and I couldn’t find it on you tube either. Hope you can inbed it. Thanks.
I love your recipes and that you always give a nutritional break down with them but once in a while I see a Keto recipe by someone else that looks interesting and many times they don’t give the nutrition specifications for it. I’ve tried to use some online calculators but none I’ve found can calculate for Swerve or other sweeteners and nut flours. I’ve even Googled for Keto calculators! Can you give me any link to one that works for Keto recipes? Or is there only some program to buy?
Hi Miriah – I actually paid for software myself so I don’t use online calculators. Mine is called MacGourmet and it pulls from the USDA database for accuracy but I’ve had to hand upload certain ingredients like Swerve. What I do for ingredients like that is not even enter the carbs into the system, since they don’t affect blood glucose. It gives me a more accurate picture of the carb count. But Swerve, BochaSweet, and allulose are the only sweeteners that I completely leave out the carbs, because I’ve tested them repeatedly on myself and they don’t raise blood sugar at all.
Thanks so much! When I see the doctor my A1C is sometimes high and I only use the substitute sweeteners so I need to do some testing myself! I don’t know if I can just look at my tests the morning after I’ve had some dessert with dinner or if I need to take say a teaspoon of each on an empty stomach and then do a test maybe 15 minutes later. I guess I should ask the doctor that!
Do yo have a glucometer? I recommend testing them by having some on an empty stomach (you can have them in coffee if it helps). Test both before and after to see your baseline and then how much you actually went up.
Thanks for the update. I make these every year but without the cardamom or cinnamon. I put a little almond extract in their place. Also, what I do is roll in powdered sugar when still a little warm and then roll again. The sugar stays on nicely. These cookies taste exactly like the high carb cookies with the plus of no guilt.
Thanks, Tracy!
Hands down my favorite Xmas cookie this year! These were simply outstanding. I am one of those unfortunate people for whom Swerve does not work (I get a strong aftertaste from it) so I used a mix of Allulose and Boca Sweet…..worked beautifully as this cookie is not supposed to crisp. Used powdered Sorbitol to dust them with. Will not have to worry about freezing any….they will never be around that long, going, going, gone.
Honestly, I could not tell the difference from the original full carb version. Thank you!
FYI: love your new Baking Bible cookbook….making the brownies with the lovely mint creme layer on top this afternoon for company that are coming. Cant wait to taste it.
Thanks so much, Deborah! Enjoy the book.
Hi!
Loving your recipes so far! Am leaving white sugar and flour behind. Just need some advice on the walnut cardamom cookies. They are so yummy. Storage advice, please? Air tight container in fridge…freezer…can keep at room temp for how long?
Thanks so much!!!
Keto Cathy
They can be at room temp for up to 5 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze easily for several months.
you might want to try Hawaiian Style, with chopped Macadamias. they call ’em Macadamia Meltaways. Yum! and soooo keto friendly!
Sounds wonderful!
Hi, I’m fairly new to the Keto world so I was very happy to find this receipe as it is a favorite of mine all year long. My question is could I add chocolate chips in and if so would I need to canned any ingredients? Thank you!
I think it would be fine and no change to the other ingredients.
I’ve never been able to find a good snowball recipe using almond and coconut flours until now. YUM!
I love snowballs!! They have become a favorite! They are great for cookie exchanges!
These are awesome for Christmas! Perfect every time!
These are seriously so good!!!