These super tender gluten free Mexican wedding cookies are a simple mixture of butter, flour, and sugar, with finely chopped nuts that melt-in-your-mouth.
Also known as snowball cookies for their shape and white coating, or Russian tea cakes, they’re a festive addition to your holiday cookie plate!
Why this recipe works
Mexican wedding cookies are somewhat fragile, and they tend to crumble, since they’re a type of butter cookie, and are meant to be delicate.
That messy top coating of powdered sugar may be all you see. But just beneath is a delicate but rich and buttery cookie with its own crackly layer of baked sugar. And it’s all thanks to coating the cookies 2 times before you even bake them.
It’s best to chill the shaped and coated cookies for about 10 minutes before you bake them, which helps them keep their shape in the oven. You’ll need that time to heat the oven anyway!
Recipe ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these cookies, plus some information on what role each plays in the end result. For full ingredient amounts, please see the recipe card.
- Chopped pecans: Add a buttery, nutty crunch to these cookies. Since raw pecans are a very soft nut, I grind them coarsely so they maintain some texture. If you don’t have a food processor (a mini one works great here), I recommend chopping them by hand instead of using a blender since it’s too hard to stop short of creating nut butter.
- Gluten free flour blend: Provides most of the structure of the cookies to hold them together and keep them from spreading too much during baking. I prefer Better Batter’s classic blend (which already contains xanthan gum) or Nicole’s Best multipurpose (with added xanthan gum). Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 should also work if you add an extra 1/4 teaspoon more xanthan gum since it doesn’t have enough.
- Cornstarch: Lightens the flour blend for a softer crumb and a less dense cookie. You can replace it with more of your gluten free flour blend by weight and the cookies will taste great but just turn out a little more dense.
- Confectioners’ sugar: A very finely ground refined sugar mixed with starch to lighten and prevent clumping, this adds sweetness and tenderness to the cookies when we bake it in. When it coats the raw shaped cookies, it adds a crunchy shell after it melts in the oven and then cools. It also adds extra powdery sweetness and that white snowball look to the baked cookies.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and brightens other flavors. I use kosher salt because it’s easiest to avoid overmeasuring.
- Butter: Adds buttery taste, moisture, tenderness and richness, and that melt-in-your-mouth texture since there’s so much butter compared to other ingredients. Be sure yours is at cool room temperature, about 68°F. That’s warm enough to mix into the dry ingredients, but cool enough that your cookies won’t be greasy and flat.
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor, and a little moisture since we’re using 2 teaspoons.
- Granulated sugar: Coating the cookies first in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar before baking helps the powdered sugar from getting absorbed into the raw dough and helps it crystallize on the outside for a crackly shell.
How to make gluten free Mexican wedding cookies (step by step photos)
I like to use a miniature food processor to chop the raw pecans into a coarse grind, but you can use a knife, too. The cookies themselves are made in a single mixing bowl.
Whisk the dry ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum, cornstarch, salt, 2/3 cup of the 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, and the coarsely ground pecans. Make sure everything is whisked together well so there are no clumps of any individual ingredient, which can lead to cookies that spread unevenly.
Mix in the butter
Chop the butter roughly into tablespoons with a knife and scatter it on top of the whisked dry ingredients. This makes it easier to combine everything evenly. Add vanilla extract, and work the butter into the dry ingredients by pressing down with the underside of the bowl of the a mixing spoon.
Add water as needed
The butter should moisten all of the dry ingredients into a coarse wet sandy texture, but there will probably be some dry patches. Drizzle in lukewarm water slowly and carefully directly onto dry patches, and mix in just until the cookie dough holds together well when you press it into your palm. Avoid wetting the dough too much or the cookies will spread more than intended in the oven.
Shape the cookie dough
Divide the dough into pieces about 1 tablespoonful (a #60 or #70 cookie scoop works great), and then roll into rounds lightly in your palms. Don’t pack down the dough or the cookies will be too dense and may not bake in the very center.
Coat in granulated sugar and chill
Place the white granulated sugar in a small mixing bowl, and roll each round of dough around to coat on all sides. Place the coated dough on a flat surface and chill in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. This will help keep the dough from spreading too much in the oven and seal the cookie dough a bit.
Coat in confectioners’ sugar
Use the remaining 1/3 cup of confectioners’ sugar to coat the chilled pieces of dough. Placing this sugar on top of the granulated sugar will help it create a crackly texture on the outside rather than seeping into the cookies as they bake.
Bake and cool
Bake the cookies at a relatively high 375°F for 12 minutes. The sugar on the outside of the cookies will seal and crackle and the cookies will spread less than 1-inch. Let them cool on the baking sheet completely.
Coat in sugar again
The baked and cooled cookies will have a pale coating of sugar on the outside. Soon before you plan to display and serve the cookies, toss the cooled cookies one more time in confectioners’ sugar. This will give them that snowball-white appearance. You may need to add more sugar to the final 1/3 cup.
Expert tips
Choose the right nuts, prepared properly
I like raw pecans best in this recipe since they’re tender and soft even when raw, so they add a tender crunch that complements the smooth texture of the cookies. Raw walnuts have less flavor but a similar texture, so grind them similarly. If you’re using almonds, grind them more finely or they’ll have too much crunch, which can ruin the overall silky smooth texture.
Coat in sugars 3 times
I know it may seem excessive, but we coat the cookies 3 times. If you coat the raw cookie first in granulated sugar, then in confectioners’ sugar, the baked cookies will have a pale, sweet, delicious crackly shell. The final coating of confectioners’ sugar is for extra sweetness, of course, but also so they look like little snowballs.
Ingredient substitutions
These cookies are already gluten free and naturally egg-free. If you are avoiding other allergens, here are my suggestions for how you might adapt this recipe to suit your needs.
Dairy free
I recommend trying to replace the butter in these cookies with half (8 tablespoons or 112 grams) block-style vegan butter like Melt or Miyoko’s brand and half (112 grams) butter flavored shortening. That should best mimic the flavor, moisture content and fat content of butter.
Nut-free
If you can’t have nuts, try our shaping and coating our gluten free butter cookies recipe in the same way as these cookies are prepared. They’re very similar in taste and texture, but naturally nut-free.
Corn-free
Replace the cornstarch with more of your chosen all purpose gluten free flour, by weight, and make sure your blend is corn-free, like Better Batter. Choose a corn-free confectioners’ sugar, or whisk 1 tablespoon arrowroot or potato starch into powdered sugar, which is the same type of “10x” superfinely ground sugar without added starch.
Prevent your screen from going dark
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Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
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In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (77 g) and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the finely chopped nuts and whisk again to combine.
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Chop the butter into chunks (each about 1 tablespoon) and scatter on top of the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, too, and mix until well-combined. I find that pressing down on the butter with the back of a spoon helps to distribute it throughout the dough.
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The cookie dough will look somewhat sandy, and will clump in places. Add water by the scant teaspoonful, mixing after each addition, until the dough holds together easily when squeezed in your hand. Stop short of adding water before the dough feels wet or sticky.
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Scoop the dough by the heaping tablespoon (an overfull #70 ice cream scoop is ideal here, but two spoons work well, too). Roll each piece of dough into a round gently between the palms of your hands. Don’t pack the dough; just shape it.
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Place granulated sugar in a small mixing bowl. Place each ball of cookie dough in the bowl, and shake it back and forth to coat the dough in sugar.
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Place the shaped dough on a flat surface and place in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes or mostly firm. The granulated sugar should also be less visible, as the dough will have begun to absorb it.
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While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 375°F.
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Place the remaining 1/3 cup (38 g) confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Remove the chilled balls of dough from the freezer, and toss in the sugar a few at a time to coat completely.
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Place each of the coated pieces of dough on the prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2-inches apart.
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Bake in the center of the oven until the cookies are set in the center and firm to the touch (about 12 minutes). They’ll will be fragile, but shouldn’t be wet.
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Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool completely.
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After the cookies have cooled completely, toss again in confectioners’ sugar (adding more as needed) to coat and provide that snowball appearance. If you don’t plan to serve the cookies right away, delay this final coating of sugar until soon before serving.
This recipe works best with Better Batter’s original blend or Nicole’s Best multipurpose flour (with added xanthan gum). Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 should work, too, with an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum.
I often replace the cornstarch with more all purpose gluten free flour if I’m in a rush, and the cookies still turn out just a bit more dense.
Want to make your own blend? Check out my mock all purpose gluten free flour blends.
Nuts
If you’re using raw pecans or walnuts, grind them coarsely until irregular pieces of nuts are still visible. If using almonds, grind or chop more finely.
Food processor
It’s best to prepare the nuts by pulsing in a miniature (or full-sized) food processor as described above. If you don’t have one, chop by hand with a sharp knife instead of in a blender, which will grind too much.
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 33mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 236IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage instructions
If you don’t plan to serve all of the baked cookies right away, don’t coat them in sugar after they’re baked and cooled. That sugar coating is the most fragile and can easily be added later, right before serving. Store leftover cookies in a sealed glass container at room temperature to preserve their texture for up to 5 days.
For longer storage, freeze cookies in a single layer on a lined, rimmed baking sheet first to make them less fragile. Pile carefully into a freezer-safe zip-top storage bag, removing as much air as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, and toss in confectioners’ sugar again before serving.
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