Mexican Wedding Cookies are tiny melt-in-your-mouth cookies that are known by many different names around the world. My grandmother called them Sugar Butter Balls.
The first time I shared this recipe online, I was overwhelmed by the response, it felt like everyone had a different name for these cookies!
Russian Tea Cakes, Polvorones, Snowball Cookies, Egyptian Feast Cookies, Nut Butter Balls, Norwegian Snowballs, Kourambie, Walnut Delights, Pecan Petites, Holiday Nuggets, Swedish Heirloom Cookies, the list goes on and on. If I’ve missed your favorite name for them, please leave a comment here to let me know!
Wedding Cookies
Every time I bite into a wedding cookie, I’m transported to a time when I watched my grandmother roll them between her hands. She was the source of so many delicious foods in my childhood.
She would set the finished cookies on a platter and everything looked so elegant to my young eyes. More than any other holiday treat, these Mexican cookies taste like Christmas to me.
I’d try sneaking them from the tray before it was time but I’m fairly certain that the powdered sugar always left a ring of evidence around my mouth. No matter, Grandmother always made plenty of these cookies to go around.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
The first time I tried making these cookies on my own, I was 18 years old and living in my first apartment. I had my grandmother’s Mexican wedding cookies recipe, but I figured I knew best.
Instead of rolling the warm cookies gently through the powdered sugar, I placed them in a Ziploc bag and poured sugar over them. When I shook the bag to coat them with sugar, at least half the cookies broke apart.
The cookies were still delicious, but they were a mess to eat. In the years since I’ve learned that Grandmother knew best. If you follow her directions for rolling the cookies in the sugar, yours will turn out every bit as perfect as hers always did.
The easiest method I’ve found for coating the cookies in powdered sugar is to put about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the warm cookies, a few at a time, through the sugar.
Yes, rolling each ball in powdered sugar might take a little more time but the results are so very worth it. These classic cookies are crisp when you bite into them and then they melt in your mouth.
That first bite delivers sweetness from the powdered sugar on both the inside and outside. This light buttery cookie always brings a smile to my face as I think about my grandmother and all those childhood holidays.
Wedding Cookies Recipe
If you’ve never made these cookies before, I’m happy to report that as long as you follow my grandmother’s directions, they’re fairly easy to make in your own kitchen.
After creaming together soft butter with powdered sugar and vanilla, gradually add flour to make a dough. Then stir in the chopped pecans or walnuts. The nuts add the perfect amount of crunch and a light nutty flavor to each cookie.
Portion the dough into 1-inch scoops and roll each scoop into a ball with your hands. Get them as smooth and round as possible before baking them in the oven until just set. (Be sure not to let them brown!)
I cool my cookies for just a couple of minutes to make them easy to handle. Then, roll each cookie in powdered sugar and let them cool completely before rolling them twice more in the leftover powdered sugar.
These cookies are delicious all on their own and look so pretty on a holiday cookie tray. I also love to arrange these in tins with tissue paper to give as gifts throughout the holiday season.
While I always associate them with Christmas, Grandmother’s Sugar Butter Balls, Snowballs, or Mexican Wedding Cookies make for a delightful treat all year long.
Enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee, at a party, or cozied up at home, and make your own fond memories with the ones you love.
Holiday Cookie Recipes
Looking for more great holiday treats? You’ve come to the right place.
Sugared Shortbread Cookies are a classic cookie that everyone loves. Around Christmas time we also love to make Chocolate Dipped Candy Cane Shortbread to nibble by the Christmas tree or give as gifts.
You can never go wrong with classic iced sugar cookies this time of year. Set out on a plate for Santa, or saved for yourself, nothing says “Christmas” quite like sugar cookies. And for what it’s worth, my friend Katrina has the best recipe ever for cut out cookies. I’ve been making these for years now.
If you’ve spent any amount of time here for a while you may have gathered that I can’t get enough of 5-Minute Fudge Recipes when it’s time for holiday baking. Add White Chocolate Caramel Fudge and Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge to your list to try this season.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies are a super simple no-bake cookie recipe that everyone finds irresistible. I love to make a big batch to keep in the freezer and have ready any time company comes over or I need a last-minute treat to take to a party.
And if you’re looking for a sugar-free version of Mexican Wedding Cookies, my friend Brenda has a recipe for sugar-free and paleo snowball cookies.
Kitchen Tip: I use this baking sheet to make this recipe.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix just until combined. Stir in the nuts.
- Scoop into 1-inch balls and round them smooth between your hands. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set but not browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the tray for a minute or two and then roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar and set them a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies have fully cooled, roll them once or twice more in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 11/21/13 – notes and photos updated 12/6/23}
Lesa says
How do you measure the flour and do you sift it?
Bj roney says
I’m having trouble rolling balls batter is very crumbly any hints
Mary Younkin says
The dough should be somewhat dry, but stick together when you press it with your hands. Are you using a scoop and then rolling the balls with your hands, BJ?
Sherri Murphy says
Too much flour, they feel apart. You can’t even roll them. Bad. Waste Of Time.
Mary Younkin says
This is a classic recipe and the cookie dough is supposed to be very dry. As seen in the video, you should be able to pinch it together though, Sherri.
Gina Tharp says
Very much like my Dutch heritage Pfeffernusse Cookies.
Mary Younkin says
They are a similar cookie, aren’t they? I’m glad you like them.
Judy says
My son brought ‘this’ recipe home from Portland, Oregon from a mission for our church twenty five years ago and he called them Ecuadorian Cookies. I make them all the time and they turn out perfect every time. Although, our recipe has only 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. We love them, especially at Christmas!
Mary Younkin says
That’s awesome, Judy.
Theresa B says
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I recently renovated my kitchen and couldn’t find my notes for my holiday cookies. I used to get these from a grandmother(not mine but someone who I crossed paths with at a bed and breakfast) I met on a weekend getaway years ago. During that visit she realized my affinity for powdered sugar and she consistently mailed me a small batch every Christmas season thereafter. She has since passed but I can’t imagine a Christmas without me making them in her memory. I find myself smiling every time I see powdered sugar thinking of these cookies. Your recipe was just perfect.
Mary Younkin says
This is such a sweet memory, Theresa. I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe!
Kristina says
Loved the Mexican Wedding cookies, especially knowing they were your grandmother’s recipe!! Thank you for sharing it! :))
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you like the cookies, Kristina!
TerryAnn and Selah Martinez says
This recipe is very comen , the other person might have put in to many nuts.
TerryAnn Martinez and Selah
Thank you
TerryAnn says
Can I make make them a bit flat so they easier to eat.???
Thank you
TerryAnn and Selah
Mary Younkin says
I’ve never tried that, TerryAnn.
The Nuker says
So lets begin, I decided to put butter into the oven so that it would soften, the oven was quite warm from earlier baking. I forgot about it momently and put on the oven so to make these cookies, while I made these cookies, the house smelled as if a landfill went on fire. I thought that I needed to clean the oven. Eventually I set off an explosion In the oven!
Though the cookies actually turned out pretty good.
I decided to put some Chocolate chunks on top and let them melt.
It tasted not bad.
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you like the cookies!
M Jane Foye-Redding says
Good
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you like them!
Leila zaragoza says
I love this recipe second year making them.
BUT H.E.L.P!!!
I made a double batch and was to tired to make the cookies sue to being time consuming. I chilled dough overnight!!!
It’s so hard I cannot get a cookie scoop in the dough…😭 what can I do???
Thanks in advance!
Mary Younkin says
You’ll want to let it warm and soften at room temperature, Leila. It won’t be exactly the same as before chilling, but it will be close.
Lolita says
At first had trouble rolling the cookies into balls, then I tried a little patience and Wallah I got the cookies to roll. This is an awesome recipe. I love it! It’s super easy. Thank you very much for sharing.
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you are enjoying the cookies, Lolita.
CG says
All those who are complaining about crumbly dough- just use your hands to mix the flour 🙂 it’ll work great.
Nana says
Yes and I ‘cut” the flour into the butter and always use my hands to roll the balls
Nana says
My family & friends always love these every year! I renamed them ‘bella’ cookies. One year I was in Tennessee for Christmas and was making triple batch. Left the kitchen for about 15 minutes, already had two batches made on a platter but when I returned there were 2 on the plate! After asking my grandkids if they’d eaten them..looked down to see powdered sugar on their labs ‘bella’ nose..she had eaten all but 2 cookies! She never got sick and loves them more than ever!
Great recipe!
Mary Younkin says
That is so funny, Nana! Poor grandkids getting the blame, I love it.
Sandra Diane Skinner says
These cookies were wonderful. The next time I make them I will use only 2 cups flour instead of 2 1/4. They were crumbly and hard to roll. But they did hold together and were delicious.
Mary Younkin says
I am glad you enjoyed them, Sandra.
BJ says
Can these be frozen?
Mary Younkin says
Yes, BJ, you can freeze them.
Terry F. says
I made these for the first time a couple of years ago and learned the most important trick after throwing out the first batch….. in order to roll the “dough” into balls, you have to warm the dough in your hands to soften the butter, and then it will roll and form a ball. Without doing that it just falls apart like sand. That’s the biggest issues with these cookies. Otherwise, they are SO GOOD!!!
Mary Younkin says
That’s a terrific tip, Terry. Come to think of it, I do the same thing. I’m glad you love the cookies!
Donna says
Can I use margarine instead of butter?
Mary Younkin says
I would not recommend it, Donna.
Brenda Koltoniak says
Do these need to be refrigerated before baking? Also my dough is dry, what am I doing wrong? Thank you
Mary Younkin says
I do cool them for a bit before baking.
Layla says
Omg! THESE ARE SO ADDICTIVE!!….I HARDLY HAD ANY COOKIES LEFT FOR COOKIE ORDERS I DID!! Last year I made these cookies to sell for the first time, the recipe turn out irresistibly perfect everytime…
Thanks for my new addition!!! 💛😋
Mary Younkin says
I’m thrilled that you like them so much, Layla!