Chocolate snowball cookies are crisp, buttery, and packed with chocolate flavor. A dark chocolate shortbread cookie with semisweet chocolate chips and rolled in powdered sugar. Chocolate snowballs are one of my favorite cookie recipes, perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients for Chocolate Snowball Cookies
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature for easy creaming.
- Powdered sugar: Adds a bit of sweetness to the cookies.
- Dark cocoa powder: I love using unsweetened cocoa powder. Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder is one of my favorites. You can also use regular cocoa powder, but the color of the cookies will be a bit lighter.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract adds great flavor.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the cookies.
- All-purpose flour: Regular all-purpose flour.
- Mini chocolate chips: Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for the best flavor and texture.
- Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
Tools & Supplies for Making Chocolate Snowball Cookies
How to Make Chocolate Snowball Cookies
To make the chocolate snowball cookie dough, I recommend using an electric hand mixer with a large bowl or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Cream together unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Add in all-purpose flour and dark cocoa powder and mix on low speed. The dough will be crumbly at first. Continue to mix for several minutes until a dough ball forms.
- Add in mini chocolate chips and mix on low until well dispersed throughout the cookie dough.
- Portion the cookie dough using a small cookie scoop. Chill the dough balls for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place chilled dough balls onto the prepared baking pan and bake for approximately 12-14 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes. Cool on a wire cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar and return the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Snowball Cookies Recipe Tips
Chill the cookie dough balls
A trick to getting perfect snowballs is to chill the dough after you scoop the dough into balls. I recommend using a small cookie scoop for even, uniform cookies. Once you scoop, place the dough balls on a pan and chill the dough for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place the dough balls on your prepared baking sheet pan and bake! Chilling the dough reduces spreading and creates the perfect texture.
Roll the cookies in powdered sugar while warm
One key to getting the powdered sugar to stick to the cookies is to roll the baked cookies in the sugar while they are still warm. Once you remove the cookies from the oven, allow them to cool on the pan for 2 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then, gently roll the cookies, one at a time, in powdered sugar and set back on the wire cooling rack to set and cool completely. The warmth from the cookies melts the powdered sugar slightly which allows it to stick to the cookies perfectly.
Cocoa and chocolate
I recommend using dark cocoa powder to achieve a deep chocolate flavor and dark chocolate color. I have found that mini chocolate chips work best for this recipe because you get little bits of chocolate in every bite!
Make the cookie dough ahead
I love making cookie dough ahead of time, especially during the busy holiday season. Simply scoop the dough, chill the dough balls for 30 minutes, and then place the dough balls into a resealable storage bag. Store the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to one month. To use, simply remove from the refrigerator and bake! If you are baking the cookies from frozen dough, allow the dough balls to thaw for about 15 minutes before baking.
Storing the cookies
Store the chocolate snowball cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
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Chocolate Snowball Cookies
Equipment
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt until light and fluffy.
- Add in all-purpose flour and dark cocoa powder and mix on low speed. The dough will be crumbly at first. Continue to mix for several minutes until the dough forms.
- Add in mini chocolate chips and mix on low until the chocolate chips are well dispersed throughout the cookie dough.
- Portion the cookie dough using a small cookie scoop. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet pan and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet plan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place chilled dough balls onto the prepared baking pan and bake for approximately 12-14 minutes.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
- Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar and transfer back to the wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
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