The perfect holiday cookie for that perfect time of year! These soft, buttery snowball cookies are the ideal blend of buttery shortbread cookies and Italian wedding cookies, with a tangy sourdough twist!

Toss in some finely chopped-up macadamia nuts, pecans, chocolate chips, or peppermint candy canes to add flavor and crunch.

This recipe will make 20-30 sourdough snowball cookies (depending on the different shapes you add to your platter, like Christmas trees or wreaths).

Check out other sourdough cookie recipes, like our sourdough thumbprint cookie s, which you can also turn into the perfect Christmas cookie! Ditch the heart imprint for a simple thumbprint and sprinkle with powdered sugar for your beautiful holiday platter.

What You’ll Need

2 sticks of salted or unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups bread flour (or all purpose)
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup sourdough starter (discard)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup of powdered sugar (for coating)

SUBSTITUTES

Butter – Can be substituted with coconut oil.
Bread Flour – All purpose flour will also work. I prefer bread flour for my cookies. Also, enjoy using fresh flour by milling your wheat! This is always enjoyable and gives you that whole wheat flour. Side note: You may need to add a little more of a wet ingredient for fresh-milled flour.
Vanilla – Can be substituted with almond extract.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

stand mixer and paddle attachment or hand mixer with a large bowl
measuring cup and spoons

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare your Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ degrees
Cream butter, sourdough discard, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract on low/medium speed until light and fluffy.
Wisk together the flour and salt then add to your wet ingredients
Mix on low speed, until just combined. If needed, use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the dry ingredients.
Your dough will be a bit crumbly after using a mixer, but begin to bring it all together with your hands once mixed, and you will no longer have crumbly dough.

mixing sourdough snowball wet ingredients together

crumbly dough after adding dry ingredients in mixing bowl

Now, begin to bring it together with your hands.

2. Shape your Snowballs:

Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the cookie dough and roll it into a cookie dough ball with your hands.

3. Bake Cookies:

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet and place in a heated oven.
Bake cookies at 350℉ for 20-22 minutes. I typically pull mine out at 21 minutes.

4. Coat Snowballs:

Let cookies cool for just a minute so they aren’t too hot. Then, gently roll the warm cookies into a bowl of confectioners’ sugar and cool on a separate platter or cooling rack. The powdered sugar will melt a little as the cookie is still warm, but it will help it stick better. Once cooled down, roll your snowballs for a final coat.

Christmas tree shaped and snowball-shaped sourdough cookies on Christmas plates

How to Store Your Cookies

Store your cookies in an airtight container on the kitchen counter.